We got Cher, babe! Welcome to MsMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for Cher’s greatest moments over her sixty year career.
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00:00 So I said, "Oh, I'm so excited."
00:02 So, um, I actually didn't do that, but I was very excited.
00:05 Welcome to Ms. Mojo, and today we're counting down our picks for Cher's greatest moments over her 60-year career.
00:12 We got a lot of great stuff here.
00:14 We got really good stuff here. A lot of really...
00:18 Number 10. Being real about aging.
00:23 Her career began in the early 1960s, and with a tenure like that, it's safe to say Cher's seen it all.
00:30 But that doesn't mean she's under any illusions.
00:33 How do you feel, though, about getting older?
00:36 I think it sucks.
00:38 When asked about her long and illustrious career, she doesn't make any bones about how aging is not her favorite thing.
00:46 Where other pop stars might try to be phony about their aging or the surgical means they use to look young, Cher has always been up front about going into old age kicking and screaming.
00:57 So you and age, you're not friends?
00:59 No. My mother didn't mind, but I do. I hate it.
01:05 She's in her late 70s, still making hits, and still looking at least 20 years younger.
01:10 I'm never growing old.
01:12 When time catches up, what can you do?
01:15 Keep moving.
01:16 Number 9. The Will and Grace cameos.
01:19 You're the freaks!
01:21 You know, dude, it is a little weird that you're talking to my doll.
01:25 Apparently, Jack McFarlane pays more respect to his Cher doll than he does the real woman.
01:32 When the pop superstar shows up in a cameo as herself on this season 3 episode, Jack thinks she's a drag queen.
01:40 Are you kidding me with this?
01:42 Okay, the hand is perfect, but it's more...
01:45 Are you kidding me with this?
01:47 Ho!
01:48 Clearly, she doesn't take herself too seriously.
01:52 Watching her humor him before giving him a well-deserved slap in the face is peak Will and Grace.
01:58 She would show up the next season cast in the fitting role of God in Jack's fantasy.
02:03 The best thing about both of these guest spots is that you can see how much fun she's having the whole time.
02:09 God, man!
02:12 You're hawking your album during my dream!
02:16 Somebody's gotta pay for the fog!
02:20 Number 8. Her tweets.
02:22 Yes, we mean every single tweet.
02:25 I again, I have no idea why I said that.
02:29 Maybe I came back and I had been doing something and I just thought...
02:33 I don't know.
02:34 Whether she's shading Madonna, experiencing some technical difficulties,
02:38 or getting into a spat with the literal president of the United States,
02:42 Cher is always speaking her mind.
02:44 That doesn't mean what she's saying is always crystal clear.
02:47 Also, a lot of times, if I use too many emojis, new people have no idea what I'm saying.
02:55 If you ask us, it just makes her online presence more unique, and we wouldn't have it any other way.
03:01 Frankly, her wisdom and wit go beyond words.
03:04 When you substitute the president's name for a toilet emoji, you don't need much more context than that.
03:10 I could go on and on on this subject forever because I'm so traumatized by him.
03:16 Number 7. When she showed up at the end of Mamma Mia 2.
03:20 The movie's getting ready to wrap things up when Cher flies in at the end to inject a heaping dose of fabulousness.
03:26 Mes enfants, je suis arrivé. Let the party commence.
03:34 Playing Amanda Seyfried's absent grandmother,
03:36 she's perfectly cast as a globetrotting fashionista with only a casual understanding of normal human emotions.
03:44 Despite her late entrance, she gets to headline two musical numbers.
03:48 Am I having to do the same again? I want my friend for time and time again.
03:56 The fact that she's cast as Meryl Streep's mother despite being only three years older than her in real life
04:02 is just a hilarious wink to her seeming agelessness.
04:05 Also, we have this movie to thank for her instantly classic album full of ABBA songs.
04:11 Number 6. Playing every part in West Side Story.
04:21 The 70s were the decade of bell bottoms, disco, and variety specials.
04:26 Cher's Emmy-winning 1978 special includes one of her greatest and underrated moments of showmanship.
04:33 Ladies and gentlemen, for tonight's entertainment, I am proud to present West Side Story.
04:38 I will be playing all the parts. Thank you.
04:42 That's right. You heard the lady. And boy does she deliver.
04:46 Singing and dancing through shortened versions of the show's biggest hits,
04:50 Cher gives a performance that would be impressive by any standard.
05:06 With an assist from the era's most sophisticated technology, we're treated to multiple Chers on stage at once.
05:13 It's audacious to take a show with such a big cast and reenact it as a one-woman show.
05:19 But what else would you expect from such an incredible entertainer?
05:34 Number 5. That playful feud with David Letterman.
05:37 Remember what we said about Cher speaking her mind?
05:54 She'll do that even if she's guesting on someone else's show.
05:58 That's what David Letterman found out in this 1986 appearance.
06:02 When he asked why she kept turning down invitations to be on the show, she was very blunt.
06:08 It's safe to say that over the years, Dave won her over.
06:18 That first time set the stage for her appearances, where their playful banter would often veer into flirtatious territory.
06:26 Have we ever been naked together?
06:28 - Yeah, yes. - Then it's my color.
06:30 Whatever was lying underneath all that tension, pretend or otherwise, it was always so fun to watch.
06:39 When Letterman ended his show in 2015, she was one of the stars who paid tribute in a way that only she could.
06:46 - Very sweet of you. - Yes, and you're still a n*ssy.
06:52 Number 4. When she challenged Britney and JLo.
06:56 But I'm going to bow out gracefully.
06:59 Well, screw it, I'm not doing that either.
07:03 Although she called it her farewell tour, Cher was a long way from retiring in 2002.
07:09 Still, she was sharing the charts with younger artists with new sounds.
07:18 Alright, well, they're still coming up, so they're not going to take my place probably, but they're going to take somebody's place, okay?
07:25 Britney Spears and Jennifer Lopez may have been topping the charts at the time, but Cher threw down the gauntlet.
07:31 She was determined to make her show so fabulous, it would put these up-and-coming pop divas to shape.
07:37 And plus, there's all these new girls coming up, there's Britney and JLo and all these millions.
07:44 Clearly it was just professional bluster, and there was no ill will between her and Spears.
07:49 During the #FreeBritney frenzy, Cher voiced her support and empathy for the singer as she fought to escape her conservatorship.
07:57 No matter what he said, I'm strong enough to know.
08:03 Number 3. The "If I Could Turn Back Time" music video.
08:08 The music video for the 1989 hit was a lightning rod for controversy.
08:13 I don't know why I did the things I did.
08:17 "If I Could Turn Back Time" features Cher in a revealing outfit, performing the song for a group of rowdy sailors on the historic USS Missouri.
08:26 Her look became an iconic fashion moment, but it proved so scandalous that MTV banned the video at first.
08:33 Then, they decided to show it late at night instead.
08:36 I can't believe it, it's true, it's all true.
08:40 Veterans were outraged, calling the video a desecration of a historic site.
08:45 Not only is the video a camp classic, but it's loaded with enough suggestive imagery and subtext to keep Freud up at night.
08:53 "And you loved me, loved me like you used to do."
08:59 Number 2. When she won an Oscar for "Moonstruck".
09:02 You look beautiful. Your hair.
09:07 Yeah, I had it done.
09:08 Cher is the original queen of reinvention.
09:11 After dazzling on the pop charts and television for almost 20 years, Cher began the next phase of her career, serious acting.
09:20 She made her Broadway debut in 1982, but when she tried to move into film, people were not necessarily open to that idea.
09:28 Snap out of it!
09:33 That was until we realized she was an incredible actor.
09:37 Her unforgettable performance as the widow Loretta Castorini in "Moonstruck" actually earned Cher her second Oscar nomination.
09:45 When she won the award, it meant so much more because it was her peers who gave it to her, even though many of them were probably her biggest skeptics.
09:54 They may laugh in the beginning, but they won't be laughing at the end.
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10:13 Cher underwent another reinvention in 1998 when she pivoted to dance music with the "Believe" album.
10:25 She was 52 when she dominated a genre thought to be the domain of young up-and-comers.
10:31 What am I supposed to do?
10:34 Sit around and wait for you?
10:37 Well, I can't do that.
10:39 With the ubiquitous single, Cher largely popularized autotune as an artistic choice.
10:45 While some singers have been criticized for needing digital enhancement to even pass for credible vocalists,
10:51 she had over 30 years of powerhouse vocals under her belt by then.
10:56 The song is also notable for how empowering it is.
11:04 Anyone can sing about perseverance after a breakup, but from a legend like Cher, it sounds like gospel.
11:11 Despite having had a number one single in seven different decades, "Believe" is still her signature song.
11:23 Which moment made you fall in love with Cher? Drop your fave in the comments.
11:28 Remember, I lost the Oscar for "Moonstruck."
11:31 But you won the Oscar for "Moonstruck."
11:37 And don't you forget it.
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11:48 [music]