On her 79th birthday, Cher shows no signs of slowing down. Born Cherilyn Sarkisian on May 20, 1946, she’s cemented her status as a generational icon across music, film, television, fashion, and even gelato-making over the last 60 years.
Although the proclaimed “Goddess of Pop”—with that signature contralto voice and 31 albums under her sparkly belt—announced her retirement from the music business in 2024, Cher remains in demand: Hollywood producer Niels Juul shared at the Cannes Film Festival that he had approached her for a role in a film about the dermatologist Ole Henriksen.
Of course, the drama (and charisma) that courses through her records has also shown up in her acclaimed acting career, marked by roles in Silkwood, Mask, and Moonstruck (the latter of which won her an Oscar). But while we await further word both on that Henriksen project and the self-produced biopic that Cher teased back on her 75th birthday, at least we have the release of her memoir’s second part to look forward to this fall.
In the spirit of Cher fever—which never really goes away, does it?—here, Vogue takes a look at the best beauty looks, fashion statements, and pop culture-expanding moments from the show-stopping, larger-than-life superstar. As she once said: “All of us invent ourselves. Some of us just have more imagination than others.”
1946
Cher and her mother, Georgia Holt, in 1946.
1959
In her first modeling photo, at just 15.
1960
Spending Christmas in New York with her mother; her sister, Gee; and her stepfather Gilbert LaPiere.
1960
London calling in puffs of fur.
1965
Sonny and Cher clowning about, as they liked to do, in 1965.
1965
Sonny and Cher at London’s Hilton Hotel, where they had previously been refused entry due to their outfits.
1966
Sonny and Cher arrive at London on the heels of their successful first album, 1965’s Look at Us.
1967
Framed by her heavy black bangs, Cher’s bluish eye makeup feels classically ’60s.
1968
Touching up her makeup in the mirror.
1972
She knows the power of a single hue on the eyes, lips, cheeks—and in this case, matches them to her nails, too.
1973
Showing off her enviable abs with Sonny at the Academy Awards. (Decades later, Kim Kardashian would channel this look for Halloween 2017. Cher’s reaction? High praise: “You Look BEAUTIFUL Little Armenian Sister,” she wrote on X.)
1974
Lashes for days—along with purple frosted eyeshadow and a glossy lip—at the 46th Academy Awards.
1974
In an outtake from a 1974 Vogue story, shot by Richard Avedon, wearing a gown designed by Bob Mackie and Ray Aghayan.
1974
A frothy drink paired well with a fuzzy outfit for the opening night of the The Rocky Horror Picture Show stage musical at the Roxy Theater.
1975
Leave it to Cher, resplendent in baby-blue eyeshadow, to pull off a dress as revealing as this one. (Well, Cher or Zendaya, who paid homage in fall 2001 Bob Mackie couture at last year’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony.)
1975
A stellar outfit paired with a cheeky cig.
1977
An unbeatable tan makes Cher total summer goals in 1977.
1977
All smiles in a dusting of pink eyeshadow, a colorful string top, and dark, wavy lengths in 1977.
1978
Behold the bodysuit, the nails, and the windswept hair in the late ’70s.
1978
Giving blue steel in a 1978 shoot.
1978
A portrait of the artist in her most comfy casuals, at home in Los Angeles.
1981
Balancing son Elijah Blue Allman on her gold-studded hip in Hollywood.
1983
Embracing brightly colored eyeshadow to stunning effect.
1985
A rather impressive mullet in the ’80s.
1985
Looking downright statuesque at the 1985 Met Gala, where the theme was “Costumes of Royal India.”
1986
Wearing a larger-than-life headdress like nobody’s business.
1997
Shopping at Red Balloon in Washington, DC, with her then partner Gregg Allman, the same year their joint album, Two the Hard Way, came out. The pair were married just days after Cher finalized her divorce from Sonny in 1975.
1999
From the brushed-up brows to the bejeweled hair, Cher shines on.
2000
Cher catches a toy bunny from a fan during a concert in San Jose.
2010
Wearing her raven hair in gentle, glossy curls with her trademark lashings of mascara.
2017
Voluminous perm, anyone?
