“Sonny [Bono] and I still aren’t in the [Rock and Roll] Hall of Fame, and it just seems kind of rude. Sonny was a good writer, and we started something that no one else was doing. We were weird hippies before there was a name for it, when the Beatles were wearing sweet little haircuts and round-collared suits…. We influenced a generation, and it’s like: What more do you want?”--Cher, quoted in Krista Smith, “Forever Cher,” Vanity Fair, December 2010
What more do you want? Well, Cher, since you’ve asked: Talent, not notoriety or even celebrity.
What more do you want? Well, Cher, since you’ve asked: Talent, not notoriety or even celebrity.
You talk about influence, but your reference point is style rather than music itself.
Sonny, “a good writer”? Debatable, at best. You can’t really be claiming that he influenced lyrics or composition, or that you, alone or with him, made an impact on other singers or musicians.
Actually, the only comment more preposterous than Cher’s above is the following from Smith: “Cher’s body has remained impressively unchanged throughout her career. She has openly admitted to having had work done on her nose, mouth, and breasts, but…”
Where were Smith’s editors when they got to that second sentence? Didn’t they realize it flagrantly contradicted the first?
It seems evident, from most of Cher’s statements here and in her appearance on David Letterman a few weeks ago, that she has a sense of humor, and it’s nice that she’s endured the nasty world of show business with most of her sanity intact. But her sense of self-importance is out of proportion to her accomplishments.
Not that this is a problem in entertainment--or, for that matter, politics, which, as James Carville has memorably reminded us, is “show business for ugly people.”
Actually, the only comment more preposterous than Cher’s above is the following from Smith: “Cher’s body has remained impressively unchanged throughout her career. She has openly admitted to having had work done on her nose, mouth, and breasts, but…”
Where were Smith’s editors when they got to that second sentence? Didn’t they realize it flagrantly contradicted the first?
It seems evident, from most of Cher’s statements here and in her appearance on David Letterman a few weeks ago, that she has a sense of humor, and it’s nice that she’s endured the nasty world of show business with most of her sanity intact. But her sense of self-importance is out of proportion to her accomplishments.
Not that this is a problem in entertainment--or, for that matter, politics, which, as James Carville has memorably reminded us, is “show business for ugly people.”
2 comments:
I think Little Richard was also quite peeved several years back that he still hadn't been recognized for all the contributions he has made. I like/admire Cher because she does make a statement and has influenced generations. But, you do make some good points, especially about talent versus notoriety and being a celebrity. However, I wonder does everyone in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame have talent?
Little Richard was actually one of the original 10 inductees into the Hall of Fame back in the mid-Eighties. However, he is probably peeved--and rightly so--that he, Chuck Berry, and other black R&B artists had their records slighted by white deejays in the early days. In recent years, women such as Joni Mitchell and Laura Nyro have found it tougher than men to be recognized by the Hall. Sexism remains a huge problem in the industry.
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