IT’S CLASSIC CHER
She’s not ready to retire yet
Cher is not finished.
The iconic singer-actress is returning to the stage next year for a series of performances in the U.S. because, well, she can’t imagine not working, not even at 70. Despite bidding fans farewell in past tours, Cher is not prepared to say her final goodbye.
“Someday, I will be finished,” she said during an interview to promote her Classic Cher residency tour, including shows at venues in Las Vegas and Oxon Hill, Md. “That’s really what I’ve said to myself: ‘Someday, you won’t be able to do this, but you’re able to right now.’ It’s like my mom misses driving. My mom loved driving. She can’t do it anymore.”
The pop legend’s residency, which launches Feb. 8 in Las Vegas, will feature both revival performances and new takes on classic songs. Here, the unabashedly honest artist tackled an array of topics: On why her new show is called Classic Cher: “Oh, it’s just some bull (expletive) word. It’s because I’m going to try and distil my career and let everybody remember and see who I was, what I did and try not to disappoint people, like I hate it if I go to a concert and they don’t do the songs I want to hear.” On whether she would perform with a Sonny Bono hologram: “No, a hologram doesn’t work for an arena because it doesn’t bend, so we do a big screen and angle it because it’s mostly him singing. We found all these videos where he’s facing me and I can sing facing him. It works out really well.” On reviving one of her favourite past performances: “There’s a song that I love that was a hit called After All. One time, when I was in Vegas, I did it in this amazing boat. It came out of the mist .... It made the song seem so much more mysterious and poignant and whatever, but few people saw it, so I’m going to bring that back and the costume I wore because the costume is beautiful.” On the presidential election: “I can’t even bring myself to watch the debates. That’s how emotionally involved I am.”