Cher’s real name is the world’s dullest surprise: 3 more exciting things about the singer

Cher always thought her real name was Cherilyn. Then she found out it was Cheryl.

The end.

The story could be summed up that simply, but the 78-year-old singer, actor and icon of all things fabulous devoted a little more time to it in her recently released book, “Cher: The Memoir, Part One.�

“I believed Cherilyn was my name until the day years later when I decided to legally change my name to simply Cher,� E! Online reported.

Books

Cher’s rise to stardom and rocky romance with Sonny Bono come into focus in new memoir

Volume 1 of the singer’s long-awaited life story covers roughly the period from her birth to 1980, when Cher, a twice-divorced single mother with two children, found herself at a professional crossroads.

Nov. 19, 2024

It was then that the “Believe� singer discovered that mom Georgia Holt had inadvertently put “Cheryl� on the birth certificate. Holt had planned to combine Cheryl — inspired by the name of Lana Turner’s daughter — with her own mother’s name, Lynda. Cherilyn.

In response to what Cher said was her shock, her mom had a fitting response: “Give me a break.�

As Page Six outlines, Holt told her daughter, “I was only a teenager, and I was in a lot of pain.�

Plus, big deal. Cher’s new memoir, fortunately, gets juicier. She delves into her relationships with Sonny Bono and Gregg Allman. As Page Six notes, she names Val Kilmer as the only man who ever dumped her.

Movies

Move over, Michael Douglas. Michael Keaton wants to start using his real name

Michael Keaton intends to use a hybrid of his stage name and his birth name, which he sidelined in the 1970s because there was already a Michael Douglas in SAG.

Sept. 5, 2024

Here is a trio of other little-known but much more interesting Cher facts:

• Cher’s early childhood was tough. Her father abandoned the family not long after she was born, and she was briefly placed in a home for children and unwed mothers, according to The Times’ review of the memoir.
  
• Cher tells in the memoir how, as a 15-year-old, she made out with actor Warren Beatty, 25, in his swimming pool. She had borrowed Natalie Wood’s bathing suit. Wood was Beatty’s paramour at the time and co-star in “Splendor in the Grass.â€�

• Another tidbit she revealed to “Todayâ€�: She once turned to comedy legend Lucille Ball for relationship advice. “I told her, ‘Lucy, I want to leave Sonny and you’re the only one I know that’s ever been in this same situation. What should I do?’â€� Ball, in colorful language, advised that she exit the marriage.