We may receive an affiliate commission from anything you buy from this article.In "Cher: The Memoir – Part One" (to be published November 19 by HarperCollins), the singer-actress writes of her early years in the music business, including her partnership and marriage with Sonny Bono.The duo had eight Top 20 hits in the 1960s and '70s, and their TV series, "The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour," was a ratings bonanza. Read an excerpt below, in which she recounts attending, at age 11, an event that would change the direction of her life: an Elvis Presley concert.
And don't miss Anthony Mason's interview with Cher on "CBS Sunday Morning" November 17!"Cher: The Memoir – Part One" $25 at Amazon Prefer to listen? Audible has a 30-day free trial available right now.Try Audible for free PREFACE Los Angeles, Summer 1956Staring at the television open-mouthed, I let my peanut butter and jelly sandwich drop onto the plate in my lap as chills ran up and down my body.Home alone after school, I was sitting cross-legged (my favorite position, still) on the floor in front of the TV enjoying the peace and quiet and watching my favorite show, American Bandstand.
"And now, ladies and gentlemen, Ray Charles," Dick Clark announced as the camera panned to a handsome man in sunglasses sitting at a piano."Georgia, Georgia ..
.," he began, and I burst into tears.
I couldn't believe he was singing a song about my mom.As tears dripped onto my sandwich, I'd never felt more connected to anything in my life.
Ray Charles's voice and the melody seemed to express exactly how I felt.It took me weeks to get over seeing him sing, and in some ways, I never did, but then someone whose songs I first heard on the radio blew a hole in my understanding of the world and I was never, ever the same.
As I stared at the TV with my mom watching The Ed Sullivan Show, a popular young singer named Elvis Presley fill...