Cher reveals “shock” at learning her real name was not what she thought

Cher has revealed the “shock” she experienced when she learned that her real birth name was not what she had grown up believing it was.

The pop legend released Cher: The Memoir, Part One on Tuesday (November 19), bringing fans new insights into her childhood and early career as well as her experience with fame in the ‘60s and ‘70s.

Among the revelations is the tale of when she discovered a copy of her birth certificate in 1979, only to find out that her legally documented first name was Cheryl, and not Cherilyn as she had always believed.

As reported by People, Cher wrote: “I believed Cherilyn was my name until the day years later when I decided to legally change my name to simply Cher.”

The singer was born on May 20, 1946 in El Centro, California, and was long thought to have been given the name Cherilyn Sarkisian. Her 19-year-old mother Georgia Holt was asked by a nurse after a long labour what she wanted to name the baby, and as Cher recounted, “My mother had no idea, but the woman insisted so she replied, ‘Well, Lana Turner’s my favourite actress and her little girl’s called Cheryl. My mother’s name is Lynda, so how about Cherilyn?’”

It would later transpire that the nurse wrote down the name as Cheryl and that is what ended up on the birth certificate, much to Holt’s surprise. The ‘Believe’ star legally changed her name to just Cher in 1979, dropping Sarkisian as well as her married names Bono and Allman.

The new memoir also includes the story of how Tina Turner once asked Cher for advice on how to leave her abusive husband Ike, and included details of Cher’s own abusive relationship with Sonny Bono, to whom she was married from 1964 to 1975.

Cher claims Bono “seriously thought” about killing her by throwing her off a balcony. Bono apparently made the admission to Cher after she revealed she wanted to sleep with their guitarist, referred to as “Bill” in the memoir.

Cher wrote: “He laughed a little at that and so did I. It was crazy that he was telling me. He went on: ‘I figured I’d plead insanity like Spade Cooley and get seven years in jail before they released me. Then I’d get a book deal and my own show.’”

Cher responded by telling Bono that “there would have been no need to push” her because she was “gonna jump” anyway.

She called it the “darkest moment” of their marriage and added: “I don’t think for a minute that Sonny would have actually pushed me off the balcony, but I’m sure it crossed his mind, and he knew that jumping off had also crossed mine. What else could we do but laugh?”