She said no to a performance at the opening ceremonies at the Olympics because in Russia you will be arrested for a crime if you are openly gay. I am talking about the performing icon Cher. She is one of the few people that has been performing for the past 50 years and she is still not done. People of any age know of her because she has been entertaining us all for many   decades. It all started in 1965 when her song, I Got You Babe was a huge hit when she was known as Sonny and Cher. She recently released a new album as she is approaching 70 years old and it is not old fart songs but some of the best dance tracks being played in the hottest dance clubs.

Cher appeared in her first television special in 1975. It was her first solo appearance after the breakup with her husband Sonny. Ironically the show featured guests Elton John and Bette Midler where they all played elderly performers 10 years later in an old age home. All of them still have strong careers with new generations of kids knowing their names and their music.  Her career has kept us busy following her. One of her most famous songs is If I Could Turn Back Time. And she says she hates getting older.

Cher spent nearly half a century in show business breaking through in the 60’s with Sonny. Went solo in the 70’s and won an Oscar in the 80’s for her work in the movie Moonstruck. She became a dance queen in the 90’s wearing exotic outfits on her perfect slender body always showing off her long slender legs along the way. At 67 years old she is still feisty. She told the Rock Hall of Fame to go F themselves and doesn’t need to be in their house since she has been in everyone’s house throughout the ages.

She sold more than one hundred million records worldwide. This past fall she released her most recent album in more than a decade. It is called Closer to the Truth. Cher wanted to be a star since she was 4 years old. Her mother is now 87 years old and is as feisty as Cher after going through eight marriages.  Her mom an actress always told Cher to be special. They had their rough spots especially when Cher moved out of the house at age 16 then returned with Sonny Bono who was eleven years older than Cher.  There would not be   any Madonna, Lady Gaga or even Katy Perry without Cher who paved the way for the heavily costumed singing divas that followed in her footsteps that haven’t stopped walking yet.

The only starring   role she has had in a movie in the past decade was a part in the movie called Burlesque. At a certain age looks really matter. She is too old to look young but she looks too young to be old so what can you say about her? What could be next for the legend who has already left her prints in cement at the Chinese Theater pathway who has a sprawling mansion overlooking the ocean in Malibu? When she was approached to sing in Russia at the Olympics she decided to take a stand for human rights and decline the offer. Russia’s strict anti-gay laws would just offend all her gay fans too much.   In a way she is a  spokeswoman   for their rights.

Next year when she turns 68 years old she plans to go on tour again. She has had so many chapters to her life and the book is not over.  I wonder if we could all have such an interesting life filled with many chapters.