9 November 2024
Cher shot to stardom in the UK after being kicked out of a London hotel.
Cher was virtually unknown when she arrived in London
The 78-year-old icon and her ex-husband, Sonny Bono, visited the UK for the first time in the mid-1960s, having already enjoyed some success in the US, and Cher feels that a confrontation with a hotel employee actually catapulted her to stardom.
In 'Cher: The Memoir' - excerpts of which have been serialised in the Daily Mail newspaper - she explains: "Staring at us over the rim of his spectacles, the man behind the desk at the London Hilton gazed at my striped bell-bottoms and my husband Sonny's ruffled shirt and caveman-style fur vest as if he had an unpleasant smell under his nose.
"'I'm sorry, sir,' he said. 'We don't have any reservations in that name and our hotel is completely full.'
"As he walked away, Sonny leaned over to look at the leather-bound register and found our names entered in ink.
"The man returned. 'As I explained, Mr Bono, the hotel is full.' He was so dismissive and arrogant, I could have cried."
Despite this, Cher now considers the incident to be a turning point in her career.
The chart-topping star - who was married to Sonny between 1964 and 1975 - explained: "As far as I was concerned, no one in England even knew what Sonny Cher was, but by the time we reached the Hilton's revolving doors, escorted in person by the manager, there were two reporters standing outside.
"'Sonny, Cher, did the Hilton just kick you out?' they asked. 'Was it because of how you look?'
"Too exhausted to speak, I let Sonny handle everything. When the journalists had what they wanted, he hailed a taxi to take us to another hotel where the bed was lumpy, there was no TV and water trickled out of the shower.
"We slept for 12 hours straight and by the time we'd bathed and dressed, we were famous."
English (US) ·