Rock & Roll Hall of Fame 2024: Cher Claims She “Changed the Sound of Music Forever”
After years of being overlooked, Cher has finally been inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, joking that “it was easier getting divorced from two men than it was getting in.” Her long-awaited induction follows her public criticism last year, when she expressed frustration over her exclusion during an interview with Kelly Clarkson. Despite being one of only two artists to achieve No. 1 hits across seven decades—the other being The Rolling Stones, who were inducted in 2010—Cher had repeatedly been passed over for the honour.
“And I’m not in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame! You know what, I wouldn’t be in it now if they gave me a million dollars. I’m not kidding you,” she said.
“I’m never going to change my mind,” she continued. “They can just you-know-what themselves.” She then said she “changed music forever” with her 1998 hit ‘Believe’ one of the best-selling singles of all time and pioneered the use of AutoTune in music.
During the ceremony, Cher echoed similar feelings during her induction speech, reaffirming that the iconic track she performed with Dua Lipa “changed the sound of music forever.” She began by expressing gratitude to her “guardian” David Geffen for writing a letter to the Hall of Fame directors and “for caring so much.” Cher also paid tribute to the strength her mother instilled in her, saying, “the one thing I got from my mom is that I never gave up.”
“I’m lucky, I’ve had really bad things happen – I was dropped by four labels,” she continued. “When it was completely over, I did ‘Believe’ and it was like, “yes!” I’ve just been really lucky, and I have had number ones for seven decades, which surprises me, because I’m a good singer [but] I’m not a great singer. You know what? I’ll take it. And also, I changed the sound of music forever, all right? And and ‘Believe’ really changed the sound of music.”
She said the song was “kind of a b**ch in the beginning” and it came together by accident after she argued with her producer about it. “I went, “Dude, if you want it better, get another singer, because I can’t do it better.” And then he called me later in the afternoon. He said, ‘Cher, I’ve been playing around with the pitch machine, and I think I got something.’ So I went back and sitting down, and he started to play it. And it was like “Jesus”.
She reminisced about the moment, recalling how they jumped in the air and high-fived each other after the “incredible” experience.
“And then the head of my record company, who I adore, said, ‘we can’t do that because no one will know that it’s you’. I went, ‘Yes, yes. That’s the deal. That’s the great part.’ My life has been a rollercoaster and and the one thing that I have never done is I never give up.”
Cher rounded-off by addressing women, saying: “We’ve been down and out, and we keep striving, and we keep going, and we keep building, and we are somebody. We are special. As my mom would say, we’re special.”
Cher’s induction comes on the heels of her September release, ‘Forever’, and precedes the launch of her upcoming two-part memoir. The first volume of the music legend’s memoir will be released on November 19 through HarperCollins, with the second part slated for release next year.
–Silviya.Y