Cher

Born Cheryl Sarkisian in El Centro, California. Armenian and Cherokee heritage. Her mother is a model and actress who will marry eight times. Cher drops out of school at 16 and moves to Los Angeles.

"I Got You Babe" with Sonny Bono. She's 19. It hits number one in the US and UK. They look strange together, sound perfect together, and become the couple America watches on television for the next decade.

The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour debuts on CBS. 30 million viewers a week. She's the funny one. Sharp, deadpan, taller than him. "Gypsys, Tramps & Thieves" goes to number one. Then "Half-Breed." Then "Dark Lady." Three consecutive chart-toppers.

Wins Best Actress at the Academy Awards for Moonstruck. She arrives in a see-through Bob Mackie gown. She's been told she'd never be taken seriously as an actress. Silkwood, Mask, The Witches of Eastwick, and now an Oscar. She's 41.

"Believe" pioneers Auto-Tune as a vocal effect. The "Cher effect." She's 52. It becomes the UK's best-selling single by a female artist and hits number one in 23 countries. Dance music producers steal the trick within months.

Launches the Living Proof: The Farewell Tour. It grosses $250 million, then the highest-grossing tour by a female artist. She'll do several more "farewell" tours. The goodbye never quite arrives.

Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at 78. The only performer to hold an Oscar, a Grammy, an Emmy, and a Rock Hall induction. Number-one singles across seven consecutive decades, from the 1960s through the 2020s. Nobody else has done that.