Cher

Cher has had a No. 1 hit on a Billboard chart in every decade from the 1960s to the 2020s, a run of longevity no other recording artist has matched. In 1998, at fifty-two, she released "Believe," built around a heavily processed vocal effect that made Auto-Tune famous, and it became the biggest hit of her career. She was, at the time, the oldest woman to top the Billboard Hot 100.

She was born Cherilyn Sarkisian on May 20, 1946, in El Centro, California, at 7:25 in the morning, the time usually given for her birth. Saturn in Cancer sits in her first house, and Cancer is her rising sign. Saturn on the Ascendant is associated with endurance, resilience and achievement that lasts, often after early hardship. Cher's childhood was unstable; her mother, the actress and model Georgia Holt, married several times and struggled financially, and Cher, who has dyslexia, left school at sixteen.

Her Sun is in the last degree of Taurus, with Mercury also in Taurus, both in the eleventh house of audiences and groups. Taurus is linked with the voice, and Cher's deep contralto is one of the most recognizable sounds in pop. Taurus is also stubborn and enduring, which suits a performer who has outlasted nearly every trend.

Her Moon is in Capricorn and falls in the seventh house, where marriages are read. A Capricorn Moon is mature and practical, and in the seventh it often describes a partner who is older or who takes on a guiding role. At sixteen Cher met Sonny Bono, who was eleven years older, and as Sonny & Cher they became stars with "I Got You Babe" in 1965 and later The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour on television. The partnership was also a business arrangement in which, she later said, he controlled the money.

Venus and Uranus, both in Gemini, fall in her twelfth house. Uranus brings sudden change and eccentricity. Cher reinvented her look again and again, wearing the spectacular gowns of the designer Bob Mackie, including a feathered headdress at the 1986 Oscars.

Mars and Pluto in Leo sit in her second house of income and values, describing fierce independence about money and identity. After divorcing Sonny in 1975, she rebuilt her career on her own terms, as a solo singer and as an actress. She won the best actress prize at Cannes for Mask, and the Academy Award for Moonstruck in 1988.

Jupiter and Neptune, in Libra, lie in her fourth house, tied to the family she raised. Her children, Chaz Bono and Elijah Blue Allman, have both been in the public eye; Chaz came out as transgender in 2009, and Cher later became a public supporter, while admitting it had taken her time to adjust.

Rock's hall of fame inducted her in 2024, and she published the first part of her memoir that year. The Taurus Sun gave her the voice; the Saturn on her Ascendant gave her the staying power.