Cher’s Family: See Photos Of The Pop Diva With Kids Chaz & Elijah

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December 22, 2021 7:45AM EST
Cher
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Cher is one of the most accomplished singers and actresses of the 20th century, in addition to being a mother of two. After making her debut in the 1960s, the triple-threat quickly rose to success with her future husband Sonny Bono, and the pair went on to star in two TV series. While the duo’s marriage ended in divorce in 1975, they continued working together on ‘The Sonny & Cher Show.’ Shortly after splitting from Sonny, the musical icon married classic rocker Gregg Allman, but the pair’s marriage also ended in divorce in 1979. She has a child from each marriage. Throughout the 1980s, Cher built a successful film career, while continuing to work on solo music. In 1988, she won an Oscar for ‘Best Leading Actress’ for her performance in ‘Moonstruck’. During the 90s, she experienced another career surge with the success of “Believe,” which remains one of her biggest hits.

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Cher’s Family: See Photos Of The Pop Diva With Kids Chaz & Elijah

Cher’s Family: See Photos Of The Pop Diva With Kids Chaz & Elijah
Bei/Shutterstock

Cher is one of the most accomplished singers and actresses of the 20th century, in addition to being a mother of two. After making her debut in the 1960s, the triple-threat quickly rose to success with her future husband Sonny Bono, and the pair went on to star in two TV series. While the duo’s marriage ended in divorce in 1975, they continued working together on ‘The Sonny & Cher Show.’ Shortly after splitting from Sonny, the musical icon married classic rocker Gregg Allman, but the pair’s marriage also ended in divorce in 1979. She has a child from each marriage.

Throughout the 1980s, Cher built a successful film career, while continuing to work on solo music. In 1988, she won an Oscar for ‘Best Leading Actress’ for her performance in ‘Moonstruck’. During the 90s, she experienced another career surge with the success of “Believe,” which remains one of her biggest hits.

Cher and her son Elijah attend the premiere of ‘Ghost World’ in 2001. (Left).

Scroll through our gallery to see photos of Cher with her kids over the years.

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Chaz Bono In 2021

Chaz Bono In 2021
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Chaz Bono smiles at the LA premiere of ‘Reboot Camp’ on Sep. 19, 2021. Cher’s first child was born Chastity Bono in March 1969. In 2009, he came out as a transgender man, and he’s been working as an actor ever since.

At the time of Chaz’s transition, Cher said, “I admire my son Chaz’s courage for sharing his personal journey. Most important to me is that he is very happy. That’s what I care about the most. He has my love and support.”

But Cher admitted she wasn’t initially thrilled when Chaz first came out. During a Dec. 2020 interview, she corrected CNN’s Christiane Amanpour when the anchor said Cher was always behind Chaz’s LGBT identity.

“No, that’s not exactly true,” she said. “I did. It was very unlike me to — in the beginning — have a problem with Chaz being gay, and it disappeared like that. And then we talked about transgender for many years, and she would say, ‘No I don’t want to do it,’ and then he went and said, ‘OK I want to do this.'”

“It wasn’t easy,” Cher added. “Like I remember calling, and the old message — the old Chaz message was on the phone — and that was very difficult. But then you have one child, but you don’t really lose them — they just are in a different shape.”

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Cher & Chaz Bono in 2019

Cher & Chaz Bono in 2019
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Cher puts her arm around Chaz Bono at the 2010 ‘Burlesque’ premiere. Chaz suited up, while Cher looked stunning in a little black dress.

Chaz talked about overcoming people’s assumptions about him as an actor with The Hollywood Reporter in 2015. “The immediate assumption is that I’m not a real actor and that I’m not battle-tested in that arena, there’s no credibility,” he said, “I really have to get people to forget about who I am to be successful.”

The actor also noted, “[It’s] hard to get people to start to think of you differently. I’m just trying to get those few breaks, those few independent films under my belt, so people can actually see my work so that I can start working,

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Elijah Blue Allman In 2006

Elijah Blue Allman In 2006
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Elijah Blue Allman at a 2006 concert. Elijah also pursued a musical career, and plays with the metal band Deadsy. He sometimes goes by the stage name P. Exeter Blue.

Elijah was given his first guitar by KISS rocker Gene Simmons when he was 13, according to the Huffington Post. He famously appeared in the music video for his mom’s song “If I Could Turn Back Time” in 1989 and also toured with his mom. Elijah auditioned for a spot as a guitarist for Nine Inch Nails in 1994, but now-longtime collaborator Robin Finck ended up earning the spot.

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Elijah Blue Allman In 2002

Elijah Blue Allman In 2002
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Elijah Blue Allman attended his mom’s 2002 New York concert. He rocked a green polo and blue hat, while enjoying his mom’s performance.

Elijah opened up about the tougher parts of growing up with famous parents to Entertainment Tonight in 2015, saying he sometimes felt “shunned” after being sent away to boarding school. “When you go to boarding school at 7 years old, it’s kind of hard to feel like you’re not being shunned,” he explained. “But I’m at an age where I’m making peace with it because you just have to. But I still…it doesn’t mean it’s right. It’s still wrong to do that.”

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Chaz Bono In 2019

Chaz Bono In 2019
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Chaz Bono hopped out of his car in January 2019. The actor was dressed plainly in a black t-shirt and jeans.

Cher said that Chaz is “is so happy, so unbelievably happy” since transitioning. In her 2020 CNN interview, she defended her son, saying, “I and I don’t know what the people’s problems are. They’re fearful, and they just don’t understand how to react to it. Some of it’s religious, I’m just not sure why it’s such a big thing.”

“I talk to people on Twitter, or people come up to me, and I just say, ‘You know, just relax, and you guys will get through it, you’ll get through it together.'”

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Cher & Elijah Allman At The ‘Popeye’ Premiere In 1980

Cher & Elijah Allman At The ‘Popeye’ Premiere In 1980
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Elijah Blue Allman sweetly held his mom’s hand while at the premiere of ‘Popeye’ in 1980. Cher sweetly brought her little boy to the show for the family classic movie.

Elliot said while his childhood wasn’t exactly typical, he wasn’t raised in a bad environment. He told Entertainment Tonight, “It wasn’t like a s**, d**** and rock and roll household, but you know there were a lot of big parties and there was an era for that. I mean like when I was a little kid like in the 80s there was a lot of that, you know. I mean I remember Andy Warhol coming over to the house and things like that, I didn’t appreciate what that was at that time.”

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Chaz Bono At ‘The Danish Girl’ Premiere In 2015

Chaz Bono At ‘The Danish Girl’ Premiere In 2015
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Chaz Bono walked the red carpet for the Los Angeles premiere of ‘The Danish Girl’ in Nov. 2015. He sported a gray blazer and black slacks for the occasion.

Talking about the film in a tweet after the screening, Chaz admitted, “‘The Danish Girl’ is an unbelievable film, beautiful performances, and amazing cinematography, but for me it was hard to watch.”

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Cher & Elijah Blue Allman At The 70th Academy Awards In 1998

Cher & Elijah Blue Allman At The 70th Academy Awards In 1998
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Cher brought Elijah Blue Allman along with her to the 1998 Oscars. Eljiah rocked a black tux, while his mom looked gorgeous in an off-white, sheer gown.

Elijah talked about his connection with Chaz growing up during a chat with ET. “We were close,” he said, adding, “I think what happened was Chaz went off to a performing arts school back east and I went off back east as well, later to prep school, and so from there we kind of took different paths. But for a minute growing up we were kind of close, yeah… we kind of grew apart when we started going to different schools and just not being geographically around each other.”

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Sonny, Cher & Chaz In 1972

Sonny, Cher & Chaz In 1972
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Chaz Bono rose to fame by appearing alongside his dad Sonny and mom Cher in episodes of their comedy-variety series. 

Chaz revealed how his father inspired his acting while playing a mathematician in a stage production of ‘Proof’ in 2015. “We all pull from different places, and I pulled a few things from my dad’s personality that I think works well,” he told People. “I’m not a parent and I’ve never had kids, but I remember our close relationship from the other side, and I tried to flip it a little bit to find the specialness of it from a father’s perspective.”

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Cher & Chaz Bono In 2010

Cher & Chaz Bono In 2010
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Chaz Bono and his mom sweetly posed at Los Angeles’ Chinese Theater in 2010. Cher stunned in a black mini-dress, while Chaz sported a matching all-black look.

Cher said she “really like being a mother,” in an interview with Closer in 2017. “I’ve got children that are absolutely the best thing in the world.”

She reflected on how her career affected her kids on ‘Dr. Phil’ back in 2004, saying she wishes her kids “would’ve had more stability.” She went on, “It’s really hard in my job. It doesn’t necessarily mix well with having children. It’s like Kate Hepburn said, ‘If you’re going to do this job, don’t have kids.’ But I wanted them. My life would have been nothing without them.”

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