It finally happened. After decades of rumors, missed connections, and Howard basically begging on air, the "Goddess of Pop" actually sat in the studio.
Cher on Howard Stern was the interview everyone said would never take place. For years, Howard’s fans knew he’d poked the bear—mostly by making jokes about her age or her various high-profile boyfriends back in the 90s. But in late 2024, the stars aligned. Cher had a memoir to sell (Cher: The Memoir, Part One), a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction to celebrate, and apparently, a sudden willingness to forgive the King of All Media for his past sins.
The Interview Nobody Thought Would Happen
Honestly, the energy was weirdly respectful. Howard didn't do the "shock jock" thing. Instead, he treated her like the institution she is. You’ve got to remember, Cher has lived roughly twelve different lives. She’s been a teenage runaway, a variety show queen, an Oscar winner, and a dance music icon.
When she walked in wearing a black hoodie and dark jeans, she looked—well, she looked like Cher. Ageless and somehow cooler than everyone else in the building. Howard immediately jumped into the big question: Why now? Why did it take forty years to do this show?
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Cher’s answer was basically that she doesn't hold onto stuff. Or maybe she just forgot why she was mad. But the conversation quickly shifted to the meat of her life—specifically the guys who tried to control her and the ones who actually got away.
The Val Kilmer Revelation
This was the part that blew up on social media immediately. Howard, being Howard, asked: "Who would ever leave you?"
Most people assume Cher is the one who does the dumping. She’s powerful, she’s rich, she’s... Cher. But she got surprisingly vulnerable. She admitted that Val Kilmer was the one who broke her heart.
- The Age Gap: They met in 1982 when she was 36 and he was 22.
- The Vibe: She called him "Valus Maximus" and described him as "exasperating and hysterical."
- The End: He left her. She told Howard that sometimes people are only meant to stay in your life for a season, especially when they’re that young.
It was a refreshing moment of honesty. Usually, celebrities of her caliber have these polished, PR-approved stories about their exes. She just sounded like a woman who really liked a guy who wasn't ready to settle down.
Sonny Bono and the Money
You can't talk about Cher without talking about Sonny. But the way she talked about him with Howard was darker than the Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour would lead you to believe.
She got into the weeds about how he controlled her money. It wasn't just "business management." It was total financial lockdown. She told Howard that when she finally left him, she had almost nothing. He had basically set up the contracts so that he owned everything, including her.
Howard, who has his own complicated history with contracts and fame, seemed genuinely fascinated by the "grit" it took for her to walk away from a hit TV show and a global brand just to be free. She said she felt like she had to be a "grownup" from the age of three because her childhood was so chaotic, living in and out of foster homes while her mother struggled.
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Highlights from the Sit-down:
- Elvis Presley: Seeing him at 11 changed her life. She didn't want to marry him; she wanted to be him.
- Jimi Hendrix: She recalled meeting him and being totally starstruck, which is wild to think about now.
- The Rock Hall: She didn't hold back. She told Howard she "didn't give a flying fuck" about being inducted until it actually happened. She felt the industry ignored women for way too long.
The "Younger Men" Conversation
Of course, they talked about Alexander "AE" Edwards. He’s 40 years younger than her.
Cher’s logic is pretty simple, and she laid it out for Howard: Men her own age are mostly dead. And the ones who are alive? They're intimidated by her. Younger men, she says, were raised by women like her—independent, loud, and successful. They aren't scared of her "Cher-ness."
Howard pushed a bit on whether her family is worried about her, but she basically brushed it off. At 78, she’s clearly at a point where she does what she wants. If people think it's a "red flag" that she’s giving him creative control over her new music, she doesn't seem to care. She’s been through enough managers and husbands to know how to handle herself.
Why This Interview Mattered
For Howard Stern fans, this was a "White Whale" moment. For Cher fans, it was the most unfiltered she’s been in years. The interview worked because Howard has shifted into this "elder statesman of long-form interviews" role, and Cher is finally ready to tell her side of the story before the "Part Two" of her memoir drops.
She didn't shy away from her struggles with dyslexia or the fact that she fought tooth and nail to get Nicolas Cage cast in Moonstruck. It was a masterclass in survival.
If you’re looking for the actionable takeaway from Cher’s appearance, it’s this: Longevity is about reinvention and not caring about the "mold." She told Howard that when she started, nobody thought she was beautiful because she wasn't a blonde, fair-skinned starlet. She succeeded because she leaned into being different.
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Next Steps for Fans:
- Listen to the Full Audio: The SiriusXM app has the full two-hour-plus interview. It's worth it just to hear the tone of her voice when she talks about her mother.
- Read the Memoir: Cher: The Memoir, Part One covers the early years up through the Sonny era. It fills in the gaps that the Howard Stern interview only scratched the surface of.
- Watch Moonstruck (Again): After hearing her talk about the "fight" to get that movie made, you'll watch it with a different perspective on her acting chops.
Cher proved on Howard Stern that she’s still the smartest person in the room. She’s lived through the Beatles, the disco era, the 80s power ballads, and the "Believe" autotune revolution. And she’s still here, still talking, and still refusing to play by anyone else’s rules.