Featured Image Credit: Stephane Cardinale - Corbis / Contributor/Ringo H.W. Chiu / Stringer
Topics: Music, Celebrity, Sex and Relationships, Mental Health, US News
Poppy Bilderbeck
Topics: Music, Celebrity, Sex and Relationships, Mental Health, US News
Cher has spoken out about about working with convicted murderer and producer Phil Spector when she was 17 years old.
Cher - born Cherilyn Sarkisian - is set to release her first ever Christmas album this week.
The album will feature a cover of 'Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)' which first appeared on the 1963 compilation album, A Christmas Gift for You from Phil Spector sung by Darlene Love, with 17-year-old Cher on the backing vocals.
The now-77-year-old has since opened up about her experience working with Spector - full name Harvey Philip Spector - in the 60s.
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Spector was a record producer and songwriter who rose to fame in the 1960s after co-founding Philles Records and becoming the youngest-ever US label owner at the time - aged 21.
He also went on to produce acts such as Tina Turner and The Ronettes, and work with the Beatles and the Ramones.
However, in 2003 when actor and model Lana Clarkson was fatally shot, Spector was later convicted of her murder, receiving a sentence of 19 years to life in prison.
He died while still in prison in 2021, aged 81.
Cher didn't only work with Spector on tunes such as 'Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)', but also performed the backing vocals for songs such as the Righteous Brothers’ 'You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling'.
Reflecting on the time she spent in the studio with Spector, Cher told The Guardian the record producer 'was eccentric but not full-on nuts'.
However, she notes he once asked her if she 'would have sex with him' in French.
Cher recalls: "And I said, in French, 'Yes - for money.' He almost fell off his chair. He didn’t expect that from anyone."
Spector also allegedly asked Cher to keep an eye on some of the other girls - Ronnie, Nedra and Estelle (The Ronettes) - and 'report back to him'.
But, Cher told him: "No f**king way! I wasn’t going to nark on these girls. They were my friends."
Cher's first Christmas album Christmas is set for release on 20 October.
If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence regarding the welfare of a child the Childhelp USA National Child Abuse Hotline (1-800-4-A-CHILD (1-800-422-4453) operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and receives calls from throughout the United States, Canada, U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam and Puerto Rico.