“I believed Cherilyn was my name until the day years later when I decided to legally change my name to simply Cher,” the “Moonstruck” star pens in her memoir.
She goes on to explain how her late mother Georgia Holt – who was 19 years old when she gave birth to Cher in 1946 – was exhausted after her labor and did not catch the mixup.
When a nurse came in to her room to ask what the baby’s name was, Cher writes, her mother responded that she “had no idea, but the woman insisted so she replied, ‘Well, Lana Turner’s my favorite actress and her little girl’s called Cheryl.
My mother’s name is Lynda, so how about Cherilyn?’”After the alarming discovery, Cher writes that she confronted her mother about it, asking, “Do you even know my real name, Mom?”According to the memoir, Holt replied, “I was only a teenager, and I was in a lot of pain.
“Cher: The Memoir, Part One” was published on November 19 and is available now.
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