Cher and Darlene Love.Photo:Ralph Bavaro/NBC via Getty
Ralph Bavaro/NBC via Getty
Speaking with PEOPLE after performing her signature song onThe View, Love tells PEOPLE that she didn’t recognize Cher’s voice when the Oscar winner phoned her.
“She called she said, ‘Hi, Doll,' because most people who have known me a long time call me ‘Doll.' And she said, ‘This is Cher,' " Love, 82, recalls. “And I said, ‘Who?’ "
Of course, Cher — who is known for her blunt sense of humor — had the best response. “She’s said, ‘It’s Cher, bitch!’ " laughs Love. “I said, ‘Ohhhh hey! How you doing?’ "
Multiple artists have recored their own versions of it, includingMariah Carey,Michael Bublé,Leona Lewis, theFoo Fighters,Jon Bon JoviandLove’s personal favorite,U2. But the cover with Cher holds a special place in Love’s heart.
“I didn’t know her as Cher back then, I knew her as this little 17-year-old named Cherilyn,” says Love. “Sonny Bono had brought her into the studio, because Phil would always pull people in when we were recording and have them contribute. And she’d never been in front of a microphone before, but Phil heard she could sing so he put her in front of the mic and she started doing the background vocals.”
“The problem was, her voice was so recognizable and strong that Phil kept pushing her back from the microphone,” Love remembers. “I said, ‘Phil, leave her alone and let her sing! She’ll be in the next room in a minute if you keep asking her to move back like that!’ "
Darlene Love on Nov. 30, 2023 in New York City.Jason Mendez/Getty
Jason Mendez/Getty
“That, to me, just blew my mind,” says Love. “She told me that and I almost fell out.”
Cher, in fact, told the story on an episode ofThe Kelly Clarkson Showthat aired Friday. “I wasn’t going to do it unless she wanted to sing it with me, or else it couldn’t be right,” Cher, 77, said.
The two sang the song together live onChristmas in Rockefeller Center Special, the NBC special that aired on Nov. 29. Aside from that, Love has performed the song yearly on television each year — first over the course of 29 years onLettermanand, since 2015, onThe View.
Alyssa Farah Griffin, Sonny Hostin, Steven Van Zandt, Darlene Love, Whoopi Goldberg, Sara Haines and Ana Navarro on ‘The View’ Friday.Lou Rocco/ABC
Lou Rocco/ABC
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As for Cher, she’s been enjoying watching the legendary singer make the rounds with her album. “It’s funny, she told me she was only going to do one or two things to promote this album, but I see her everywhere — New York, London, Germany… she hasn’t stopped yet! She’s working harder than ever!'
“It’s just likeBruce Springsteen. I told him I would love to go out on the road with him, but he goes out for a few weeks and he’s out for two years,” Love jokes of the Boss, who recently presented her with a platinum record for her Christmas hit. “I’m not doing no three years or no three hours shows. So no, that’s not going to work.”
source: people.com
