The video will auto-play soon 8 Cancel Celeb obsessed? Get a daily dose of showbiz gossip direct to your inbox Invalid Email Something went wrong, please try again later. Sign up Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Dubbed the Goddess of Pop, Cher has topped the charts for decades. Now she’s starring in Mamma Mia 2 as Sophie’s grandmother. Cher, the American singer and actress, was born May 20, 1946, making her 72 years old. Meryl Streep , her co-star in the movie, is 69. Her real name is Cherilyn Sarkisian, but she’s known professionally by her stage name Cher. Here’s all you need to know about Cher. Cher’s rise to fame The singer shot to fame in the 60s as part of the duo Sonny & Cher. Husband and wife, the pair established themselves as chart toppers early on. Cher went on to rack up awards, winning a Grammy, an Emmy, three Golden Globes and an Academy Award for Best Actress in Moonstruck. The track Believe became the highest-selling single of all time by a female artist in the UK. How much is Cher worth? Cher has an estimated net worth of $305 million from her songs, concerts and movies. (Image: Getty Images) Who does Cher play in Mamma Mia 2? Cher plays Sophie's grandmother Ruby in Mamma Mia 2. She’s one of the new cast members in the sequel. We first saw her in the trailer gatecrashing her granddaughter’s party. She joins the cast including Meryl Streep, Amanda Seyfried, Dominic Cooper, Colin Firth, Lily James and Pierce Brosnan. The movie is released in the UK on July 20. What are Cher's hit songs? Cher has sold over 100 million records worldwide - and is on track to become one of the best-selling artists of all time. I Got You Babe with then husband Sonny (1965) Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down) (1966) The Beat Goes On with Sonny (1967) Gypsies Tramps & Thieves (1971) Half-Breed (1973) If I Could Turn Back Time (1989) Just Like Jesse James (1989) The Shoop Shoop Song (It's In His Kiss) (1991) Believe (1998) Who's her ex-husband Sonny? Cher married singer-songwriter Sonny Bono in 1964 after first meeting him when she was 16 and he was eleven years her senior. Cher was married to Sonny for more than a decade. They sang two UK number ones together. They formed a musical duo and scored a number-one-hit with their single, I Got You Babe. (Image: Getty) Their only child, Chaz, was born in 1969. They divorced six years later in 1975. Sonny went on to enter politics and become Mayor of Palm Springs, California (1988 to 1992). Sonny died in 1998 after sustaining fatal injuries from a skiing accident at Heavenly Ski Resort. Who is Cher’s son Chaz Bono? Bono is a transgender man. In 1995, several years after being outed as lesbian by the press, he publicly self-identified as such in American gay monthly magazine, The Advocate. He went on to write Family Outing: A Guide to the Coming Out Process for Gays, Lesbians, and Their Families (1998) and the memoir The End of Innocence (2003) where he discusses his outing, music career, and partner Joan's death from non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. (Image: Getty) Bono underwent female-to-male gender transition between 2008 and 2010. An Entertainment Tonight feature in June 2009 explained his transition had started a year before. In May 2010, he legally changed his gender and name. A documentary,, Becoming Chaz, was screened at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival and later made its television debut on the Oprah Winfrey Network.<doc-sep>Cher was in an ABBA music video and more fun reveals from the Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again cast https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fentertainmentweekly%2Fvideos%2F10156748570779701%2F&show_text=0&width=560 It's almost time to bust our your best overalls — Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, the highly anticipated sequel to 2008's ABBA-filled movie-musical, is just days away from hitting theaters. Ahead of its release this Friday, members of Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again's starry cast (including Lily James, Amanda Seyfried, Stellan Skarsgard, Pierce Brosnan, Christine Baranski, and Dominic Cooper) joined EW and PEOPLE for a Facebook Live to preview what we can expect from the film and revealed their favorite memories from filming. One of the most exciting additions to the sequel's cast is Cher (Yes, Cher! ), who revealed to EW, that she had forgotten she was previously in an ABBA video back in the day, featuring the Swedish band and some puppets. The music video is titled "The Last Video," which Seyfried promptly googled mid-interview. Cher, who joined the film at the behest of Ron Meyer, her former agent who is now the Vice Chairman of Universal, said she was daunted by the prospect of joining the close-knit cast and putting her spin on ABBA songs. "I was a little bit intimidated because to do one of their songs and to do it differently; I have my voice and it's different than the girls," she said. "I was wondering if [ABBA songwriter Benny Andersson] was going to like it. I actually didn't expect it to sound so different. It wasn't what I was going after, but I can't hide my voice." Costar Andy Garcia added that having the chance to perform with Cher was something that had been on his acting "bucket list," while Baranski said she had to keep pinching herself at the prospect of working with the music legend. "The idea that I would be on a film set with Cher, I had to pinch myself," she said. "She's an authentic rock chick. The rest of us are faking it. She's the real deal." For Baranski, that reflected a similar memorable experience on the first film, shooting the extravagant musical number to "Dancing Queen," which is her favorite ABBA song and the one she said that introduced her to the band when she heard it playing in a record store. "It's when we all come together and we're all just dancing and singing with abandon," she said. "I remember dancing down a hill next to James Bond thinking It doesn't get better than this. It's a goddess song about female energy." Here We Go Again turns the clock back to show Donna — played in the original film by Meryl Streep — as a young woman (with James now taking on the role) during the summer in which she meets three handsome men and becomes pregnant by one of them. Seyfried reprises her role from the original Mamma Mia! as Donna's daughter Sophie – who is now pregnant herself — with Brosnan, Skarsgard, and Colin Firth returning as well. Seyfried said the experience of making this film was actually more enjoyable than the first because the intervening 10 years gave her more confidence in herself. "I was only 21 so I had my own intimidations and insecurities that came into play," she said. "It was an element that did not exist in this 2018 version. It was just like getting back into a warm bath with my friends." Brosnan and Skarsgard had their own insecurities to overcome, namely their lack of confidence about their dancing and singing abilities (that earned them some ribbing when the first film debuted). Brosnan reprises his signature tune "S.O.S." here, and he told EW, "I think I've mildly improved. I sing ‘S.O.S.' but it's a cappella. That was a big relief. The first time around that was really daunting. Everyone had a good joke at my expense. I didn't take it personally." Skarsgard said he was relieved to get to set and have significantly less dancing and singing to do than he did in the first film. "On the first one, I remember rehearsing for a month and a half dance steps for ‘Voulez-Vous.' But this time I just had a few pieces of ‘Dancing Queen.' I worked hard on those pieces." He also adds that his experiences recording with ABBA's Benny Andersson likely reduced his singing responsibilities. "I looked at him through the window and I could see the pain in his eyes. One week later I got a new script and there wasn't any song for me any more," he jokes. The film divides its time between past and present and Baranski noted that it's Streep's spirit that really "permeates" the entire film — and the spirit of the legacy cast was something that was daunting for the newer cast members taking on the younger versions of these characters. "Obviously, it was terrifying, and yet, also, if you look at it from a different perspective, the best gift ever to play a character that's already been created by Meryl Streep," said James. "There was so much to draw on, this well of character and expression and personality that I could get a bit of." James didn't meet Streep until very late in the filming process, but described the legendary actress as "generous." She added, "They wanted to share the characters with us and they let us own it and inhabit it." Jessica Keenan Wynn, who portrays the younger version of Baranski's Tanya, added, "I've always been a fan of Christine, so I think I've been studying her since I was younger." Wynn credits the script and costumes with making their jobs easy. "It honestly was a joy and quite easy to access because I have so many pieces of her that inform so many of my characters. And the wig did the rest of it," she said. Hugh Skinner, who plays the younger incarnation of Firth's character, echoed this notion, saying, "[Colin] made the point, that we're not playing Christine or Meryl or Colin or Pierce, that we're playing the characters and that felt psychologically easy to digest. So much of it is in the script." Still, it mostly sounds like the five weeks they spent shooting on an island in Croatia was more of a working holiday than actual work. The new cast members reflected joyfully on their time all living together on the island and the way they adopted numerous local cats and dogs during their time shooting. While everyone in the cast agrees that they'd be up for a Mamma Mia! 3, James said for now she'd settle for them having the opportunity to make cameos in a potential ABBA tour. Watch the video above for more.<doc-sep>The video will auto-play soon 8 Cancel Get email updates with the day's biggest stories Invalid Email Something went wrong, please try again later. Sign up Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice When news there was going to be another Mamma Mia broke there were a few questions fans needed answering. First, would Donna return? Who was Cher playing? and what ABBA songs would be included. The film was released on July 20 and predictably everyone has fallen in love with it, mostly down to the soundtrack. There's still time to play all the songs on repeat so you're ready for a sing-a-long. The soundtrack gave away who was in the film before its release, and it also lets you know who will be singing the songs in Here We Go Again. A few lesser known tracks get an outing such as When I Kissed The Teacher and Kisses of Fire. There's also the classic with Cher and Andy Garcia singing Fernando. Donna is (sort of) back with Meryl Streep listed too. The star is singing not one, but two songs including The Day Before You Came. Most of the cast have returned for the movie that shows us the backstory of Streep's character using flashbacks - the younger version of Donna is played by Lily James. What ABBA songs are in Mamma Mia 2 and who sings them? “When I Kissed The Teacher” by Lily James, Jessica Keenan Wynn, Alexa Davies and Celia Imrie “I Wonder (Departure)” by Lily James, Jessica Keenan Wynn and Alexa Davies “One Of Us” by Amanda Seyfried and Dominic Cooper “Waterloo” by Hugh Skinner and Lily James “Why Did It Have To Be Me?” by Josh Dylan, Lily James and Hugh Skinner “I Have A Dream” by Lily James “Kisses Of Fire” by Panos Mouzourakis “Andante, Andante” by Lily James Video Loading Video Unavailable Click to play Tap to play The video will auto-play soon 8 Cancel Play now “The Name Of The Game” by Lily James “Knowing Me, Knowing You” by Jeremy Irvine, Lily James, Pierce Brosnan and Amanda Seyfried “Angel Eyes” by Christine Baranski, Julie Walters and Amanda Seyfried “Mamma Mia” by Lily James, Jessica Keenan Wynn and Alexa Davies (Image: Universal Pictures) “Dancing Queen” by Colin Firth, Stellan Skarsgard, Amanda Seyfried, Christine Baranski, Julie Walters and Pierce Brosnan “I've Been Waiting For You” by Amanda Seyfried, Christine Baranski and Julie Walters “Fernando” by Cher and Andy Garcia “My Love, My Life” by Amanda Seyfried, Lily James and Meryl Streep “Super Trouper” by Cher, Meryl Streep, Christine Baranski, Julie Walters, Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth, Stellan Skarsgard, Andy Garcia, Amanda Seyfried, Dominic Cooper, Lily James, Jessica Keenan Wynn, Alexa Davies, Josh Dylan, Jeremy Irvine and Hugh Skinner “The Day Before You Came” by Meryl Streep Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again is released in cinemas on 20 July. If you want to catch the musical take a look at our tickets website for Mamma Mia! tickets from £25.00.<doc-sep>
Can they do it again? The makers of Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again certainly hope they can persuade audiences to pack their fantasy swimsuits and mosquito repellent next weekend for another fictional cinematic holiday on their ideal Greek island. Cher, along with most of the stars of the first film, which made £466m at the box office a decade ago, gathered together in London on Saturday, ahead of the 20 July release of the follow-up musical. “I was terrified when I first arrived on set,” Cher told her co-stars. “partly because everyone had been working together already, and partly because my character wasn’t very liked.” The singing superstar appears in the film in a blond wig as a reluctant “mean grandmother”, Ruby, chiefly to sing a version of Fernando with Andy Garcia. “In America we knew the Abba biggest hits. But when I heard Fernando, I heard a different thing. I heard the acting of it. I didn’t realise how complicated Abba songs are,” she said. Cher, 72, is in fact only three years older than Meryl Streep, her on-screen daughter Donna. The singer said her confidence on location was boosted by the discovery that Streep was watching her perform from behind a piece of scenery and approved. Benny Andersson of Abba said he had waited to find the right songs to drive forward a new story, although three are reprised: Dancing Queen, Mamma Mia and I Have a Dream. Amanda Seyfried returns in the role of Sophie, Donna’s daughter. She said: “Singing the song My Love, My Life was the most emotional thing for me, and my favourite moment.” Lily James is the star of the new film. She plays the young Donna in the backstory that forms much of the plot of Here We Go Again. “The character of Donna is the most beloved and extraordinary woman, and Meryl is all that too,” James said, adding that she had prepared for the prequel role by watching how Streep moved in the first film and then just trying to “live in the moment, which is what this film is all about anyway”. James, who appears in flashback sequences, is a new arrival on the island and she is courted by younger versions of the three men who fans of the first film know as the rival putative fathers to Sophie. This trio of middle-aged lovers, played by Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth and Stellan Skarsgard a decade ago, also return to the screen. And Donna’s friends Rosie (Julie Walters) and Tanya (Christine Baranski) reappear as well. Judy Craymer, the 60-year-old British producer behind the stage musical and the films, is believed to have earned a £90m fortune from the romantic story she dreamed up in her 20s after meeting Andersson and his Abba collaborator, Björn Ulvaeus, while working as Tim Rice’s assistant on their stage show Chess. Mamma Mia!, which cost £28m to make, was filmed on the Aegean island of Skopelos and became the highest-grossing musical film in the world. Here We Go Again was shot on the Croatian island of Vis. Screenwriter Richard Curtis, best known for Four Weddings and a Funeral and Love Actually, helped Craymer and writer and director Ol Parker with development of the script. Executive producers Andersson and Ulvaeus can also be spotted making fleeting appearances in the new film.