= new reply since forum marked as read
I kinda resent that remark. 
we were close in age as well. I'm not too far behind you. 
We deserve to be proud of our advancing age. And if we can survive to January 20, we may have a fighting chance.
That label has been SOOOO diluted... There are very few divas... and do tend to be of a certain age. Barbara, Bette, Tina. LIZ was the ultimate diva.
Cher has a sense of humor, she IS old enough to deserve the respect of everyone, and is NOT a B-word (which is what diva now implies, difficult, hard to get along with).
She has EARNED her respect, and continues to do so. She is willing to use her name on the right side of history.
I saw Sonny and Cher in 1965 in the Jacksonville Fl Veteran's Coliseum. I was a little 14 yr old country gay boy. Me and friends traveled about 90 miles to see them, mostly on a Greyhound bus. At the age of 14 I had a driver's learning permit, and my parents let me drive the car (with three friends my age) to a nearby town that had a bus station. We went from there on to Jacksonville on the bus.
Even at that age, not really understanding that I WAS gay, just knew I was "different", I adored Cher. She was my personification of beauty.
We could only afford general admission tickets, so we ended up behind and right above the stage. We got there early enough, and RAN to get those seats, so we could literally hang over the short concrete wall right behind them, above the drummer.
At one point, between songs and during a lull in the crowd noise, I could no longer contain myself and screamed I LOVE CHER! She heard it and turned around. She didn't see me, but she knew where it came from.
It just happened and I was so embarrassed. But now it is a memory that I cherish.
The concert ran long, we missed our midnight bus back, and had to catch the next one at 2 am. The parents of my friends were worried, frantic, called my parents, who weren't that concerned because they trusted me.
But we all got into trouble.
It WAS, however, worth it.
Cher is still beautiful to me, even though she doesn't look anything like she did then. Like she said about her numerous plastic surgeries, "if I want to put my tits on my BACK, that is my business".
Her contribution to music spans DECADES, her fashion sense has been AWESOME that entire time, and she can still sell out an arena in minutes. After some "adjustment", she accepted her son, Chaz, as he was. She and Chaz helped to bring transgender into the mainstream and make it more acceptable, just another life variation. She has ALWAYS been on the forefront of everything, and continues to do so. Her heart has always been in the right place.
And she does it with STYLE.
THAT is a DIVA.
And I STILL love Cher.
Thanks for sharing it with us. 
.... reference to Tripping the Rift by any chance? 
