Cher and Two Jonas Brothers Rock Out at Dazzling 30th amfAR Cannes Gala
24.05.2024 - 10:17
/ variety.com
Ramin Setoodeh Co-Editor-in-Chief Which performance received the best reviews at Cannes? Cher managed to conquer this year’s film festival even without appearing on screen. At 12:30 a.m.
in the South of France, decked out in a dazzling sequined purple pantsuit, Cher took the stage at Cannes amfAR, the charity gala devoted to raising money for research for HIV and AIDS. “I thought you guys would be drunk, but obviously you’re not,” Cher said after performing an acoustic rendition of “Walking in Memphis,” the Marc Cohn ballad she covered on her 1995 album “It’s a Man’s World,” that had hundreds of guests cheering her on.
Three songs later — and one costume change into a black sparkling jacket over couture negligee — Cher had emerged victorious. The crowd at the Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc would have given her the biggest standing ovation of Cannes, except they never sat during her 15-minute set.
Before belting out her pop hit “Believe,” the 78-year-old Cher talked about how the music industry had given up on her after she turned 50. “I was dropped by my record company and one day, my manager”—the late Billy Sammeth—”who was my best friend came in and said, ‘You know, my self-esteem is too sewn up in your talent and I don’t need you anymore.’ I was thinking, ‘Fuck me!’ So, then, I was like, ‘I don’t know what to do.’ A man from England”—she was most likely referring to Rob Dickins, the former chairman of Warner Music U.K —”said, ‘I still believe in you, come here! I got a song for you to sing and we’ll see what happens.’ And this is what it was.” The 30th edition of amfAR Cannes drew a crowd of high bidders and celebrities that included Michelle Yeoh, Magic Johnson, Heidi Klum, Kelly Rowland, Colman Domingo, Paris Jackson, Andie
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