‘Mom is gone’: Cher tells fans that her mother, Georgia Holt, has died

Chad Michaels, a “RuPaul’s Drag Race” winner and Cher impersonator, tweeted “Phrases are insufficient.” Cher regularly makes use of a number of emoji in her tweets to say how she’s feeling, and plenty of celebrities did the identical in expressing their sympathy, together with CNN’s Don Lemon, actor Seth Inexperienced and Bravo host Andy Cohen. “[T]he lack of your mother is simply devastating,” tweeted “Group” actress Yvette Nicole Brown. “Could your hero #RIP.”

Cher, who’s 76, has lengthy talked about her admiration and respect for her mom and the closeness they shared. Cher followers have come to count on to common updates from the singer on her mom’s well being, actions and shared humor and knowledge. Cher has reminiscences of her mom and her mom’s pals being “so stunning” throughout her childhood. “After they walked into the room, all the things stopped. She was additionally an incredible dresser. We primarily based the costumes in ‘Mermaids’ on footage of her from the ’50s,” Cher said of her mother in an interview with Folks in 2013.

The mother-daughter pair gave followers an intimate view of their relationship within the 2013 Lifetime documentary “Expensive Mother, Love Cher.” The movie featured interviews with Holt, her daughters Cher and Georganne LaPiere and Cher’s sons, Chaz Bono and Elijah Blue Allman — offering audiences with a broader view of Holt’s life story, past being Cher’s mom. Cher initiated the undertaking after Holt discovered tapes of her personal never-released album, from classes recorded in 1980. For her mother’s 86th birthday, Cher had the tapes remastered after which filmed her mother singing and speaking about her life and early profession ambitions.

Holt was born Jackie Jean Crouch in rural Arkansas and first found her love of music whereas singing in Oklahoma saloons. Decided to capitalize on her skills, she moved to Hollywood. Holt was briefly married to Cher’s father, John Sarkisian; as a single mom, she struggled financially and briefly positioned Cher in a Catholic orphanage. She visited her crying daughter on daily basis and confronted mounting pressures to place her daughter up for adoption. Holt was married and divorced a number of extra occasions.

“She by no means gave me and my sister recommendation as a result of, in truth, she knew we’d by no means take it,” Cher told People. “As an alternative, we realized about life by listening to her discuss in regards to the issues she did fallacious and the issues she did proper.”

Holt obtained again on her toes and managed to land roles in Hollywood. She made appearances in “Watch the Birdie,” “I Love Lucy,” “The Mike Douglas Present” and “The Merv Griffin Present.”

“Expensive Mother, Love Cher,” coincided with the discharge of “Honky Tonk Girl,” which featured 10 restored and remixed tracks Holt initially recorded, together with a duet with Cher referred to as “I’m Simply Your Yesterday,” which Holt initially wrote.

“It’s Mom’s Day particular, nevertheless it’s not Hallmark,” Cher said on the time. “She obtained her dream after 80 years. … Ladies ought to by no means suppose they’ve a sell-by date.”