Cher made a name for herself through the 60s and 70s as a glamorous sort of diva character, often dressed in sequined jumpsuits with her black hair long and ironed impossibly straight. She cut a strikingly beautiful, if not a little imposing figure, and she was everywhere.
By the 80s, Cher had checked off the majority of her creative to-do list. She was a pop icon, a television regular, basically a permanent fixture in Las Vegas. Cher was at the height of her fame and notoriety. What else was there for her to dabble in?
Only one thing: starting a rock band. The one endeavor Cher hadn’t yet embarked on was forming and fronting a kick-a** rock band. Although she did express the theory that the outrageous personas she and Sonny Bono were doing as Sonny & Cher was their equivalent of rock and roll. But for this, she didn’t want her monumental name to overshadow the project. It was time for Cher to disappear beneath Black Rose.
Cher’s Short-Lived Rock Band, Black Rose, Was Stuck In Limbo Between Two Opposing Audiences
In 1979, Cher gathered a group of musicians at the Rainbow Bar and Grill on the Sunset Strip to find the puzzle pieces for her rock band. Les Dudek—whose guitar credits include The Allman Brothers Band, Stevie Nicks, and The Steve Miller Band—was clued into the project by a friend.
When he arrived at the bar, the room was full of musicians. According to Dudek’s account, they all fell into an easy jam session. Until Cher arrived and snapped them all into shape.
“She said, ‘Hey! I didn’t invite all you people down here for a jam session. This is for my project, dammit!’” Dudek recalled in 2001. Her determination impressed some, including Dudek. After Cher took them all out to dinner, she asked Dudek if he was serious about helping her with her rock band. Since he was between projects at the time, Dudek recalled, “I said, ‘Hell yeah, I’ll help you do it!’”
Black Rose officially included Cher (laying low to keep the attention on the music), Les Dudek, Mike Finnigan, Ron “Rocket” Ritchotte, Warren Ham, Trey Thompson, and Gary Ferguson. Cher only appeared in the group photo on the back cover of the album, and with a curly shag haircut, she didn’t look at all like the sleek, sequined diva of the 70s.
But even with all that talent, including songwriter Bernie Taupin and producer James Newton Howard, Black Rose’s only album fell into obscurity. Cher diehards didn’t know she was involved, so they didn’t pick up a copy. And rock enthusiasts felt the record was too polished and radio-friendly. They wanted an edge, and Black Rose was just more of the same generic late-70s rock sound.
The band dissolved in 1981, after critics panned the album and the ambition overall. Cher went on remaining Cher, only with more rock and roll influences in her later music. So, it seems the Black Rose experiment wasn’t a total failure after all.
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