There’s a lot of things people don’t know about Cher. One of them being her real name is actually Cherilyn Sarkisian and, when she topped the charts with her 1998 smash hit “Believe,” we all felt like we knew her. But in all actuality, Cher’s onstage persona is very different from who she is behind the scenes.

“I am not a woman with a lot of confidence unless I am doing my work,” she has admitted. “Many times before I go on stage, I have to say prayers because I have stage fright. Not enough to keep me from doing it, but enough to make it hard until I get into the first or second song.”

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As a young girl, Cher went through a lot. Not only did she grow up in poverty, but her parents got divorced when she was very young. On top of that, the singer grew up with dyslexia, which went undiagnosed until she was an adult.

“I couldn’t really read or spell, and I didn’t understand numbers. If you’re dyslexic, numbers look like little scratches,” she previously explained to Billboard. “My teachers used to say things like, ‘We think she is really smart, but she doesn’t apply herself.’” Luckily, Cher, 73, didn’t listen to her teachers.

She threw herself in everything she was passionate about, including her music. When the “Strong Enough” singer recorded “I Got You Babe” with late ex husband Sonny Bono in 1965, she admitted she never really liked the song.

“When he wrote it … I said, ‘I don’t think it is very good. I am going back to bed,’” Cher hilariously said to The Sun. And it was the same thing for “If I Could Turn Back Time.” However, that smash was written by Diane Warren. “In general, I’m not a huge Cher fan, I’m really not.”

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“I don’t want to listen to what I do,” she said. “I don’t want to see it, and I don’t want to hear my voice.” But millions of fans will disagree.

No matter what Cher thinks of her music, her fans will follow her wherever she goes. “On the road is where I have the most power, because it’s my show and I create it,” she has explained. “I think that that’s the place where you feel like you can be exactly who you are. That’s where I feel free … If I couldn’t sing, I’d be miserable.”

For more on Cher, pick up the latest issue of Closer Weekly, on newsstands now — and be sure to sign up for our newsletter!

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