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Cher is back with a new album Friday, a collection of ABBA covers titled Dancing Queen.
Music’s ultimate survivor is the only artist in history to score a No. 1 single on a Billboard chart in each of the past six decades, nailing that record with the 2011 dance hit “You Haven’t Seen the Last of Me."
And so, it seems, we haven't.
Her 26th studio album — and her first since 2013’s Closer to the Truth — was inspired by this year’s ABBA-centric film musical Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, featuring Cher's scene-stealing cameo as glam granny Ruby.
The album was an unexpected project that cropped up during an already busy season. She’s touring Australia in October, returns to her residency at MGM Resorts in Las Vegas in November and has 2019 tour dates booked through May. She’s also co-producing The Cher Show, a Broadway jukebox musical starring three actresses as Cher, set to open Dec. 3 at the Neil Simon Theatre. And then there’s her brassy, emoji-littered, politically barbed Twitter platform, an ever-humming feed for 3.5 million followers.
Over the summer, she tweeted the journey of making Dancing Queen. July 26: “In studio again today … I’m too old for this.” It doesn’t show. Cher, at 72, has lost none of the strength or range in her husky contralto. Her voice is especially lovely and vulnerable on the restrained “Chiquitita,” the melancholy “One of Us” and the lively “The Name of the Game.”
Her famous use of processed vocals is in heavy supply, but more for effect than necessity. She brings a contemporary dance-club sizzle to the Swedish group’s hits, especially “Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!,” “SOS” and “Dancing Queen."
But can Cher rack up another chart-topper?
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