See Photos of Cher with Her Sons Chaz Bono and Elijah Blue Allman Through the Years

A Mother's Love

During her 2004 appearance on Dr. Phil, Cher told Robin McGraw that she always wanted to have kids. The Grammy winner praised both of her sons for their "great morals."

Cher continued, "They tell the truth, they root for the underdog, they have respect for people. The things that my mom made me think were the most important things, my children have them.”

A Mom at Work

In a 1999 interview with Entertainment Weekly, Cher discussed the realities of balancing her career with parenthood.

"A working mom at best is not very good. I mean I love my kids, but I could've been a lot better mom. I think I was kind of strict and dragged them with me and had great times and bad times," she said.

The Oscar-winning actress also described herself as a "cookie-decorating" type of mom. "I don't bake them, I decorate them," she clarified.

Stepping into Parenthood

After the "Believe" singer welcomed her first child with Sonny Bono in March 1969 (the couple divorced in 1975), she said it was like having a “new best friend. It was just the most fun. It was like every day is Christmas.”

She once said that baby Chaz was extremely well-behaved, joining her and Sonny Bono on the road at just 6 weeks old. Indeed the little one did appear alongside his parents in several high-profile gigs, including on their Emmy-award-winning variety show, The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour.

Biggest Fan

Chaz started taking acting classes as a teenager and, with Cher's encouragement, he followed his passion on a scholarship to LaGuardia High School, a performing arts school in New York City.

In 2013, Chaz, who was assigned female at birth but transitioned in March 2009 after his 40th birthday, spoke to PEOPLE about why he paused his acting career after graduation: He wanted to play male parts and didn't believe he would be able to do so at the time in Hollywood.

“My senior year of high school I got cast as a male character and for the first time I really excelled. But I told myself, ‘This will never happen as a professional so I need to find another career,'" recalled Chaz.

Chaz returned to acting with roles in The Bold and the Beautiful and in two seasons of American Horror Story. “I’ve decided that hopefully it is never too late to do what you want to do," he told PEOPLE.

Close Bonds

Sonny Bono died at age 62 in 1998, but he still serves as creative inspiration for his son. In 2015, Chaz detailed how his relationship with Sonny helped him get into character as a deceased mathematician in a stage production of Proof.

“We all pull from different places, and I pulled a few things from my dad’s personality that I think work well,” Chaz told PEOPLE at the time. “I’m not a parent and I’ve never had kids, but I remember our close relationship from the other side, and I tried to flip it a little bit to find the specialness of it from a father’s perspective.”

'Love and Support'

Cher's support for her son isn't limited to his career pursuits. In 2011, Chaz opened up about his transition in the 2011 documentary Becoming Chaz and had his mom's love to lean on.

A source told PEOPLE that after screening the documentary at her house, the Burlesque star told a friend, “I admire my son Chaz’s courage for sharing his personal journey. Most important to me is that he is very happy. That’s what I care about the most. He has my love and support."

More to Love

Cher and Gregg Allman, who struggled with drug abuse, split just a few years after they welcomed their son Elijah Blue in July 1976. During his childhood, Cher said Elijah rarely saw his father, though they later made amends before Gregg's death in 2017.

During his childhood, Cher took note of Elijah's intelligence: "His mind is very expansive," she once told Robin McGraw on Dr. Phil. "He just dances to his own tune and doesn't really care."

Extended Family

Cher has said that her various boyfriends stepped in as father figures to her sons. The boys spent time with their mom's exes Val Kilmer, Joshua Donen (pictured) and Gene Simmons during childhood.

Rocky Years

Cher and her younger son have also endured turmoil in their relationship, though Elijah has previously shared his hope that they'll restore their bond: “It’ll be mended because it has to be, it will just take time," Elijah told The Daily Mail in 2014.

Their tense relationship has been further strained in recent years, after Cher was accused of hiring men to forcibly remove her son from a New York City hotel in an apparent intervention. The singer shut down the abduction rumors but opened up to PEOPLE about her effort to help her son, who struggles with addiction.

A Mother's Job

“I’m not suffering from any problem that millions of people in the United States aren’t,” Cher told PEOPLE in October 2023. “I’m a mother. This is my job — one way or another, to try to help my children. You do anything for your children. Whenever you can help them, you just do it because that’s what being a mother is. But it’s joy, even with heartache — mostly, when you think of your children, you just smile and you love them, and you try to be there for them.”

A few months later, Cher filed for a conservatorship of Elijah's estate. Documents obtained by PEOPLE state that he is "currently unable to manage his assets due to severe mental health and substance abuse issues."