Georgia Holt, Cher’s mother, has died. She was 96 years old.
The 76-year-old musician announced the news on Twitter early Saturday morning. Cher tweeted, “Mom is gone,” with a sad face emoji.
The announcement comes three months after the pop star revealed on Instagram that her mother was hospitalized with pneumonia in September.
“Sorry for being Mia. Mom has been sick on and off. She had just gotten out of the hospital. Cher said at the time, “She Had Pneumonia,” adding in a follow-up tweet, “She’s Getting Better.”
Mom is gone😔
— Cher (@cher) December 11, 2022
Cher recently revealed to PEOPLE that she would be tested for COVID-19 “all the time” and would be “extremely careful” with her elderly mother during the 2020 holiday season.
“We’ve had a tiny bubble all this time,” she explained. “We wear masks and there aren’t many of us. My sister, brother-in-law, mother, and helper are all here. And we keep our distance from one another.”
Related:
- Nick Carter Performs With Backstreet Boys at Jingle Ball Despite Rape Allegations
- Tina Turner and Her Son’s Wife Have Paid Tribute to the Late Singer’s “Beloved” Son
“I have asthma, so I have to be careful,” she noted, “and I have other health issues.”
Holt, an actress, model, and singer, was born in Arkansas in 1926, the daughter of Lynda Inez Gulley, 13, and Roy Malloy Crouch, 21.
After relocating to Los Angeles, she received roles in films and television shows ranging from the 1950s Watch the Birdie to I Love Lucy.
She also appeared on The Mike Douglas Show and The Merv Griffin Show in 1979 and 1980, and her debut CD Honky Tonk Woman, which she recorded in the 1980s, was released in 2013.
Back in 2013, around the premiere of Lifetime’s one-hour special Dear Mom, Love Cher, the musician spoke about the lessons she’s learned from Holt throughout her life, particularly growing up in the San Fernando Valley with her and sister Georganne LaPiere Bartylak.
Holt’s story was told by Holt and many of her relatives, including Cher and Bartylak, as well as grandkids Chaz Bono and Elijah Blue Allman.
“She never gave my sister and my advice because she knew we’d never take it,” Cher recalled of her mother. “Instead, we learned about life by listening to her tell about the things she did well and wrong.”
Cher recalled her mother and friends being “very gorgeous” when she was a child, and Holt herself being a “great dresser.” Cher and Holt “fought a lot” because Cher was “very strong-headed.”
Must Read: Bevin Prince Breaks Her Silence Five Months After Her Husband Was Struck and Killed by Lightning
Cher told that at the time, “I did a number of things like run away when I was 11.” “My companions and I boarded a train. I was simply daring – but never impolite. She would not have tolerated it.”
Holt, who Cher stated “always emphasized the importance of being sure that the person you’re with is the person you love,” was married and divorced six times, but “probably would have been married just once” if she had grown up in a different era.
“I had a little conflict with her over Sonny [Bono], but she got over it really quickly,” Cher told. “She always listened before passing judgment, so I could always tell her about my romances.”
