‘If I Could Turn Back Time’: The classic song Cher was bribed to sing
It doesn’t take long to gather that Cher isn’t shy about voicing her opinions. On everything from music to movies to fashion, you can be sure that the Goddess of Pop has called the shots on every aspect of her career, and with seven decades of success behind her to prove it, you can argue that her diva status is rightly justified.
It seems almost a paradoxical image then, in that respect, to envisage Cher having to be won over to do anything she doesn’t want to do. You would not envy the person who has to try and convince her, at the very least. But unimaginably, this was the exact sticky predicament that the singer’s closest team found themselves in when trying to cajole her into recording what would transpire to be one of her greatest hits.
It’s common knowledge that Cher makes no secret of songs she loves or thinks could have been bestowed better fates, but equally in that vein; she didn’t keep quiet when it came to tunes she wasn’t a fan of. Believe it or not, that latter assessment was what she initially thought of her 1989 monster hit ‘If I Could Turn Back Time’, and it fell to its long-suffering creator, the legendary songwriter Diane Warren, to convince her otherwise.
In an interview with Rolling Stone in 2021, Warren recalled the process: “I thought it was a great song for her and she hated it. And so I went to the studio when she was recording another song of mine. And literally, when she was in the lounge, I got on my hands and knees and held her leg down until she said she’d try it out.” Then, like a farcical comedy scene, the pair started arguing, with Warren explaining that Cher said: “‘I hate that fucking song. I hate it.’ I go, ‘Well, I’m not letting your leg go!’”
Eventually, providing her an ultimatum, Warren told the star: “‘Look, I’ll pay for the tracks. If it doesn’t work, then it’s all my cost. I know the song’s right for you.’ She said, ‘I’ll do it. I’ll try it.’ And that’s probably my most iconic song!” Her persistence – or annoyance – thankfully paid off, because the contested tune turned out to be one of Cher’s most iconic defining legacies, scoring into the top ten in a whole host of countries all over the world upon its release and only going on to become more iconic as the decades have endured since.
For Warren’s own part, as much as she calls it her “most iconic song”, it admittedly joins some pretty supersonic company. As the brains behind Aerosmith’s ‘I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing’ and Starship’s ‘Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now’, she’s no stranger to a worldwide banger – and probably why she was adamant that Cher had to sing the song she hated so much.
We’ve all been told at one time or another that we have to do things we don’t want to do, and equally, we all know how irritating that is, even if we come back with our tail between our legs afterwards. Could you ever imagine Cher admitting she was wrong, though? It’s not likely. It’s for that reason that Diane Warren has the right to revel in her smug glory all she wants forevermore.
