Cher on how she “invented” auto-tune 25 years ago and the way record execs first reacted

We did it. We were the first ones. I was talking to [producer] Mark [Taylor] about that last night when we were in the studio — about how we felt when we did it. I don’t think they called it Auto-Tune then. It was just a pitch machine. I was having a hard time with the song. That’s the only argument Mark and I ever got into.

He kept saying, “The chorus is fine, but you’ve got to sing the verses better.” I was singing and singing and singing, and finally he said, “Cher, you better do it better!” And I went, “You know what? If you want it better, get somebody else.” I walked out.

And then the next morning, I saw this beautiful boy on the morning show in England. His name was [Andrew] Roachford, and he was singing with a vocoder. So I called Mark, I said, “Could we use a vocoder?” He said, “No, but I’m working on something that I think might be amazing, but I’m not quite there yet.”

I went back to the studio, he started it, and we both jumped up and high-fived ourselves after we heard it. The record company didn’t want to do it. They said, “You can’t tell who it is.” I went, “Yes, I know, that’s the beauty of the whole thing!”

Cher speaking to The Hollywood Reporter about “inventing” auto-tune with her hit 1998 single “Believe,” which turns 25 this year.