LISTEN: Cher’s long-lost EDM Pride anthem

10 years ago, Cher went blonde and released her most recent collection of original songs Closer To The Truth, a follow-up to her 2001 album Living Proof. Despite a 12-year hiatus from recording music, the singer was in top form and showed no signs of slowing down.

The dance-pop album is arguably her gayest ever and featured background vocals and songwriting from P!nk and Jake Shears. It peaked at #3 on the U.S. Billboard 200, becoming her highest-charting solo album at the time.

Related:

Watch Billy Porter get absolutely starstruck when meeting Cher for the very first time

A legendary meeting on the red carpet in Los Angeles last night.

The lead single “Woman’s World” topped the US Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs, becoming her eighth #1 single, after being the greatest-gainer for its fourth, consecutive week.

And the album also included the song “Take It Like a Man”, which Cher promoted with a music video featuring a crew of Andrew Christian models as well as several gay porn stars, including Antonio Biaggi. (What can we say? The woman knows her audience!)

Speaking of knowing her audience, Closer To The Truth also included a Pride anthem called, appropriately, “Pride” on the deluxe and international editions of the album.

The four minute EDM track was co-written by lesbian singer/songwriter LP (a.k.a. Laura Pergolizzi), along with Marc Nelkin and Carl Ryden.

In it, Cher leans into her well-earned gay icon status by belting over a pulsing dance beat and synthesizers: “We got pride/We own, we own the night/We are, we are the light/This is within your life/And we won’t stop now/Give us a sign/Yeah we won’t stop now/This is our time/Pride.”

A decade after its release, “Pride” still remains a total club banger and Closer To The Truth still remains Cher’s last collection of original songs. In 2018, she released an album of ABBA covers called Dancing Queen, following her appearance in the 2018 musical film Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again.

Earlier this year, the 77-year-old revealed to E! News that she was working on not one but two new albums with her 37-year-old boyfriend Alexander “A.E.” Edwards. Unfortunately, that was back in March and the couple has since called it quits, so it’s unclear whether she’ll be releasing any of the music they recorded together, though we hope she does.

In the meantime, we’ll keep doing like Cher says in “Pride”: “Livin’ it up/Livin’ it up/Livin’ it up/While the world is catching fire/Dancing in the flames” because, baby, “We got pride.”

Speaking of Pride, listen to Queerty’s 2023 Pride playlist on Spotify…