Cher has shared the news that her mother, singer and actor Georgia Holt, has died at the age of 96.
“Mom is gone,” the singer tweeted on Sunday.
Cher’s representative Liz Rosenberg confirmed the news to the Washington Post. Other details, such as time and cause of death, have not been disclosed.
In September, Cher said her mother had been admitted to hospital with pneumonia but was on the mend.
Born Jackie Jean Crouch in Arkansas, Georgia developed a love of music in early childhood and won several talent and beauty competitions. I
n her 20s, she moved to Hollywood and landed roles in various films and TV shows of the 1950s, including I Love Lucy and The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet.
She was married twice to Cher’s father, John Sarkisian, once from 1946 to 1947 and again from 1965 to 1966. She was married and divorced four other times. After her first divorce, she struggled financially as a single mom and briefly placed Cher in a Catholic orphanage. Georgia was in a relationship with Craig Spencer from 1976 until her death.
She recorded an album titled Honky Tonk Woman in 1980, which included covers, originals and a duet with Cher. The tapes were lost until 2013, when she found them in her garage; she sent them to her musical director, and they were released that year.
That same year, Cher released a documentary about her mother titled “Dear Mom, Love Cher,” which featured interviews with Georgia, her daughters Cher and Georganne LaPiere and Cher’s children Chaz Bono and Elijah Blue Allman.