Cher has done a lot of things. She scored her first Hot 100 chart-topper in 1965 and her last in 1999. (At 52, Cher was the oldest woman to land a #1 hit until last week, when Brenda Lee broke the record.) Cher sang backup on “Christmas (Baby, Please Come Home)” and “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling.” She helped modernize the variety show in the ’70s and defied expectations in the ’80s. She won an Oscar for Best Actress. The ubiquitous robotic Auto-Tune effect? Cher did that first. But Cher is not in the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, and she thinks that’s some bullshit.
Didn’t it give us the auto-tune effect?
No. It was already widely used, discreetly. She was the first to popularize using it cranked up to 11 as an intentional style choice. It’s more apt to say she gave us T-Pain.
And wasn’t it the producer who did the cranking uppa? She just gave the thumbs up. She didn’t even write a single note on that track.
I’d argue it’s exactly that exaggerated sound she’s referring to. So by her giving us T-Pain she also gave us everything post T-Pain that also sounds like that.