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Cher\u2019s Strange Connection to Bob Dylan Began With This Chart-Topping Hit 50 Years Ago<\/a> originally appeared on Parade<\/a>.<\/i><\/p>\n Fifty years ago this week, Sonny and Cher<\/a><\/strong> scored their first and only chart-topping single when \u201cI Got You Babe\u201d topped Billboard<\/em>\u2019s Hot 100. It stayed in the top spot for three weeks before it was knocked out of the pole position by the Beatles\u2019 \u201cHelp.\u201d<\/p>\n Strangely enough, the pop duet, written and produced by Sonny Bono<\/strong> for he and this then-wife Cher to sing, was inspired in part by Bob Dylan<\/a><\/strong>, who had released the scathing folk song \u201cIt Ain\u2019t Me Babe\u201d in 1964. Bono copped the use of the word \u201cbabe\u201d and turned Dylan\u2019s downbeat vibe completely around as a love-fueled pop song.<\/p>\n \ud83c\udfac <\/strong>SIGN UP for Parade’s Daily newsletter to get the latest pop culture news & celebrity interviews delivered right to your inbox<\/strong><\/a> \ud83c\udfac<\/strong><\/p>\n The success of \u201cI Got You Babe\u201d paved the way for the release of the singer\u2019s first solo single under the name Cher<\/a><\/strong>–a cover of Dylan\u2019s \u201cAll I Really Want to Do,\u201d which peaked at No. 15 on the Billboard<\/em> Hot 100, besting a version by the Byrds, whose recording entered the Billboard Hot 100 during the same week.<\/p>\n The song also served as the title track and opening song of Cher\u2019s debut solo album, released in 1965. But the ties to Dylan didn\u2019t stop there. The album also included her covers of \u201cBlowin\u2019 in the Wind\u201d and \u201cDon\u2019t Think Twice, It\u2019s All Right\u201d<\/p>\n She continued her Dylan fixation the following year by covering \u201cLike a Rolling Stone\u201d on her 1966 album, The Sonny Side of Cher.<\/em><\/p>\n While Cher (or Sonny who was serving as her producer then) were clearly fans of Dylan as a songwriter, decades later the singer was critical of Dylan as a performer.<\/p>\n \u201cIf people come to see you, they want you to do things they like. I remember seeing Bob Dylan \u2014 I think it was \u2018Blood on the Tracks.\u2019 And I went to the first concert and some of the songs I went, \u2018What is this?\u2019 He got tired of singing the songs the same way,\u201d she told The New York Times<\/a><\/em> in a 2023 interview. \u201cBut people really want to hear their favorite song exactly the same way. It doesn\u2019t make any difference if I\u2019m tired of it. I have to find it inside myself to love it and to love what I\u2019m doing.\u201d<\/p>\nHow Many Bob Dylan Songs Did Cher Record?<\/h2>\n
What Does Cher Think of Dylan the Performer?<\/h2>\n