by Cher has announced that her mother, Georgia Holt, has died aged 96.
The Believe singer, 76, broke the news by simply posting to Twitter, “Mom’s gone” early Sunday morning.
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Holt’s death comes after months of health issues, including his hospitalization with pneumonia in September. Cher had taken care of herself throughout this period, posting updates on the social media site that Holt was “doing better”.
Holt is survived by his daughter Cher, his grandsons Chaz Bono and Elijah Blue Allman, and his partner of 46 years, Craig Spencer.
No further statement has been released by the family.
Born Jackie Jean Crouch, Holt was born in Kensett, Arkansas in 1926 to 13-year-old Lynda Inez Gulley and 21-year-old baker Roy Malloy Crouch.
Taught to play the guitar by her father, Holt fled to Los Angeles in 1946 with the goal of achieving fame, having developed a love for singing and performing.
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At the time, the 19-year-old had just separated from her first husband, John Sarkisian, and was pregnant with his daughter, Cher.
She had been encouraged to terminate the pregnancy by her mother, but had refused, choosing instead to go it alone.
Since then, the mother/daughter duo has been somewhat inseparable, with Holt becoming a key figure in Cher’s career while developing his own.
Major moments include her appearance on an episode of I Love Lucy and the recording of her own country music album in 1982 (but which wasn’t officially released until 2013).
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Cher’s bond with Holt was so strong that the singer even created a documentary film celebrating her life titled Dear Mom, Love Cher.
Most recently, Holt appeared alongside her grandson Chaz Bono as a guest star on season six of RuPaul’s Drag Race.
The episode, titled Queens Of Talk, saw the couple as “guests” on an imaginary chat show led by the competing drag queens.
Holt married a total of six times in her lifetime, including remarrying Sarkisian 19 years after their original divorce.
She has been with her partner Spencer since 1976, although the couple never officially married.
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