Cher on Farewell Tour in Moscow, Armenian Declares Being Her Cousin

Moscow News
June 21 2004

American singer Cher will perform in Moscow Kremlin palace on Monday
and Tuesday. On June 24, she will have a concert in St. Petersburg,
at the New ice arena.

These concerts are part of her farewell world tour. In an interview
to the NTV television channel, she said that one should leave the
stage at the golden age.

Cher’s concerts coincided with Moscow International Film Festival.
Hollywood star Meryl Strip who had arrived to Moscow for the festival
will attend Cher’s show, Moscow government information center
reported. In 1983, Strip and Cher played in the Silkwood movie by
Mike Nichols.

Cher is of Armenian origin, she was born as Cherilyn Sarkisian.
Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper wrote that a citizen of Yerevan, the
capital of Armenia, approached to the bus in Moscow airport where
Cher was sitting and showed her a photograph of his father who, as
he was quoted by the paper as saying, was the brother of Cher’s father.

Marvel Sarkisian quoted by the paper said that his father Vardan was
killed in the World War II and his brother Karapet who allegedly is
Cher’s father went to the United States via Bulgaria and changed his
name to John. Marvel was ready to make a genetic analysis of his blood,
the paper wrote. However, Cher did not talk to him and left after he
had shown the photo to her.