Cher's Believe

By 1998, Cher seemed fated to fade off into the pop sunset. Her time of being half of pop music's "e;It couple,"e; of releasing chart-topping singles, of having her own TV show, with starring in box office breaking movies, was coming to an end. But then Believe and a new invention called auto-tune changed everything. Pop has always been a young person's game, especially for women, and a new dawn of that obsessive youth was in full swing in the late '90s. But Cher's return to inescapability at 52 years old-making her the oldest woman to reach the top of the Billboard Hot 100-was a refusal to accept that model. Full of fire, cutting edge choices, and a strong advocacy for one's self, Believe was her giant musical middle finger to all those assumptions. The album confirmed her place as a pop icon, a queer icon, a feminist icon, and reminds us that everyone should believe they can be strong enough.