Cher Picks Adele, Jackson, Springsteen, Stones, Winehouse, Wonder & More For BBC Radio 2's "Tracks of My Years"

Music legend Cher stopped by UK's BBC Radio 2 studios last month where she chose ten of her favorite songs from other artists for the station's "Tracks of My Years" programme.

BBC Radio 2 - the country's most-listened-to radio station - has been airing two of her chosen songs every day this week around 11:45AM. With each of the songs, Cher gave a brief explanation as to why they were the tracks of "her years".

Monday

'Rehab' by Amy Winehouse
I think that appeals to the bad girl in me. I can relate to a lot of the feelings that she portrayed in her music and on stage. She was so distinct like Billie Holliday - burning too bright, burning too hot - but still just that person. The way she presented herself on stage was just genius.

'I Cant Get No (Satisfaction)' by The Rolling Stones
We met the Stones when they first came to L.A. and they were very nice boys but they didn't fit in very well in Los Angeles... So we went on a couple of shows with them and then they came back and they had this great song and it was the first time we ever heard it and it was 'Satisfaction' and I just remember thinking, Wow this is the greatest song I've ever heard.

Tuesday

'Rolling In The Deep' by Adele
She happens to be one of my favorite singers. When you share a song and it just hits something in you and you don't even have time to check your points and go "Oh is it this, this, this, this and this?"... It's just you're not hearing it and then all of a sudden something in the lyric or in the vocal or in the arrangement or if you're lucky, all of it, just wraps around you... The sound of the person's voice is very engaging or soothing or raspy. So that's the song. It hits you, like the Stones it's one thing, Adele is something else, Amy Winehouse... They all hit you in a different way. It's a grab or a punch, it's very physical in my mind, you know, it grabs you. I mean, it's strange how people talk about "That song grabbed me" or "That song really made me cringe" or "cry" or, you know, it's all physical things from just this music.

'Wanna Be Starting Siomehting' by Michael Jackson.
My friend Michelle Pfeiffer and I were in San Tropez one summer and that was just the song that got played over and over, over again. It's that simple.It was just the best time, the best vacation, the best combination of song.

An EP of 'Take It Like A Man' - the third single from Cher's new album 'Closer To The Truth' -  is available to purchase on Amazon and Amazon UK.

Wednesday

'You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'' by The Righteous Brothers.
That was the last time I ever sang back-up. I was in a room full of a bunch of guys; I was the only woman on the song... There was just 4-track then and everybody was quite excited for that. So, the boys had put their vocals down and the track had been mixed down and what they needed was just for the background vocals... So there were three guys, Sonny and me and we went in and did the backing to it.

'A Whiter Shade of Pale' by Annie Lennox
My favorite song growing up was 'A Whiter Shade of Pale' and I had no idea what they were saying and I didn't care - I knew it was about drugs, drugs were in there somewhere but I had no idea what else was going on. And when Annie did it and I could actually hear the lyric, they didn't make much sense to me or more sense to me really, but I got to listen to them. And she did a beautiful job. Ah, [her voice is] the perfect instrument.

Thursday

'Living For The City' by Stevie Wonder
I love his music and I love him as a person. He's slightly sweet and hysterical. When I listen to that song, I just feel so empathetic because, I can't know exactly what it was like but I know as much as much as I can - I feel it from that song.

'Dancing In The Dark' by Bruce Springsteen
That's the song I crank up in my car when I'm driving and sing to the top of my lungs... Driving down the highway.

The BBC adjusted their schedule (to make room for programming for children's charity 'Children in Need') so two of Cher's choices (one by Bonnie Raitt and the other by The Eagles) will not be aired... for now.

Short share:

• Cher's performance on French television show 'Vivement Dimanche' will air in the country on Sunday 24 November.
• 'Closer To The Truth' has slipped from #24 to #33 on this week's Billboard 200 chart.
• 'Closer To The Truth' fell four places to #8 on the album chart in Canada this week, where it has been certified Gold for shifting 40,000 copies!