Cher Performs 'Believe' Duet with Jennifer Hudson as She Receives Icon Award at 2024 iHeartRadio Music Awards

Mar. 15, 2025

Cher and Jennifer Hudson perform onstage during the 2024 iHeartRadio Music Awards in Los Angeles on April 1, 2024.Photo:Kevin Winter/Getty

Kevin Winter/Getty

It’s not hard to “Believe” what a forceCheris in the music industry after all these years, but she’s still getting her flowers!

Meryl Streep— who starred alongside Cher in the 1984 movieSilkwood— honored her friend with a speech before her musical performance began.

“You know that Cher has had a No. 1 record in every one of the last seven decades She’s the only woman in U.S. history to have done that. What does it take to have those kinds of legs, right? We all want to know. It’s not 15 minutes of fame anymore. You’re lucky to get seven seconds of somebody’s fractured attention — never mind seven decades,” she told the crowd.

Cher performs onstage during the 2024 iHeartRadio Music Awards in Los Angeles on April 1, 2024.Kevin Winter/Getty

Streep, 74, continued: “It takes a town, but more than that. I think it takes heart. When I think of Cher I think of her giant heart. how open it is, how battered it is and how strong it is and how she leads with her heart and everything she does interacting, singing, dancing or dressing. She just puts it all out there — and it’s brought her lots of prestigious awards.”

Check out all of PEOPLE’s full iHeartRadio Music Awards coverage here.

Meryl Streep and Cher at the iHeartRadio Music Awards in Los Angeles on April 1, 2024.Michael Buckner/Billboard via Getty

Michael Buckner/Billboard via Getty

After a video tribute to the “Strong Enough” performer,Jennifer Hudsonhit the stage and delivered a blistering version of “If I Could Turn Back Time.” Cher then appeared onstage and kicked off “Believe” solo until midway when theDreamgirlsstar, 42, joined her for a duet.

“First of all, I feel really blessed and lucky with this award, and I feel lucky to have people that have stayed with me for all these years. Most of you weren’t born, but a lot of people have,” she said.

After telling the audience about her childhood dreams, Cher addressed how her success in music was hard-won.

She continued: “From my experiences, have a dream, and then don’t give it up no matter what happens. Because I know from my own experience that if you have a dream and you stick with it, you will have a wonderful life and it probably will come true. And that’s it for me.”

Alexander “AE” Edwards and girlfriend Cher, winner of the Icon award, pose in the press room during the 2024 iHeartRadio Music Awards in Los Angeles on April 1, 2024.Frazer Harrison/Getty

Frazer Harrison/Getty

According to a press release, the “Strong Enough” singer was selected to be celebrated with this year’s icon award due to “her unparalleled contributions to music and pop culture for over seven decades.”

Cher joins an impressive roster of past icon award recipients. The honor was presented last year toPink, and, in the past, A-listers likeBon Jovi,Elton JohnandJennifer Lopezhave also received the title.

Meryl Streep and Cher attend the 2024 iHeartRadio Music Awards in Los Angeles on April 1, 2024.Kevin Mazur/Getty

Kevin Mazur/Getty

Cher’s icon award comes several months after she released herfirst full-length holiday album,Christmas, which dropped in October of last year.

The hitmaker ended upmaking history with the project, as its lead single"DJ Play a Christmas Song"went No. 1 onBillboard’s Dance/Electronic Digital Song Sales chart — setting a record as the first female artist to have a top hit for seven decades straight. The “If I Could Turn Back Time” singer andRolling Stonesare the only artists to date who have had at least one song in a peak position on aBillboardchart every decade between the 1960s and 2020s.

Cher in Paris in September 2023.Swan Gallet/WWD via Getty

Swan Gallet/WWD via Getty

The pop legend wasn’t the only superstar to receive a special award at this year’s iHeartRadio Music Awards.

Beyoncéalso received the innovator award in celebration of both her influence on pop culture and the creative risks she’s taken over the years to “successfully transform [her] music,” per a press release. The hitmaker, 42, was awarded at the awards show just several days after she released her ninth studio album and first country-music-inspired LP,Act II: Cowboy Carter.

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source: people.com