Cher makes her return to the big screen this year in one of the summer’s hottest films, Mama Mia! Here We Go Again. It turns out her role as the mother of Meryl Streep’s Donna and grandmother of Amanda Seyfried’s Sophie inspired her to get back in the recording studio, too, as she’s now revealed plans for an ABBA covers album.
Speaking with TODAY about the movie (via Rolling Stone), Cher revealed that she enjoyed singing the classic disco pop music so much that she decided to put he own touch on more of the material. “After I did ‘Fernando’ [in the movie] I thought it would really be fun to do an album of ABBA songs, so I did,” she said. “It’s not what you would think of when you think of ABBA, ’cause I did it in a different way.”
There’s no word on when the record might be ready for release, but you can hear Cher and Andy Garcia sing “Fernando” from Mama Mia! below.
Update – August 9th: The album, Dancing Queen, arrives in September. You can stream Cher’s version of “Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)” now.
And here’s the full TODAY interview, in which Cher talks about working with Streep and her love of the Mama Mia! stage production.
Mama Mia! Here We Go Again is out this Friday, July 20th. A Broadway musical about Cher’s own life, The Cher Show, is set to open in November. Directed by Jason Moore (Avenue Q) with a book by Rick Elice (Jersey Boys), the production features three actresses playing Cher at different points of time in her life. Characters also include Bono, Greg Allman, David Geffen, and Rob Camilletti.
Watch the final Mama Mia! Here We Go Again trailer below.
