Cher reflects on her legacy, career and latest projects: “I’ve always been exactly who I am”

Cher has spent six decades working in music, movies and fashion — and the cultural icon is not slowing down.

Over the span of her career, Cher said she’s never reinvented herself.

“I was popular or I wasn’t popular,” she said in an interview that aired Tuesday on “CBS Mornings.” “But I’ve always been exactly who I am.”

“Like I always thought of myself as a bumper car ’cause like if I hit the wall, I would just back up and go in a different direction,” she said.

Entrepreneurial work and memoir

Her latest project is taking her in a sweet direction.

Cherlato, a gelato brand, is a passion project for Cher that’s 10 years in the making. 

Just recently, she was tasting flavors for the brand in her kitchen. “We had like 10 chocolates ’cause we’re still working on it all the time,” she said.

The gelato is currently available in pop-up locations, including a recent stop in New York City where fans were able to try the singer’s creations.

“I’ve been a fan of Cher my whole life. My mother’s a fan of Cher. My grandmother’s a fan of Cher and it kind of transcends generations,” said Darian Simas, one fan at the pop-up.

The crowd also got a surprise visit from the superstar.

“You don’t put your name on anything, so I’m like, ‘this gonna be some good gelato today'” another fan, Javi Rodriguez, told Cher. 

Cher said she’s grateful for the trust fans around the world put in her.

“I get offered to do everything … and … I just don’t want to, because people feel that I wouldn’t lie to them and I don’t wanna ever have, you know, I don’t ever want that to change,” she said.

Last year, Cher wrote about her early career and marriage to Sonny Bono in “Cher: The Memoir Part One.” It became an instant New York Times bestseller.

Now she’s releasing a paperback version with a new addition and she’s thinking ahead to the second volume of her life story.

“I wanna go back and just have this extension, because I didn’t even think about it until a little while ago. I remembered a story, and I hadn’t said it, and then I remembered why I hadn’t said it. And then I thought, ‘I wonder if I’ll have the courage to say it,'” she said, but would not reveal details about the story.

The singer just thinks of herself as “a woman who works.”

“I don’t go around thinking, ‘oh, I’m a star, I’m a star,’ you know. Just, I’m happy and I’m really, really happy,” she said.

“We just have a blast”

In her personal life, Cher has been dating music executive and producer Alexander Edwards for three years. The couple are 40 years apart in age.

“Nobody knows what goes on between us, but we have — we just have a blast,” she said about her relationship with Edwards. “He just says, you know, you get older, but he said your spirit is younger.”

Cher has also bonded with Edwards’ 6-year-old son, Slash.

“He’s so funny. He’s so smart. He’s just a — he’s a delight.”

Reflecting on her goals: “I love what I do”

The 79-year-old admits she doesn’t like aging.

“I hate it. I’m not wiser,” Cher said laughing.

Her classic sense of humor hasn’t missed a beat and neither has her work ethic. She is still touring and achieving goals she set for herself decades ago. In an interview with CBS News in 1991, Cher was 45 and said at 75 she wanted to still be “doing the same things I’m doing today and I don’t think I can do that unless I take care of my body.”

Over 30 years later, she reflects on that moment, saying, “I don’t know how to do anything else. What am I going to do? I love what I do.”