Black Rose - Who's That?

Have you ever heard of the band Black Rose? My guess is the majority of you haven’t. But on this day in 1980, they opened for Hall & Oates at Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, Maryland. Now, obscure bands open for bigger acts all the time, but there was something different about Black Rose. They had a very famous lead singer.

The one and only Cher headed up Black Rose. In 1980, Cher and her part-time boyfriend Les Dudek wanted to form a band called Black Rose. The band, before signing a contract with Casablanca Records, was an independent rock band that played in small clubs around Los Angeles and tried to make it without trading on Cher's celebrity.

They released one album. It didn’t chart, it didn’t have a hit single, and in four decades, it hasn’t sold enough copies worldwide to even earn a Gold certification in America. And yet, while promoting that record, the band appeared on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, the beloved late-night music series Midnight Special, and The Merv Griffin Show.

The album featured songs written by heavyweights like Bernie Taupin, David Foster, Carole Bayer Sager and was produced by James Newton Howard (who would later go on to be nominated for multiple Oscars). “Never Should’ve Started” isn’t a bad song. It’s definitely got some film score/Meatloaf vibes mixed with a “nice-try” of new wave music. You’ve also got “Take It From the Boys” with Cher sounding a bit gritty over the guitar-driven song.

Black Rose had planned to do a second album, but it was canceled. By 1982, Cher and Dudek had broken up and she went back to more pop-style music and acting. I can’t even say, “at least they had that magical one album” because that would be a lie. But they gave it a try.