Cheryl Ladd, forever one of Charlie’s Angels, is still singing after all these years

Any gay kid over the age of 40 knows all about Charlie’s Angels – and I’m not talking about the movies with Drew Barrymore and Cameron Diaz. I’m talking about the 1976-1981 ABC series that originally starred Kate Jackson, Farrah Fawcett and Jaclyn Smith.

Farrah left after season one (although she would reutrn – as part of a lawsuiot settlement – for three episodes during seasons three and four). and was replaced by a 25-year-old unknown named Cheryl Ladd. Cheryl was a smash and stayed with the show its remaining four years along with Smith. Jackson left after season three and was replaced first by Shelly Hack then by Tanya Roberts.

Cheryl is a true talent who went on to make scores of TV movies and most recently was a regular on the NBC series Las Vegas. I visited the set of the show back in the fall of 2007 and got to chat with Cheryl who honestly did not look a day older than when she was on Charlie’s Angels.

“I’m still recognized and people still love Charlie’s Angels,” she said. “it’s still showing somewhere as you know. It’s amazing how many fans we still have from that show and how much they still love us. They feel like we’re their buddies and it’s just a great feeling. … For awhile, when the show was over at first, I wanted to move on from it. But now, everything’s a blessing you know? People just love it so much. I embrace it.”

Cheryl actually got her start as a singer and was one of the voices in the Josie and the Pussycats cartoon series. In 1978, I actually bought her hit single Think It Over and could still sing large portions of it on command. Now Cheryl and recorded a new song with her songwriter husband Brian Russell called Everything is Right to be released as a video on DVD next week according to CherylLadd.com.

Take a look:

As an added treat, I found a clip of Cheryl (pictured above with Fawcett who played her sister on Charlie’s Angels) headlining her own 1979 variety special where she sings a three song medley and the final clip is a duet of Whenever I Call You Friend with Rick Springfield.