(BANG) - Cher lives "like a nun" when she's not performing.
The 62-year-old singer, who is currently undertaking a run of show in Las Vegas, is so protective of her voice she doesn't talk unless she is on stage.
Cher said: "I didn't anticipate the dryness getting to my throat the way it does. So when I'm in Las Vegas, I have to kind of live like a nun and not talk during the day.
"It's so hard for me, I just really have to think about it and just not speak, but I have to remind myself about 100 times a days, because I'm not the kind of person that doesn't want to talk.
"So I text and I e-mail, which is kind of the only saving grace."
Cher also spoke about her recent charity work and revealed she is campaigning to save an elephant in Los Angeles zoo.
The 'Believe' singer continued: "I just got back from the Los Angeles City Hall to try and save the life of this elephant Billy. I just don't want this elephant to die he has so much anxiety. He's been alone there forever. Elephants should not be in zoos. Elephants don't live in zoos, they die in zoos.
"I also have a school in Africa and I just got back from Kathmandu in Nepal - I'm working with some Tibetan children there." - BANG Media International