Cher poses for a selfie/Photo credit: Cher's Instagram account
Living legend Cher reveals some details of dark times in her marriage to Sonny Bono in a new book released this week. In Cher: The Memoir, Part One, Cher revisits different times when she and Bono were not always a perfect union.
In fact, she says at one point, they were struggling in their marriage and Bono admitted to her that he “seriously thought about throwing you off our balcony.” Cher had told Bono she was unhappy and was possibly thinking about starting a romantic relationship with their guitarist.
Cher says of their unhappy marriage, “If I do this, it’s over. He’s not gonna be able to come back. We’re not gonna be able to be Sonny & Cher. I just wanna blow it up. But I didn’t know that I wanted to blow it up until I was blowing it up.”
The two began dating when Cher was only 16 years old, Bono 27. They met at a coffee shop and at first were just friends. Cher, with a yearning to become a star, worked with Bono who was a record producer and writer at the time. Together, they created several songs, eventually writing and performing their biggest hit, I Got You Babe which spent three weeks at number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Their calling card, the song was included in Rolling Stones list of 500 Greatest Songs Of All Time and in 2017 was inducted into the Grammy Hall Of Fame. They were married in 1964 and had one child, Chastity, who later identified and transitioned to becoming a man. In 2010, he confirmed the transition was successful and was to be addressed as a man named Chaz
They starred in their own comedy skit show called The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour which aired for four seasons starting in 1971 and won 1 Emmy Award. Airing on CBS, the show featured skits and songs and popular guests like Steve Martin, Teri Garr, Carole Burnett, The Jackson 5, and Ronald Regan. Only once they divorced did the show get canceled in 1974. Later, the divorced couple reunited for the sake of a reboot of the popular show called The Sonny And Cher Show.
The reboot taped the opening and closing scenes in front of a live studio audience but the remainder of the show was taped in advance and featured much of the same entertainment their original show had, including well-known celebrity guests and songs. The show was eventually canceled after two seasons.
Bono went on to act in small roles on shows like Fantasy Island and Charlie’s Angels. He later found interest in government affairs, and served in California’s Congress from 1994 until his death in 1998. He lost his life after he crashed into a tree while skiing in Lake Tahoe.
Cher has always been and remains a force to be reckoned with. Be it her natural beauty and long dark hair, her outgoing and confident personality, her unique voice and style, the now-78 year old has always captured the attention of fans everywhere. She has earned multiple awards including a Grammy, an Emmy, and an Academy Award for her role in Moonstruck in 1988. She is widely considered one of the world’s best selling artists with over 100 million albums sold worldwide. Her Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction a month ago also adds to her accolades which include a People’s Choice Award, a Kid’s Choice Award and even includes a nomination for a Razzie Award, which is given to the worst performance to an actor. She was nominated for Burlesque in 2011.