Cher says late ex-husband Sonny Bono “seriously thought” about killing her

20 November, 2024

Cher and Sonny Bono split image

Cher’s late ex-husband Sonny Bono thought about killing her, the singer has said in her new book, Cher: The Memoir, Part One.

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In the memoir, which was released yesterday (November 19), the 78-year-old wrote that Bono “seriously thought” about killing her by throwing her off a balcony.

According to TMZ, Bono, whose divorce from Cher was finalised in 1975, made the confession after Cher admitted to wanting to sleep with the duo’s guitarist, who she identifies only as ‘Bill’.

Cher wrote: “He laughed a little at that and so did I. It was crazy that he was telling me. He went on: ‘I figured I’d plead insanity like Spade Cooley and get seven years in jail before they released me. Then I’d get a book deal and my own show.'”

The singer responded by telling Bono that “there would have been no need to push” her because she was “gonna jump” anyway.

Describing the conversation as the “darkest moment” of their marriage, Cher added: “I don’t think for a minute that Sonny would have actually pushed me off the balcony, but I’m sure it crossed his mind, and he knew that jumping off had also crossed mine. What else could we do but laugh?”

Sonny and Cher in 1971 — Sonny & Cher onstage at the 7-Up Showcase Theater at the Magic Mountain amusement park, Valencia, California, September 2, 1971. CREDIT: Steve Slocomb/Getty Images

She also wrote in the book that she had thoughts of suicide while in a hotel room in Las Vegas, saying: “I stepped barefoot onto the balcony of our suite and stared down. I was dizzy with loneliness. I saw how easy it would be to step over the edge and simply disappear. For a few crazy minutes I couldn’t imagine any other option.”

Cher and Bono first met in 1962, when Cher was 16 and Bono was 11 years her senior, and they worked as backing singers for Phil Spector, before finding fame as a duo under the name Sonny & Cher. They married in 1964, and had one child, son Chaz. Four days after finalising her divorce from Bono, Cher married Gregg Allman of The Allman Brothers Band, and they had another son, Elijah.

Bono died in 1998 after injuries he incurred when he hit a tree in a skiing accident in California. Cher gave a eulogy at his funeral per the request of his widow, Mary.

Meanwhile, Cher and Mary are currently in a dispute over the royalties to some of the duo’s biggest songs, including ‘I Got You Babe’ and ‘The Beat Goes On’, six years after conflict first arose when Bono’s copyright grants became eligible for termination.

At the time, Mary intervened to invoke the right, and was then sued by Cher in 2021 for $1million (£792,000), with Cher saying she was left blindsided by Mary’s attempt to claim her half of Sonny’s composition royalties.

In May 2023, a judge ruled that Cher’s divorce agreement with her ex-husband would overrule Mary’s bid to claim his profits, but in a court hearing on Monday (November 18), Mary’s lawyer argued that Cher’s right to collect half of the composition royalties for the two aforementioned hits ended over two years ago, on July 1, 2022.