Biggest Bombshells From Cher's Memoir: Her Twisted Relationship With Sonny Bono, Suicidal Thoughts and More
Iconic singer, actress, and TV personality Cher is pulling back the curtain on her life in the spotlight with the release of her highly anticipated two-part memoir, Cher: The Memoir. Part one hits shelves this month, with part two slated for release in 2025.
Here's a look at some of the most revealing moments from her deeply personal story, shared entirely on her own terms.
Tina Turner Asked for Her Help Ending Her Marriage
As a young star navigating the pressures of fame, Cher wasn't alone in facing a turbulent marriage with her performer partner. Her close friend Tina Turner was also seeking a way out of her abusive relationship with Ike Turner—going so far as to ask Cher for advice on how she ended things with Sonny.
In her memoir, Cher reflects on the unforgettable night Tina graced her prime-time show with a powerful performance.
"Before we went on she came to my room asking if I had some cover-up. She had a bruise on her arm she didn't want showing on camera. She sat down while I looked for it and then quietly said, very straightforward, 'Tell me how you left him,'" NowToLove reports.
Cher Had Suicidal Thoughts Before Leaving Sonny Bono
"Standing barefoot on the balcony of our suite at the Sahara hotel in Las Vegas, I stared down, dizzy with loneliness as I saw how easy it would be to step over the edge and simply disappear," Cher writes of her marriage from 1972, NowToLove reports.
Cher reveals that the success of The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour profoundly changed Bono, leaving her feeling "deeply unhappy."
Overwhelmed with "hopelessness" and "desperation," she admits to contemplating suicide "five or six times." However, the thought of their three-year-old daughter, Chas, pulled her back from the edge. It was then she had a life-changing realization: she could simply leave Sonny.
Though they remained together for a few more years for the sake of their show, their official split came in June 1975.
Cher Had Enduring Love for Gregg Allman
Cher met Allman when she attended one of his concerts at the Troubadour in Los Angeles. The couple met when Allman had one of his associates pass her a note.
"Oh my God, I was so crazy about Gregory. I loved him so much and he was so wonderful. He was this amazing man who happened to be a heroin addict." She pauses, then laughs ruefully. "I guess you can't have everything," she said via USA Today.
Cher went on to call Allman "really amazing and sweet." However, his drug use ended their marriage.
"Gregory was quite an intelligent man, but sometimes he wasn't able to put things together because of drugs. He was beautiful. We used to lay in bed and he would play his guitar," she said.
Cher would go on to attend his funeral when he died in 2017.
Sonny Bono Thought About Killing Her
After Cher revealed to Bono that she wanted to sleep with a guitar player in their band named Bill, he thought about killing her.
"One morning at breakfast, Bono surprised her by saying, "You know, after you went off with Bill that night at the Sahara, I seriously thought about throwing you off our balcony," she shared via Page Six.
"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,'" she continued.
Cher shared that she was willing to jump and that there was no need to push her.
Read more: Cher Recalls Telling Sonny Bono That She Wanted to Sleep With Their Guitarist
Bono Took All of Her Money
"I just thought, we're husband and wife. Half the things are his, half the things are mine. It didn't occur to me that there was another way," she said via The Mirror. But then she added: "He took all my money."
Bono took on a "parent" role, controlling both her finances and their business arrangements. The two met when she was 16 and he was 27.
Cher was offered a substantial amount to stay and do the show despite her cracking relationship.
"Because everybody was afraid I was gonna blow up the show. They just said, 'What do you want?' And I said, 'Well, I want my own place in Malibu. And I want $5,000 a month. Hello? And I want freedom,'" she revealed.
Cher and Bono kept up the act for two more years until Cher's new boyfriend, record executive David Geffen, got a copy of her contract, and she learned the shocking truth.
"Sonny owned 95 percent of the company and his lawyer owned five. And it was called Cher Enterprises, but I own nothing! And we'd worked together for almost 12 years," she continued.
I said, 'When was the moment that you thought this would be a good idea?' And he said, 'I always knew you'd leave me.' And I said, 'That's not a reason! Son, how could you do it? I was there by your side working, all those nights, all those days, through good, through bad,'" Cher said.
"To this day," she said, "I wish to God I could just ask, 'Son, at what point, during what day, did you go, 'Yeah, you know what? I'm going to take her money,'" she shared.
Cher would go on to walk away from the marriage in 1975.
Her Thoughtful Note to Son Chaz
Under the section titled "Author's Note," Cher wrote that the book is based on her "sometimes imperfect" memory and then mentioned her transgender son, Chaz Bono.
"In this memoir, I refer to my son Chaz as Chas, the name he went by during the years covered in this book. Chaz has granted his blessing for this usage. In the next volume, at the appropriate point, I will refer to my son as Chaz," she said via Today.
The book, which was published on Nov. 19, covers the beginning of Cher's life, from childhood to meeting and marrying Sonny Bono, giving an inside look into their relationship and the music of Sonny & Cher.
Chaz was born in 1969 and in 2009 announced that he was transitioning.
Cher also writes about suffering a hemorrhage after giving birth.
"There was blood everywhere and I passed out on the floor. I came to and tried to pull myself together, but by then I'd passed out again," she said.
Bono found her and called assistance.
During Chaz Bono's seventh birthday, Cher wrote that her son "dressed as a boy as she often liked to do" during the monster-themed celebration.
--Originally appeared on 'Music Times.'
