Entertainment gossip and news from Newsweek’s network of contributors
Cher has worn many hats in her life: singer, actress, entertainer, and now, published author. And in her new memoir Cher: The Memoir, the esteemed multihyphenate, 78, opens up on an entirely new level.
In the first part of her two-volume memoir — released Tuesday, November 19 — Cher shares details about her marriages, showbiz, and the various moments of her career. While Cher has shined bright in her career, notably with her glittery outfits and strong vocal stylings, the “If I Could Turn Back Time” hitmaker has endured her fair share of dark moments.
Arturo Holmes/Getty Images for The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
She claimed Sonny Bono was abusive toward her
Cher was married to Sonny Bono from 1964 to 1975, and they were known on stage together as Sonny & Cher. In those years, they welcomed son Chaz Bono in 1969 (whom Cher refers to by a nickname he went by before his gender transition). But while they seemed happy and cheerful together on TV and in performances, things weren’t always joyful behind closed doors. Cher described Sonny as “controlling” and said the two would stop attending band dinners together or attending industry-related events, as he would grow paranoid that she would leave him. According to Cher, this only worsened with fame.
She even claimed that Sonny once considered murdering her.
After Cher confessed to her then-husband that she wanted to sleep with their band’s drummer, she said Sonny told her that he “seriously thought about throwing [her] off [their] balcony.”
The marriage drove her to suicidal ideation
According to Cher, after Sonny tried to play off his balcony confession as a joke, the “Believe” singer recalled telling him that she had considered ending her own life.
“[T]here would have been no need to push me,” Cher wrote, because she was “gonna jump” anyway. Despite this being the “darkest moment” of their marriage, Cher felt she had no choice to laugh it off.
“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?,” Cher wrote.
Sonny died in a ski accident in 1998.
She likened her musical dynamic with Sonny Bono to ‘involuntary servitude’
In one portion of the book, Cher details the business aspect of her and Sonny’s stage act, comparing their contract to “involuntary servitude.”
She recalled a conversation with her then-boyfriend, record executive David Geffen, in which she told him she wasn’t sure about the details of her and ex’s deal, as she didn’t read over the contract and let Sonny handle everything.
“[Geffen] called me up after reading it and said, “Sweetheart, this contract is involuntary servitude. You work for Sonny. You have no rights, no vote, no money, nothing. You’re an employee of something called ‘Cher Enterprises’ with a salary you were likely never paid and three weeks’ vacation per year.”
Geffen also noted that Sonny owned “95 percent of the company and the rest belongs to his lawyer, Irwin Spiegel.”
UPI/Bettmann Archive/Getty Images
She received advice from Lucille Ball, and relayed the same advice to Tina Turner
When she felt her marriage was coming to an end, Cher sought advice from Lucille Ball. The I Love Lucy star had recently gotten out of her marriage to Desi Arnaz, who was both her husband and business partner.
“I told her, ‘Lucy, I want to leave Sonny and you’re the only one I know that’s ever been in this same situation,” Cher wrote. “‘What should I do?’ Lucy and her husband had also become famous working together as stars on TV. And he was a huge womanizer too. Then Lucy had left him. She told me, ‘F**k him, you’re the one with the talent.'”
Years later, Tina Turner sought advice from Cher as she wanted to end her abusive marriage to her husband Ike Turner, like Cher. Turner had revealed a bruise to her fellow singer before an appearance on Cher’s eponymous TV variety show.
“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 [it] showing on camera,” Cher wrote. “She sat down while I looked for it and then quietly said, very straightforward, ‘Tell me how you left him.”
Her second husband, Gregg Almann, was a drug addict
When Cher discovered that she was expecting Gregg Almann’s child, the two decided to get married in a rather rushed ceremony. “There was little about our wedding day that was romantic,” Cher wrote. “There would be no honeymoon.”
Upon discovering a bag with white powder, Cher filed for divorce from him — just nine days after their union — as she was expecting their baby.
The two remained friends amid their split, and Allman frequently pleaded for Cher to visit him in rehab. Almann had long been open about his struggles with substance abuse, and Sonny encouraged her to visit him while he was attempting sobriety. Allman and Cher reconciled, and went on a belated honeymoon in Jamaica. However, things quickly turned after Cher saw Allman drinking rum, which prompted an argument.
Soon after, she discovered that Allman had allegedly been using heroin and gave him an ultimatum to go to rehab before the baby arrived.
“I don’t remember what date I’d chosen exactly. It was something arbitrary,” she wrote. “I had had it with us repeating the same pattern again and again, and had told him over the phone, ‘I’m just so tired of doing this, Gregory. I’m so tired of going to rehab with you.’ He was quiet on the other end of the line. ‘But I keep going,’ he said softly. His answer stopped me in my tracks, because it was true. He kept going to rehab, kept trying to get clean, kept making an effort despite failing in the past. In that moment, instead of thinking of my own exhaustion, I empathized with him.”
The couple welcomed son Elijah Blue Allman in 1976, before separating once again and finalizing their divorce in 1978. Gregg died in 2017 after a battle with liver cancer.
If you or someone you know are experiencing domestic violence, please call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 for confidential support.
If you or someone you know is struggling with substance abuse, contact the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).
If you or someone you know is considering suicide, please contact the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline by dialing 988, text “STRENGTH” to the Crisis Text Line at 741741 or go to 988lifeline.org.
