In her newly released autobiography, Cher: The Memoir (Part One), the legendary performer recounts a chilling conversation with her late ex-husband, Sonny Bono, about their marriage’s darkest period. The 78-year-old singer reveals how Bono admitted to contemplating her murder during their tumultuous separation, per Page Six.
The startling disclosure emerged from a period of crisis in October 1972 at Las Vegas’s Sahara Hotel. Cher, feeling trapped in what she describes as a “loveless marriage,” told Bono she wanted to sleep with Bill, their band’s guitarist—a statement she claims was not genuine but meant to prompt Bono to free her from their relationship.
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Following this confrontation, the couple, then starring in the highly-rated The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour, reached an arrangement to maintain their public image by continuing to live together during the week. However, during one breakfast conversation, Bono made an unsettling admission.
“You know, after you went off with Bill that night at the Sahara, I seriously thought about throwing you off our balcony,” Bono told her. “He laughed a little at that and so did I. It was crazy that he was telling me,” Cher writes. Bono continued, explaining his hypothetical plan: “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,” according to Page Six.
In response, Cher revealed her own dark thoughts: “there would have been no need to push me because I was gonna jump!” The pair found themselves laughing at what Cher describes as “the darkest moment of our marriage.” She reflects, “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?”
Their relationship began when Cher was 16, and Bono was 27, with the young singer initially moving in as his cook and housekeeper. The marriage, lasting from 1964 to 1975, was marked by Bono’s infidelity, which Cher discovered through his assistant and her own mother’s revelations. When confronted, Bono blamed their inadequate love life.
Years after their divorce, Bono sought forgiveness. “He showed up on my doorstep in tears. Sitting in my kitchen, he said to me, ‘I’m sorry for what I did to you. I was dishonest and I had all those women, and I didn’t think how it might affect our relationship,’” Cher recalls per TODAY. While the apology “couldn’t change anything,” she appreciated his genuine remorse.
The memoir details Cher’s struggles with suicidal thoughts during this period. “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,” she writes, noting this occurred “five or six times.” Thoughts of her child, mother Georgia Holt, half-sister Georganne LaPiere, and fans ultimately prevented her from acting on these impulses.
Bono died in a skiing accident in 1998. The former couple share a child, Chaz Bono, now 55. Cher, currently involved with Def Jam Records VP Alexander “A.E.” Edwards, also has a 48-year-old son, Elijah Allman, from her marriage to the late Gregg Allman.
