The star released a book, “Cher: A Memoir, Part One,” in which she spoke frankly about her personal life. Cher (Cherilyn Sarkisian) admitted that she lost her virginity at the age of 14 to a high school student from an Italian family who lived next door. “He would come into my room and we would kiss. I liked his black roadster more than he did,” the pop icon recalled.
In 1962, Cherilyn met Sonny (Salvador) Bono. At the time, Cher was taking acting lessons, but soon stopped doing so and spent her days at the famous Gold Star Studios, where Bono worked as an assistant to the famous producer Phil Spector. Soon the lovers began living together, even though she was 16 and he was 27.
The legendary singer describes her ex-husband as a domineering and “Machiavellian” person. She suffered three miscarriages during their marriage. All this time, Sonny was cheating on her. At the same time, he reproached her for refusing to have sex with him. “He said, ‘I wouldn’t have to look for someone else if I was sexually satisfied,'” Cher said.
According to the artist, Bono went so far in his manipulations that he forbade her from seeing her friends, she could only leave the house for shopping, and she couldn’t even wear her favorite perfume because her husband didn’t like the smell. “There was something about him that I could never understand, something that turned him from a wonderful, funny guy into someone who took everything away from me,” the singer said.
The singing duo of lovers achieved great success in 1964 with the composition “Baby Don’t Go”, followed by “I Got You Babe”, which turned Sonny and Cher into America’s sweethearts. But the singer already felt like a bird in a gilded cage. “We could only do what he wanted. The changes in his attitude towards me happened so slowly that I didn’t even notice. It was very Machiavellian,” — Sarkisyan noted.
After her third miscarriage, the owner of a characteristic contralto voice caught her chosen one cheating on her with his secretary but forgave him again. “He said he was sorry, but insisted that it was my fault that we didn’t have enough sex. It was so disgusting, but by the time he finished speaking, I was the one apologizing,” the star recalled.
In 1969, Cher gave birth to a daughter, Chastity, but the birth of the child did not save the couple. On the very first night after returning from the hospital, Bono left, leaving Cher unconscious on the bathroom floor, where she began to bleed. But the biggest shock awaited the artist when all the financial issues of their creative union came to light. It turned out that Sonny owned 95 percent of the shares of the company “Cher Enterprises”, and his lawyer Irwin Spiegel owned the remaining five percent. Cher had nothing, according to the documents, she simply received a salary, which her husband did not pay her. All these years, she was in voluntary slavery.
After the divorce and the start of her solo career, Cher began an affair with Gregg Allman from the Allman Brothers. The relationship lasted from 1975 to 1979 and all this time it was overshadowed by the musician’s drug addiction. After Cher became pregnant, Gregg promised to give up his bad habit. However, a few days after the wedding, Cherilyn found a bag of white powder on him and decided to get rid of the child. “I concluded that I had to make a choice, and I knew what it would be”
In 1976, the couple finally had a son, Elijah. However, three years later, the singer filed for divorce. “I’m just so tired of all this, Gregory. I’m so tired of going to rehab with you,” the Oscar and Grammy winner added.
