Cher revealed that Sonny Bono once hired private detectives to follow her after she left him for another man.
In her memoir Cher: The Memoir, Part One, the iconic singer and actress opened up about her tumultuous relationship with Sonny Bono, who passed away in 1998.
During a challenging time in their marriage while working on The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour in the 1970s, Cher, 78, found herself drawn to a guitarist named Bill. She confessed to Bono that she was interested in being with Bill, which deeply unsettled him.
«Since we first started living together, he had secretly feared I’d leave him one day, though he didn’t admit this to me until years later,» Cher wrote.
Despite having a show with Bono that same evening, she felt she could no longer stay. «I don’t remember exactly what happened or in what order, but something changed when I learned Sonny had slept with Bill’s girlfriend the night before out of spite,» Cher recalled.
Cher then asked Bill to join her in San Francisco, using money Bono had given her.
However, she later discovered that Bono had hired private detectives to follow them, and they ended up getting lost. «There was no way he was going to let me go off on my own,» she wrote.
Cher and Bill eventually arrived at a hotel and checked in separately around 4 a.m., wanting to avoid any rumors about her and Bono.
Despite their precautions, they ended up spending the night together. «Later, we made love, and it was incredible.
In that moment, I knew I would never sleep with Sonny again,» Cher shared.
The next morning, the private detectives tracked Cher down, and she returned to Los Angeles.
The Sahara Hotel, where Cher and Bono were scheduled to perform, issued a press statement announcing the show’s cancellation, citing Cher’s «exhaustion.»
However, just days after leaving Bono, Cher and he returned to CBS for their variety show.
Their marriage ended in divorce in 1975.
