Sonny Cher: Information from Answers.com

Sonny Cher proved one of the magical musical combinations of the mid '60s and one of the better rock-influenced MOR acts of the early '70s, their wisecracking repartee providing counterpoint to a series of adoring hit duets. Salvatore "Sonny" Bono (b. Feb.

16, 1935) started out at Los Angeles-based Specialty Records as a songwriter in the late '50s, responsible for "Koko Joe" by and "She Said Yeah" for Larry Williams, which was later covered by the Rolling Stones and the Righteous Brothers. became a protégé of , managing to write a handful of successful songs, most notably "Needles and Pins" in collaboration with his protégé , which became a success for Jackie DeShannon and a huge international hit for the Searchers. In 1964, while working sessions with , he met an 18-year-old would-be singer named Cherilyn Lapierre (b.

May 20, 1946), and the two were later married. They formed a professional duet, initially as Caesar and Cleo for Vault Records and later Reprise, but it was only after they were signed to Atlantic Records as Sonny Cher that success came their way. The couple embarked on parallel careers, with later signed to Liberty/Imperial Records as a solo act.

They were a strange duet in the sense that neither had a great voice and, indeed, their voices were so similar that Atlantic's president was convinced that had come close to breaking a contract by turning up singing with her on her solo hit "All I Really Want to Do" and her other Imperial hits. The latter song, however, also demonstrated their ability to spot a hit, as well as good material for themselves -- they'd heard the Byrds performing the Dylan song at a club in Los Angeles and got Cher's recording out before own was in stores, beating the folk-rock group at its own game of popularizing Dylan songs. She subsequently hit with "Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)" while charted with "Laugh at Me" on Atco, but their biggest success was as a duet on Atco, with "I Got You Babe" and "The Beat Goes On.

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For a time, from 1965 until 1967, they were rock roll's hottest couple, so much so that in some conservative communities they were considered almost morally subversive; parents locked up their kids when Sonny and Cher were passing through for a concert appearance. They were popular enough, and sufficiently well-known in their images that the Rolling Stones impersonated them on the British television music showcase Ready Steady Go, miming to "I Got You Babe" with Brian Jones subbing for .

And then nothing -- the hits stopped coming, and the couple made some daringly creative but unsuccessful commercial missteps, even a movie ( , directed by William Friedkin in his debut) that was, like the Monkees' , too far ahead of its time for critics or all but the most advanced fans to appreciate.

A further film effort, Chastity, a name shared by their daughter, also bombed, and the sudden confrontation of a $200,000 income tax debt forced the couple to continue working. Further, they were unable to record because of a dispute with Atlantic over Sonny's objections to the way that Cher's solo career was being handled.

They were playing supper clubs and Las Vegas nightclubs, opening for people like , when Johnny Musso, a friend of the couple's, was jumping from an executive position at Atlantic to run Decca Records' Kapp label subsidiary, and brought the duo with him.

At around the same time, their stage act -- which had evolved into a kind of "with it" domestic comedy routine nearly as prominent as the music, with the tall, wry-witted cutting up on the seemingly dim-witted -- was spotted by Fred Silverman, who was then the head of programming for CBS. They ended up with a summer replacement try-out show that did so well that Sonny Cher were given a regular spot in the CBS lineup in January 1972 with a comedy-variety series.

The couple's recording career was revived initially by a live album cut in one night at Las Vegas, featuring new versions of their early hits as well as parts of their current repertory; the album went gold.

The first couple of singles by and Sonny Cher failed, but then producer Snuff Garrett, who had been at Liberty when was there but had never worked with her, was brought in, and the result was "Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves," a career-reviving number one hit. After that, "The Way of Love," "All I Ever Need Is You" (which became the theme for their TV show), "A Cowboy's Work Is Never Done," "Half Breed," and "Dark Lady" kept either or the couple in the Top Ten at various times through 1974. By then, however, their marriage had fallen apart, and with it, the success of their TV show.

By then, it didn't matter -- they were pop culture icons, though became the butt of many jokes when eclipsed him with her acting career in movies like Silkwood and Mask. was in the restaurant business when his outrage at the bureaucracy of the government in Palm Springs, CA, caused him to declare his candidacy for mayor -- he won the election, and subsequently was elected to Congress during the 1994 Republican sweep of the House of Representatives. He continued to represent his ex-wife's business interests, even as his subsequent remarriage (the name Sonny Cher is trademarked), and was beginning to make a mark as a conservative Republican member of the California House delegation when he died in a skiing accident in 1998.

Bono's second wife, Mary, succeeded him to the same House seat in a special election and the general election in 1998. ~ Bruce Eder, All Music Guide Cher first met in a Los Angeles coffee shop in November 1962, when she was sixteen. The much older Sonny (he was already twenty-seven) was working for record producer at Gold Star Studios in Hollywood.

The two became fast friends, eventual lovers, and later married. Through Sonny, Cher (as she was called early on for short) eventually got to sing back-up on several of Spector’s classic recordings.
With Sonny continuing to write, arrange and produce the songs, Sonny and Cher’s first incarnation was as the duo "Caesar and Cleo".

They received little attention. They later re-emerged as "Sonny and Cher", and released their first album Look at Us in the summer of 1965. This album contained the overnight smash and eventual number-one single "I Got You Babe" (1965).

Cher was nineteen years old. Several more top forty hits would follow, most famously "Baby, Don’t Go" and "The Beat Goes On."
The two became a quick sensation, travelling and performing around the world.

Periodic solo releases continued during the Sonny Cher days, including a major success with "Little Man."
In an attempt to capitalize on the duo’s success, Sonny penned their first feature film (themed similarly to ’ ) in 1967, in which the duo starred. The film was a flop.

Sonny and Cher's career had stalled by 1968, as album sales quickly dried up. Their gentle, easy-listening pop sound and culture during the late 1960's.
Sonny and Cher also welcomed their first child, , born on , .

The duo made another unsuccessful foray into film later in 1969 with Bono writing and producing the film Chastity, intended as a dramatic debut for Cher as an actress. That film (directed by first and only-time director Alessio De Paulo) was also a commercial failure.

The 1970s/80s: Success, divorce and what became of Sonny Cher

A mixture of slapstick comedy, skits and live music, the show was a critical success, which led to numerous guest spots on other early 70’s hit television shows.
offered the duo their own variety show. debuted in 1971 as a summer replacement series.

It returned to primetime later that year and was an immediate hit, quickly reaching the top ten in their time slot. The show received numerous nominations throughout its initial four seasons on CBS. The duo also revived their recording career, releasing four albums and charting two more top ten hits: "All I Ever Need Is You," and "A Cowboy's Work Is Never Done" (1972).

By the third season of the Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour in early 1974, the marriage of Sonny and Cher began to fall apart; the duo separated later that year. The show also therefore fell apart, while still in the top 10 of the ratings. What followed was a nasty and very public divorce (finalized on , ).

Bono launched his own show, The Sonny Comedy Revue in the fall of 1974 while Cher also announced plans to host and star in a new variety TV series of her own. Bono’s show was abruptly cancelled, however, after only six weeks. The Cher show debuted as an elaborate, all-star television special on , their appearances as guest-stars a few weeks later, and the series received 4 additional Emmy nominations that year.

The first season ranked in the Top 25 of the year-end ratings.
restaurants in something of a reconciliation. The Sonny Cher Show in 1976 proceeded on through 1977, even though they were no longer married.

After struggling with low ratings, Sonny and Cher finally departed their own ways for good. Sonny went on to an acting career and later entered politics, eventually becoming a U.S.

Representative, Cher continued a successful singing career.
. He was 62 years old.

Bono's death came just days after died in a similar accident. Bono's widow, , was elected to fill the remainder Congressional term. She has since been re-elected in her own right.

She continues to champion many of her late husband's causes, including the ongoing fight as how to best save the .
Cher gave a tearful at Bono's funeral, after which the attendees sang the song "The Beat Goes On." His final resting place is Desert Memorial Park in nearby , the same cemetery in which was laid to rest later that same year.

The epitaph on reads: "And The Beat Goes On."
You Babe" to him over the telephone. In another episode, Dorothy and her mother Sophia ( ) dressed up as Cher and Sonny, respectively, to sing "I Got You Babe" as part of a potential routine for a mother-daughter talent show.

Sonny Cher.