Cher Considered Killing Herself During ‘Loveless Marriage’ to Sonny Bono

In her new book Cher: The Memoir, Part 1, the music legend opened up about the downfall of their marriage.

Cher and Bono were 16 and 27, respectively, when they met, and rose to fame thanks in part to the success of their hit song, “I Got You Babe,” before finding success with their variety show The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour.

They had an unofficial wedding in 1964, before actually tying the knot in 1969.

Despite having a successful professional partnership, Cher writes in the book that Bono was controlling and that she often felt trapped” in what she says was a “loveless marriage.”

Cher recalled a particularly difficult time in their relationship in 1972, where the then 26-year-old singer was Las Vegas for work with Bono when she reached her breaking point.

Stepping onto her hotel balcony, Cher wrote she “was dizzy with loneliness.”

She continues, “I saw how easy it would be to step over the edge and simply disappear. For a few crazy minutes I couldn’t imagine any other option. I did this five or six times.”

This was all after she says he “seriously thought” of killing her and throwing her off the balcony.

“He laughed a little at that and so did I. It was crazy that he was telling me,” Cher writes. “He went on: ‘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.'”

Bono did not in fact go through with it and neither did Cher, who says it was her loved ones — including her then-young child Chaz, her mother Georgia and her sister Georganne — who brought her back from the ledge.

“Things like this could make people who look up to me feel that it’s a viable solution,” Cher adds before noting that it was during that trip to Vegas that she had an epiphany: “I don’t have to jump off. I can just leave him.”

Cher and Bono quietly separated soon after. They filed for divorce in 1974, before finalizing their divorce in 1975 after a bitter custody battle of Chaz.

Despite their contentious split, over the years to come, the pair would remain amicable co-parents and even reunited professionally for The Sonny & Cher Show.

It wasn’t until years later that Sonny, who died in a skiing accident in 1998, apologized to her, with the “Believe” singer telling PEOPLE in 2023 that he “pissed me off royally and hurt me” but that they found peace.

“One day he came into the kitchen at my house and said, ‘Cher, I want to apologize. I realized that I hurt you in so many ways, and I was wrong,'” she recalled. “That went a long way for me.”

The two-part member is set to follow “her extraordinary beginnings through childhood to meeting and marrying Sonny Bono — and reveals the highly complicated relationship that made them world-famous, but eventually drove them apart.”

To promote the memoir, Cher will head out on a book tour, kicking off Wednesday Nov. 20 in New York City. She’ll then make stops in Englewood, N.J.; London; Beverly Hills, Calif.; and San Francisco.

If you or someone you know is struggling with depression or has had thoughts of harming themselves or taking their own life, get help. The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (1-800-273-8255) provides 24/7, free, confidential support for people in distress.