Cher has filed a lawsuit against her former husband, Sonny Bono‘s widow, alleging that she is withholding royalties generated from several classic Sonny & Cher hit singles.
According to the lawsuit filed in Los Angeles federal court against Sonny’s fourth wife Mary Bono, Cher claims that the former Republican congresswoman is illegally withholding royalties from such Sonny & Cher hits as I Got You Babe and The Beat Goes On.
In the suit, Cher alleges that she and her second husband agreed to split revenue from their joint songs after they divorced in 1975 and her legal team claims that Sonny’s fourth wife “has undone” the music superstar’s ownership of those rights and royalties in recent years. The superstar singer and Oscar award-winning actress is seeking at least $1,000,000 in damages.
Cher (born Cherilyn Sarkisian) married Sonny in 1964 and they found fame in the mid-1960s as the performing duo Sonny & Cher, with music hits and popular variety TV shows The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour and The Sonny & Cher Show. Following their professional split in 1977, they enjoyed success on their own – Cher as a solo singer and movie star and Sonny as a politician. Bono was serving as a Republic congressman when he died in a freak and tragic skiing accident in 1998 and was succeeded by Mary.
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Author: Al Denté
Photo: Peter Denton