If you are from the 60’s and the 70’s, then you probably remember who Sonny Bono was. If you don't, he was a very famous recording artist as well as a producer from the late 60’s and 70’s who became famous after his partnership with his wife, Cher.
There is not much
known about his early life as a kid or as a teenager. In fact, there is barely
any documentation about it. The few things that are known is that he was born
in Detroit, Michigan on February 16, 1935 with the name Salvatore Philip Bono.
His parents were
Santo Bono, from Palermo, Italy, and Zena Bono, and it was actually his mother
who started to call him Sono as a sort of short for his very long name. What
she didn't know was that the nickname she gave him
was going to last him a lifetime.
Sonny
was the youngest of the all the Bono family. He had two older sisters named
Fran and Betty Bono. It is also known that he attended Inglewood High School in
Inglewood, California, but he actually never graduated high school.
His
music career began when he started to work at a record label. There, a song he
wrote called “Things You Do to Me” was recorded by Sam Cooke. After that, he
began to work for Phil Spector, a record producer, all
during the 60s.
Then, his
commercial success came when he became part of a singing duo with his wife, the
singer, actress and television host, Cher. They were called Sonny and Cher. They even had their
own variety show on CBS from 1971 to 1974, The Sonny and Cher Show. It
was a surprise for many that after they divorced, they returned to the show
from 1976 to 1977.
The Rolling Stones even made a cover of one of
his songs, titled “She Said Yeah,” in there 1965 LP. He also recorded as
a solo artist but had only one hit single, “Laugh at Me,” that got to
number 10 on the Billboard Hot
100.
One
of the things that he was most famous for was not in the music industry, but in
politics. He got involved in politics after he experienced frustration from
local government bureaucracy, and from 1988 to 1992, he became the mayor of
Palm Springs, a city famous for being packed with celebrities.
During
his time as mayor of Palm Springs, he accomplished a lot of things. But the
most recognized one was the creation of the Palm Springs International Film
Festival, which debuted on January 10, 1990. It was a big success.
He
was a very good mayor, and everyone in Palm Springs knew it. But he wanted to
go further. In 1992, Sonny ran for the Republican nomination for the United
States Senate. Unfortunately, his political career wasn't able to go further.
He lost to Bruce Herschensohn, and the election went to the Democrat Barbara
Boxer.
But
even during his political career, he was still involved in other projects that
were not exactly in the music industry. He became a movie star. He did several
movies in the 80’s, and the most famous one was John Water's Hairspray, where
he played Franklin Von Tussle.
Another
one of the biggest movies that he was in came out in 1997. It was Men in
Black. Although he didn't have an important role, he was one of the several
oddball celebrities seen on a wall of video screens that monitors
extraterrestrials living among us. Another minor appearance he did was on the
1996 film, First Kid.
He
also appeared on the small screen several times. He did several appearances in P.S.
I Luv U, and his last
acting role was in another television series called Lois & Clark: The
New Adventures of Superman.
Now,
let's move on to his personal life. Sonny married Donna Rankin in 1954. They
had a daughter named Christine in 1958. They divorced four years later in 1962.
And two years after that, in 1964, he married Cher.
Sonny
and Cher had a daughter, Chastity, in 1969. Then, the couple split in 1975. Many
say that they divorced due to allegations about Sonny's infidelity.
But
neither of those divorces stopped him from marrying another two women. First,
in 1984, he married Susie Coelho. He had no children with her. And later, in
1986, Mary Whitaker became his fourth and last wife. They had two children,
Chesare and Chianna.
He became
interested in Scientology partly because of the influence of Mimi Rogers but
stated that he was a Roman Catholic on all official documents, campaign
materials, web sites, etc. His wife, Mary, also took Scientology courses.
Sonny
died on January 5, 1998 when he hit a tree while skiing at a ski resort in
Nevada, very close to South Lake Tahoe, California. His wife, Mary, said in an
interview that he had become addicted to some prescription drugs, especially
Vicodin and Valium.
Many
friends and even Sonny's mother disputed Mary's account, and Sonny's autopsy
supported his mother and friends’ side. The autopsy showed no indication of any
substances or alcohol.
At
Sonny’s funeral and at Mary's request, Cher gave a eulogy. And on his epitaph,
in Cathedral City, California, the headstone reads “AND THE BEAT GOES ON.”
Sonny
Bono and his work as a recording artist are still remembered by a lot of
people.
Sonny
Bono is remembered, fondly, in Palm Springs, the greater Palm Springs area,
across America and around the world.
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