Cher: The Memoir: Part One

Cher immediately loved her life as a single woman and was excited to dress as she wanted and do things independently again. Her relationship with Bill was more reciprocal, as he respected her opinions and was affectionate and gentle. Over time, Cher and Sonny learned how to share their massive house and co-parent their daughter. Over time, they even became friends again and joked about the darkest moments of their marriage. Cher enjoyed Sonny’s company again as he became more light-hearted. They even took a weekend trip to Paris together and had fun. Cher told Sonny to change his ways and learn to be a better partner, but he continued to approach relationships the same way with his younger girlfriends.

Still pretending to be a happily married couple, Cher and Sonny attended an election party where Cher met one of her favorite actresses, Rosaline Russell. To her surprise, Rosaline complimented Cher’s acting and told her that she should continue her acting career. Cher treasured this affirmation and took it seriously. Cher and Sonny planned to continue their facade of marriage in order to keep their show. Cher rejected a proposal from her boyfriend Bill, explaining that she had been married since she was a teen, was still not officially divorced, and was unsure if she wanted to ever get married again. This marked the end of her relationship with Bill.

That year, Cher and Sonny performed at the Oscars to a now international television audience. While their career continued smoothly, their relationship deteriorated again as Sonny continued to betray Cher. He suggested that she see a therapist, and Cher agreed, but she was stunned when she learned that the therapist had been reporting her private sessions back to Sonny. To make matters worse, Cher learned from an old employee that Sonny had actually been chronically unfaithful to her throughout their marriage, secretly having affairs with dancers, waitresses, actresses, and sex workers.

Working with Sonny complicated Cher’s life further, as the two went on tour together again. Sonny’s jealousy raged again, and his associate threatened the men in the band for befriending Cher. Sonny forbade all the employees from socializing with Cher, making her feel very lonely and betrayed. While no one liked it, the employees listened since they were scared to lose their jobs. Cher could see that Sonny missed the good old days of their relationship that he had ruined, but she pulled away from Sonny emotionally again and felt distrustful toward him because of his controlling behavior.

In 1973, Cher attended a party where she met David Geffen, the founder of Asylum Records. Cher realized that he was a powerful figure in the music industry, but he was also a kind and shy man with whom she immediately connected. The two became fast friends, and although David admitted that he was falling in love with Cher, they were both reluctant to start a relationship. They began dating and were soon in love, making time for each other in their busy schedules. Sonny was deeply jealous of their connection and felt threatened by it since David was much more powerful in the industry than he was.

David was an affectionate, romantic, and generous partner, and Cher loved dating him. He was also very savvy about finances and business, and he asked Cher about her own affairs. When he analyzed her contract with Sonny, he told her that she was not an equal partner in the business but was actually Sonny’s employee at “Cher Enterprises,” which Sonny owned with his lawyer. Cher had no legal rights within the contract, and even worse, she was contractually obliged to continue working for Cher Enterprises for another two years. Cher was shocked that Sonny had devised this contract years earlier, when they were still together, and had kept her in the dark about it that whole time.

Cher spent days processing the fact that she had worked her whole adult life and, technically, had no money of her own. To this day, Cher cannot comprehend how Sonny could have schemed behind her back and exploited her the way he did. David paid for Cher to hire a new lawyer, Mickey Rudin, who advised her to file for divorce. Cher agreed but wanted to speak to Sonny in person first. She confronted him in his office, asking how she could possibly be his employee when they built Sonny and Cher together. She asked for a new contract in which they were equals, but he refused. Sonny coldly told her that if she refused to continue their show, he would sue her, but Cher had already decided that she would never go back.

Cher took matters into her own hands and asked the head of programming at CBS to cancel their show, promising that it would be over for good and that they would not sell it to a competitor. Cher completed the season with Sonny and was relieved when CBS agreed to cancel the show, setting her free from her dysfunctional contract with Sonny. Their last episode was an emotional affair for them, their family, the crew, and their fans.

Sonny and his lawyer were furious with Cher for having the show cancelled, and Sonny decided to sell their home, forcing Cher to move. With no money of her own, Cher was reliant on her boyfriend, who rented her a home in Malibu. Cher’s divorce from Sonny was stressful and combative; she accused him of involuntary servitude while he sued her for the millions he believed he would lose from her leaving their contract. Sonny soon demanded even more: full custody of their daughter, Chas. He accused Cher of being an unfit mother, an accusation that was deeply hurtful. The judge rejected Sonny’s request and granted Sonny less time with Chas than Cher, but Cher allowed Sonny to see his daughter whenever he wanted.

Cher’s relationship with David connected her to many actors and musicians in the prime of their careers. David continued to pay for her house and lawyer as her divorce was settled, and her best friend, Paulette, worked as her assistant. At this time, Cher learned that her stepfather John, biological father to her younger sister, Gee, was very sick. The two sisters went to Texas to visit him, and Cher focused on supporting Gee. John was thrilled to see them and passed away a week after their visit.

Cher began to refocus on establishing her solo career. Now making music independently, Cher recorded her album Dark Lady and enjoyed another number-one single. David helped her land a deal to develop the Cher show. Meanwhile, Sonny also launched a solo show, but his was quickly canceled. Now feeling more independent, Cher attended a party on her own where there were many other musicians. Many of them took drugs, but Cher decided not to. She was scared when people around her quickly became ill, and she called her doctor for advice. She brought one of her friends to her house, where he recovered, and told the other sober person at the party to get the other sick people to the emergency room. Sadly, he did not listen, and one of the young men died of an overdose. Cher helped the police catch the party’s host, who had distributed the contaminated drugs, and even testified at a trial to help convict him. This plunged her into a negative press cycle in which people speculated about her involvement with drugs and her parenting.

Cher has fond memories of a wild trip to Paris and Amsterdam with Gee and Paulette. When Cher got home, she reunited with David, and they traveled to Aspen together with some friends. In the 1970s, Aspen was a regular town, unlike the tourist haven it is today, and Cher enjoyed exploring all the unique independent stores with David, skiing during the day and dancing at night. David suggested that they get married, and Cher was open to the idea. He proposed, and she agreed, but she still had to finalize her divorce from Sonny.

Cher continued to extend her connections in Hollywood, music, and fashion, and she attended the prestigious MET Gala. She and David enjoyed hosting people in his home and had a huge Christmas party. In the new year, Cher started to prepare for her solo TV show. Cher was terrified to perform the opening monologue by herself, but as she began to talk and sing, she felt fantastic. Her work paid off, and Cher raked in unprecedented ratings of 21 million viewers. Cher enjoyed her show but often fought with the two strict censors who limited what she could say and wear.

Meanwhile, Cher got cold feet about her engagement to David, and the two broke up. She was so unused to making her own decisions that she constantly questioned her own choices. David moved out to a house in Beverly Hills, and Paulette moved in with Cher and Chas. Cher met musician Gregory Allman, and although the two had a disastrous first date, they began a relationship. Cher and Gregory fell deeply in love, and Cher didn’t believe it when she heard from others that Gregory used drugs. While she sometimes suspected that it could be true, she was in denial about it since she liked him so much. Gregory’s deep personal wounds made Cher feel sympathetic to him, and when he finally confessed that he was addicted to heroin, she tried to help him recover.

Cher and Paulette tried to help Gregory overcome his heroin addiction by monitoring him constantly for a week to make sure he could not use. While it was a difficult ordeal, Cher believed that Gregory could give up the drug for good. Their efforts worked, and Gregory continued performing. Cher experienced public backlash due to her romance with Gregory, as the public speculated about his lifestyle and whether she, too, had a drug addiction. Cher celebrated her 29th birthday with a huge, star-studded bash. Now officially divorced from Sonny and on amicable terms with him, she felt better about her life. Overall, she was unsure about her future with Gregory, but when she became pregnant, the two spontaneously decided to get married in Las Vegas, with Gee and Paulette as their bridesmaids.

Very shortly after their wedding, Cher discovered drugs in Gregory’s toiletry bag. Disappointed, Cher could not summon the motivation to help Gregory again. The two separated, and Cher decided to get an abortion. Gregory and Cher divorced, but when Gregory entered rehab with a renewed conviction to recover, the two reconciled and attended therapy together, trying to work through their differences and his addiction. The two traveled to Jamaica for a late honeymoon, but their trip quickly became disastrous when Gregory began drinking and desperately looking for drugs. Cher was afraid of him in this agitated state, so she gathered her things and fled to the airport on her own.

Despite this incident, the two continued working as usual, and Cher was busy with her commitments to her show. Ratings began to slip, and Cher tried to make the show as entertaining as she could. Her personal highlights were working with an up-and-coming David Bowie and singing a duet with Ray Charles, whom she had loved since childhood. When Tina Turner appeared on the show, she asked Cher for advice on leaving her abusive husband, and Cher told her that she “walked out and kept going” when she left Sonny (368).

At the advice of her ex-boyfriend David Geffen, Cher enrolled herself and Gregory in Werner Erhard’s workshop called “est.” The workshop was a strange misadventure for Cher, as she disliked the hours of tedious sitting and the leaders’ practice of criticizing the participants. She was also ogled by all the other people there and felt uncomfortable. That night, Cher realized that she was pregnant again. She decided to keep the pregnancy, though she knew that she could not slow down or change her lifestyle.

Stressed about her show’s poor ratings, her difficult relationship with Gregory, and her new pregnancy, Cher reached out to Sonny for help. In the memoir, she expresses disbelief at her willingness to work with him again after everything he had done. Sonny was immediately excited by the idea, and they developed a new show, The Sonny and Cher Show. Sonny was concerned about what viewers would think now that they were divorced and Cher was pregnant with Gregory’s child, but the two forged ahead with their idea.

Gregory was angry at Cher’s professional reunion with Sonny. Meanwhile, Cher and Sonny enjoyed the success of their show, and Cher felt that she was back in her comfort zone, collaborating on skits and performances as they used to. As the show’s first season ended, Cher was six months pregnant and immediately flew to Hawaii to relax with Chas. She had given Gregory an ultimatum: He had to call her from rehab by a certain date or else she would never speak to him again. He called, and a relieved Cher tried to be supportive.

She went into premature labor and had to rest and take medication. Gregory soon joined her and Chas, and Cher was hopeful that he had overcome his addiction for good. She also appreciated his affectionate step-parenting to Chas. The family returned to LA, where Cher gave birth to her son, Elijah.

Cher and Gregory were thrilled when Jimmy Carter was elected president, and they enjoyed dining with the Carters at the White House. The president attributed his campaign’s success to the Allman Brothers’ fundraising efforts, and Cher was proud. At around this time, Cher sold her home and moved the family into a new three-bedroom home in Beverly Hills. Cher and Sonny wrapped up their show in a satisfying conclusion. Sonny moved to Palm Springs, where he continued making the same relationship mistakes as before. When a girlfriend left him because of his infidelity, Sonny apologized to Cher for hurting her in the same way and humbly admitted that he had been wrong. Cher was astonished by the apology.

Cher loved seeing her children together, and they had happy moments as a family while on a world tour with Gregory’s band. However, in Europe, Cher discovered that Gregory was hiding his drinking, and she quickly left for America. While rehearsing for her final performance tour of Hawaii with Sonny, Cher discovered that he had intentionally invited her ex Bill to play guitar for them again. Bewildered and confused, Cher wondered why Sonny had gone to such lengths to mess with her emotions. Incredibly, Cher and Bill reconnected through this strange reunion and briefly dated again.

Cher tried to give Gregory another chance, and he had a long period of sobriety, but this, too, came to an end. In hindsight, Cher can see why she continued to hope and believe that Gregory could heal, but she eventually felt that the kids would be safer if they divorced.

Cher continued to record music and play gigs, connecting her with new friends like Dolly Parton and new beau Gene Simmons. Cher loved that Gene was playful and demonstrative, and he was good to her kids. Chas was always a mature and well-behaved child, while Elijah was more rebellious and adventurous, as Cher had been growing up. When Chas was diagnosed with dyslexia, Cher realized that she had had the same learning disability growing up.

Cher decided to invest in a custom-built home for the first time, and she designed a house she called “the Egyptian house,” inspired by traditional North African architecture. She continued to push herself musically and agreed to do a disco-inspired album called Take Me Home, which was a huge success. While Cher enjoyed making music, she never gave up her dream of having a real film-acting career. For many years, she tried to gently ask about roles with her producer and director friends, but she did not want to put them in an uncomfortable position. She found it difficult to get an agent to even represent her as an actor. Jack Nicholson helped her meet director Mike Nichols, but when he flatly turned her down, the rejection stung Cher badly.

After several other disastrous meetings with film producers, Cher decided to tour again, signing new contracts to perform in large venues in Las Vegas and elsewhere. While she was nervous to be the sole performer on such a massive tour, it was a great success. Her show had incredible wardrobes—Cher had a rule that she would never stay in the same outfit for longer than 10 minutes. She never liked Vegas as much as LA, but she grew to appreciate it more, and it became a constant fixture in her life for decades. Cher became close friends with many of her crew and backup dancers, and she was devastated when the AIDS epidemic claimed the lives of three of her friends and dancers, Michael, Peter, and Randy.

While Cher had lucrative performing contracts, she was also overspending, and she was nearly broke for a time. She swore to never overspend again, which proved to be a difficult resolution to stick to. Thankfully, her custom house was worth the stress, and Cher loved hosting family and friends for weekly barbeques. In the prime of her life as a performer and a mother, Cher was busy and mostly fulfilled but still yearned to try acting. One day, she ran into Francis Ford Coppola, a film director and an old friend of Sonny’s. To Cher’s surprise, he asked her why she wasn’t acting in films, and she admitted that she had always wanted to. Hearing Francis’s support inspired Cher to finally take acting seriously and pursue it with her whole heart.