Sonny Bono

Sonny Bono
Born Salvatore Bono, “Sonny” Bono started out as a songwriter. He wrote “Needles and Pins” which became a big hit for “The Searchers” during the British rock invasion of the mid-sixties. He met up with “Cher” and recognized her talent as a singer. He formed the duo “Sonny and Cher” and in 1965 hit it big with the number one world wide smash “I Got You Babe”, a song they would milk for the rest of their career. Although Sonny was a poor singer, Cher’s strength as a singer and cool silky sexy-sheik persona coupled with Sonny’s lovable mop-top image, they pulled it off. In 1967 they hit the charts again with “The Beat Goes On”. By the end of the sixties there hits had dried-up. In the early seventies they hosted a variety show which was very successful. They would close the show by singing “I Got You Babe” to their daughter Chastity Bono. Cher eventually grew tired of Sonny’s slave-driving demands and wanted out of the marriage. She finally wrangled a divorce out of Sonny and “went on with the show” but the gig fell apart a short time later. Cher went on to a successful music and film career while Sonny got involved in politics. He was elected mayor of Palm Springs, California and eventually congressman. On January 5th of 1998 while skiing in Heavenly , Nevada he crashed into a tree and was killed. Sonny Bono was 62 years old.