Singer Cher released the first volume of her highly anticipated memoir on Tuesday, November 19. In her work, she notably returned to her romantic relationships, including her very brief marriage to the musician Gregg Allman.
Poignant confidences. Known for her musical successes and her film career, Cher is also famous for her tumultuous love life. In 1975, just three days after her divorce from her childhood sweetheart Sonny Bono, the singer married musician Gregg Allman of the Allman Brothers Band. Their union, mentioned in his memoirs “Cher: The Memoirs – Part One”, lasted only nine days.
“a plastic bag filled with white powder”
“I didn’t know if my relationship with Gregory would last or not. I lived each day as it came. Then I found out I was pregnant and we decided to get married,” writes the 78-year-old artist, then describing an impromptu wedding in Las Vegas, organized in a few days and shipped in a few minutes. After the ceremony, the couple returned directly to their home. “I was no longer Dear Bono but Dear Allman, Gregory's third wife. There was nothing romantic about our marriage. There would be no honeymoon,” it reads.
However, euphoria will quickly give way to disillusionment. One morning, the musician discovered “a plastic bag filled with white powder” in her husband’s pencil case. Already the mother of Chaz, whom she had with Sonny Bono, she was then expecting her first child with Gregg Allman. Although she supported him in his struggles with addiction, this discovery would become a breaking point.
After seeing her doctor for a check-up, Cher learned from several friends that her partner was considering divorce, which he strongly denied when she confronted him. The “Believe” singer nevertheless filed for divorce the next day. Gregg Allman then attempted a reconciliation after her admission to rehab, arranging a therapy session with her, during which he said he felt the “pressure of being Mr. Dear.” The couple reconciled and went to Jamaica for a “belated honeymoon.” During the trip, the singer reportedly saw the musician drinking rum before they got into a violent argument, with Cher deciding to leave the holiday early.
Shortly after, the artist discovered that her husband was also addicted to heroin, and gave him an ultimatum to return to rehab before their baby arrived. “I don’t remember exactly what date I chose. It was arbitrary. I was tired of repeating the same pattern over and over again and I told him on the phone: “I'm so tired of doing this, Gregory. I'm so tired of going to treatment with you.” He was silent on the other end of the line. “But I continue,” he said softly. His answer stopped me in my tracks, because it was true. He continued to go to treatment, continued to try to wean himself off, continued to make efforts despite his past failures. In that moment, instead of thinking about my own exhaustion, I felt empathy for him,” we can read.
A final divorce in 1979
The couple welcomed their son Elijah in July 1976, but upon returning home, the music icon noticed disturbing behaviors in the father of her child, including a paranoia attack where he believed he saw armed men in their garden. “'This is the straw that broke the camel's back,' I thought. Whatever has become of him now, it's not safe for children. It only happened once, but I couldn't take that risk,” she wrote. Their final separation will take place shortly after, and their divorce will be formalized in January 1979. Gregg Allman died at the age of 69 in 2017, from liver cancer.
Subsequently, Cher had relationships with media personalities. She notably met David Geffen, Gene Simmons of the group Kiss, the rocker Les Dudeck, Richie Sambora, the actor Eric Stoltz, as well as Val Kilmer between 1982 and 1984, then Tom Cruise the following year. In 2022, she made her relationship official with Alexander Edwards, a music producer and rapper.
