Cher lifts lid on volatile marriage to Sonny Bono in new book Cher: The Memoir: Part One

Superstar Cher has opened up about her relationship with Sonny Bono, claiming he duped her out of her earnings while isolating her from her friends.

Superstar Cher has lifted the lid on her volatile marriage to Sonny Bono, claiming the singer-turned-politician duped her out of her music career earnings.

The star’s new book, Cher: The Memoir: Part One, focuses on her marriage to singer-songwriter Sonny, the father of her transgender son Chaz Bono, who she met when she was aged just 16 and he was 27.

In her revealing memoir, published by Harper Collins Australia, the legendary diva says Bono isolated her from her friends, cheated on her repeatedly and even once burned her tennis clothes in their backyard in a fit of jealousy.

Sonny Bono and Cher in Hamburg, Germany in 1966.

Cher is opening up about her life in her blockbuster new memoir. Picture: AFP

The pair were married from 1964 to 1975 and during that time became a famous duo with hit songs such as I Got You Babe, The Beat Goes On and the TV show The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour.

But behind the scenes, Bono had set up a company called Cher Enterprises of which he owned 95 per cent, with the other 5 per cent going to his lawyer.

“He took all my money,” Cher, 78, told The New York Times.

“I just thought, ‘We’re husband and wife. Half the things are his, half the things are mine.’ It didn’t occur to me that there was another way.”

Cher says Sonny Bono duped her out of her money.

The star couple towards the end of their marriage.

Cher told the newspaper she still wrestled with Bono’s deception 26 years after he died aged 62 in a skiing accident.

The pair were on good terms at the time of his death and Cher gave a eulogy at his funeral in Palm Springs.

She said: “To this day, I wish to God I could just ask, ‘Son, at what point, during what day, did you go, ‘Yeah, you know what? I’m going to take her money.’ ”

Cher told The New York Times that fame changed Bono, who she said told her after their first meeting that he didn’t find her attractive.

Cher with Chaz Bono at Sonny Bono’s funeral in 1998.

Superstar Cher performs on stage. Picture: Getty Images

She met Bono when she was a teenager at a coffee shop and the two became friends. She lied about the fact that she was just 16, she wrote.

Soon after their meeting, Cher’s living situation fell through and she didn’t want to move back in with her mother, who would go on to marry seven times.

Cher met Sonny Bono when she was just 16.

Bono offered her a place to live in exchange for her cooking and cleaning.

“In my mind, I was thinking, ‘Yeah, OK, this old line,’ ” Cher writes in her memoir, part two of which is planned for next year.

“But I must have had a look on my face because he shook his head and laughed. ‘Don’t worry, I’ve got twin beds,’ he said. With a grin he added, ‘And honestly, I don’t find you particularly attractive.’ ”

Looking back on it, Cher said, “It wasn’t a #MeToo moment because I lied to him.”

But, she added, “I’m not forgiving him because there were some things he did that were ridiculous.”

Cher said she ultimately left Bono after reaching breaking point.

“I woke up one morning — early, like 5 — and I just thought, ‘I’m not going to do this anymore. I’m going to leave him,’ ” she said.

“I started to put into place a plan that was so dangerous that I don’t know how I had the nerve to do it.”