(Vocal duo, 1964–76)

Jobbing Hollywood songwriter and arranger Sonny Bono linked up, both professionally and romantically, with Cher La Pier, a session singer, for a handful of misses before striking gold with 1965’s chart-topping ‘I Got You Babe’. Its vague if fashionable ‘protest’ tenor, the overnight sensation’s proto-hippy appearance and an element of boy-girl ickiness that some find endearing, helped keep the momentum going with further smashes, both together and as soloists, for two fat years – with Cher’s ‘Bang Bang’ almost but not quite repeating the ‘I Got You Babe’ miracle. She also scored three US No. 1s in the early 1970s when hits attributed to ‘Sonny and Cher’ had become intermittent, and the now-married couple were making the most of past glories in a cabaret netherworld and TV series freighted as much with comedy as music. Following divorce in 1976, Cher enjoyed an eventual career revival as both a film actor and solo chart contender. Sonny achieved political office as mayor of Palm Springs before his death in 1998.

Styles & Forms | Sixties | Rock
Personalities | Phil Spector | Sixties | Rock