Sonny Bono

Sonny Bono was an American recording artist, record producer, actor, and politician whose career spanned over three decades.

Bono began his music career working at Specialty Records where his song "Things You Do to Me" was recorded by Sam Cooke, and went on to work for the record producer Phil Spector in the early 1960s as a promotion man. One of his earliest songwriting efforts was "Needles and Pins".

He would achieve commercial success, along with his then-wife Cher, as part of the singing duo Sonny and Cher. Bono wrote, arranged, and produced a number of hit records with singles like "I Got You Babe" and "The Beat Goes On", although Cher received more attention as a performer. He also played a major part in Cher's early solo career with recordings such as "Bang Bang" and "You Better Sit Down Kids".

Bono also recorded as a solo artist under the name of Sonny. He had only one hit single as a solo artist, "Laugh At Me" which was released in 1965 and peaked at #10 on the Billboard Hot 100. His follow-up, "The Revolution Kind", reached number 70 on the Billboard Hot 100. Bono also recorded an unsuccessful Sonny album, Inner Views, in 1967.

Sonny continued to work with Cher through the early and mid-1970s starring in a popular television variety show, The Sonny and Cher Show, which ran on CBS from 1971 to 1974. From 1976 to 1977, the couple returned to performing together on The Sonny and Cher Show despite being divorced. Their last appearance together was on Late Night with David Letterman in 1987 when they sang "I Got You Babe".

Bono died on January 5, 1998 of injuries sustained when he hit a tree while skiing on the Nevada side of Heavenly Ski Resort near South Lake Tahoe, California.

Music Video

 * I Got You Babe