Cher has reflected on her complicated relationship with ex-husband Sonny Bono.
In her new book Cher: The Memoir, Part 1, the entertainment legend opens up about the breakdown of her marriage to Bono.
Cher and Bono were 16 and 27 respectively when they met. The duo rose to fame with their hit song "I Got You Babe" before finding success with their show The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour.
Although they had an unofficial wedding in 1964, they actually married in 1969. Despite their productive professional partnership, Cher writes that Bono was controlling her and she began to feel "trapped" in what she calls "marriage without love".
In 1972, Cher was 26 years old and in Las Vegas to work with Bono, when she reached her breaking point, stepped out onto her hotel balcony and looked down.
"I was dizzy with loneliness. I saw how easy it would be to go over the edge and just disappear," writes Cher, 78.
"For a few crazy minutes I couldn't imagine any other option. I did this five or six times," she continued.
However, the opinion of her loved ones, the then small child Chaz, her mother and sister, stopped Cher from such a tragic decision.
In Las Vegas, she said she finally made a decision: "I don't have to jump. I can just leave it."
Cher and Bono quietly split shortly after this period. They filed for divorce in 1974, before finalizing their contentious divorce in 1975 after a bitter custody battle over Chaz. Over the years, they remained friendly parents and even reunited professionally for The Sonny & Cher Show.
