Cher is taking legal action against late ex-husband Sonny Bono’s widow Mary over royalties from her Sonny & Cher tracks.
The pop icon filed papers in the Los Angeles federal court this week, alleging Mary has been illegally withholding royalties and requesting $1 million in damages.
According to reports, the duo agreed to split the revenue from classic hits like I Got You Babe and The Beat Goes On following their split in 1975.
However, Cher claims Mary “has undone” her ownership of the rights and royalties – although she doesn’t elaborate on how that has happened
Mary has yet to comment on the lawsuit.
Sonny & Cher’s global success in music and TV came to an end following their split in the ‘70s, when she launched a celebrated solo career and he embarked on a political career.
He died in 1998 in a skiing accident.
Cher is currently recording the follow-up to 2018’s ‘Dancing Queen’, which featured 10 ABBA cover versions and earned Cher her highest debut sales week for an album in the US.
Earlier this year, she confirmed: “My doctor was looking at my [vocal] cords and he pulled up some [scans of] cords and said, ‘These are your cords, and these are 25 and 27-year-old girl cords’.
“I’m just recording an album now and it’s very unnatural [for them to be in such good condition] – this might be my last album,” she notes. “I feel like Tony Bennett and Betty White. But it could be my last album.”
