Pop singer Cher has never forgotten the relationship advice she gave to her lifelong friend Tina Turner, a conversation that may have helped save Tina’s life.
In her bombshell new memoir, “Cher: The Memoir Part 1,” Cher recounts the time Tina sought her guidance on leaving her abusive husband, Ike Turner. The memoir provides a glimpse into the “Believe” singer’s personal life and reveals shocking details about her early relationship with Sonny Bono, who she said “manhandled” her.
In the 1970s, the “Queen of Rock ’n’ Roll” performed on Cher’s variety show twice with her husband Ike. Cher had recently left Bono, citing infidelity and involuntary servitude, and the two singers became fast friends.
While filming one day, Tina broke down and asked her friend and fellow songstress for some makeup to cover up a bruise on her arm. In her memoir, the Grammy-winner recalled the “Private Dancer” artist asking how she found the courage to leave Bono, who owned all the rights to her music.
“I looked at her and told her, ‘I just walked out and kept on going,'” Cher writes.
The “I Got You Babe” singer had met Bono when she was 16 and he was 27, and the couple moved in together while they waited to wed. Bono had just divorced his first wife, Donna Rankin, requiring a waiting period under California law, and Cher was too young to legally marry. It was during this time that Cher had a scary encounter with her late ex-husband, where he pushed her up against a wall after shoving their dog with his foot.
“He didn’t yell and he didn’t hit me, but he had ahold of my shoulders and his face was clenched,” Cher revealed in her memoir via “People.” “I was so vehemently opposed to being manhandled, having seen Mom go through it, that I thought, F— this.”
Cher and Tina Turner performing "Shame, Shame, Shame" on The Cher Show, 1975 pic.twitter.com/ISgNY3pDTa
— David Rush (@dav1drush) May 24, 2023
“If you ever touch me like this again, I will leave your ass and it’ll be the last time you ever see me,” she told Bono. They went on to marry in 1969 and had their child, Chaz, that same year. The pop duo eventually divorced in 1975.
Meanwhile, Tina suffered far worse horrors living with Ike, which she wrote about in her autobiography, “I, Tina,” released in 1986 during her meteoritic rise to stardom as a solo artist — and nine years after her divorce. Their story was also documented in the movie, “What’s Love Got to Do with It” starring Angela Bassett and Lawrence Fishburne.
Like Cher, Tina was just a teenager when she met 25-year-old Ike, and they had a son, Ronnie Turner, three years later.
In a 1981 interview with “People,” the “Nutbush City Limits” singer recalled the terrifying night of July 1, 1976, when she finally escaped her abusive ex while on tour and staying in a Dallas hotel. It would take two more years before they officially divorced.
“Ike was feeling a little irritable that day and hit me with the back of his hand. I wagged my finger at him, saying, ‘All right, you.’ Then he beat me the entire way from the airport to the hotel,” she stated. “When he fought he used things, and not just his hands. By the time we got to the hotel, the left side of my face was swollen like a monster’s. I never cried, though. I laughed. I laughed because I knew I was leaving. No more of this.”
Stop publishing happy family photos of Ike and Tina Turner when she said herself, “I was insanely afraid of that man.”
— Dr Charlotte Proudman (@DrProudman) May 25, 2023
As a black women exposing the horrors of domestic abuse in the 1980s, she stood up for all women. She broke the silence.
We owe her, big time. pic.twitter.com/HpHqaU56nc
Turner convinced a friend to buy her a plane ticket to Los Angeles, and she took off that night with 36 cents in her pocket. Ike eventually died of a cocaine overdose in 2007, and Tina later admitted that she never forgave him for abusing her.
In her memoir, Cher writes that she noticed Ike’s stoic personality from his time on her show. She stated that while they were rehearsing, Ike “didn’t smile one time” and played the guitar “without any emotion.”
“I just knew whatever he was feeling wasn’t good,” she recalled.
After leaving Ike, Tina returned to the Cher show in 1977 as a solo star, which would be her first televised performance without Ike, singing “Makin’ Music is My Business.” Cher and Tina would become lifelong friends up until Tina’s death in 2023.
Reactions to the revelations are mixed on social media, with some questioning why Cher, now 78, is dredging up Tina’s personal life. “Cher don’t speak on Tina let her rest thanx management,” commented one Instagram user as another said, “Why are you mentioning this now Cher!?”
But many applauded Cher for speaking her truth about her dear friend. One person wrote, “LOVE TT And Cher!!! And 1 Thing Cher Doesn’t Do Is Lie.”
“She probably did Tina almost OD either read her book or watch what’s love Got to do with it. Ike put her through hell,” said a second person.
Another added, “You can tell who really knows the history of their friendship and who doesn’t. Cher was one of the last people to actually see Tina alive and visit with her. Tina and Cher been down for decades. Y’all weird with the fake outage.”
Part 2 of Cher’s Memoir is expected out in 2025.
