Salvatore Phillip "Sonny" Bono (February 16, 1935 – January 5, 1998) was an American record producer, singer, actor, and politician whose career spanned over three decades.
Born in Detroit, Michigan, to Italian immigrants Jean and Santo, 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 legendary record producer Phil Spector in the early 1960s as a promotion man, percussionist and "gofer." One of his earliest songwriting efforts was "Needles and Pins." Later in the same decade, he achieved 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. He did also play a major part in Cher's solo career too with recordings such as "Bang Bang" and "You Better Sit Down Kids". Bono did record as a solo artist under the name of Sonny and had two hit singles "Laugh at Me" which reached top ten in the US and UK in 1965 and "The Revolution Kind" which reached number 70. Bono also recorded an unsuccessful Sonny album titled Inner Views in 1967. Sonny and Cher starred in a popular television variety show, The Sonny and Cher Show, which ran on CBS from 1971 to 1974.
Bono continued his acting career, doing bit roles in such shows as Fantasy Island and The Love Boat. He played the part of mad bomber Joe Selucci in Airplane II: The Sequel and the part of Franklin Von Tussle in John Waters' Hairspray. In the film Men In Black, Bono is one of several oddball celebrities seen on a wall of video screens that monitor extraterrestrials living among us. In 1986 he also appeared in the horror movie Troll.
Bono entered politics after experiencing great frustration with local government bureaucracy in trying to open a restaurant in Palm Springs, California. With conservative talk radio host Marshall Gilbert as his campaign manager (and later as the godfather of his two children by his wife, Mary), Bono placed a successful bid to become the new mayor of Palm Springs. He served from 1988 to 1992. He was instrumental in making the city more business-friendly and in spearheading the creation of the Palm Springs International Film Festival, now held each year in Bono's memory.
Bono ran for the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate in 1992, but the nomination went to the more conservative Bruce Herschensohn, and the election to the Democrat Dianne Feinstein. Bono and Herschensohn became close friends after the campaign. Bono was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1994 to represent California's 44th District. He was one of twelve co-sponsors of a House bill extending copyright. Although that bill was never voted on in the Senate, a similar Senate bill was passed after his death and named the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act in his honor.
He championed the restoration of the Salton Sea, bringing the giant lake's plight to national attention. Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich made a public appearance and speech at the shore of the lake on Bono's behalf.
In their book Tell Newt to Shut Up, David Maraniss and Michael Weisskopf credit Bono with being the first person to recognize Gingrich's public relations problems in 1995. Drawing on his long experience as a celebrity and entertainment producer, Bono (according to Maraniss and Weisskopf) recognized that Gingrich's status had changed from politician to celebrity, and that Gingrich was not making allowances for that change:
Maraniss and Weisskopf go on to say that Gingrich did not heed Bono's advice. Gingrich was not interested in image for image sake, but rather in fulfilling his role as an elected leader.
Although a conservative, Bono's celebrity status and easy-going manner allowed him to develop friendships across party lines.
Sonny also had involvement with the hearings related to the Waco incident on April 19, 1993. He was reported to have been extremely upset while watching a video of the attack on the compound. Apparently though, he only asked one question during the entire 10-day hearing, related to the dangers of CS gas to children.
Bono married his first wife, Donna Rankin, on Nov. 3, 1954 and they had a daughter, Christine ("Christy"), born on June 24, 1958, before divorcing in 1962. Following that, Bono married Cher, a singer and entertainer; Bono and Cher had a daughter, Chastity Bono, on March 4, 1969. Six years later, in 1975, the couple divorced. Bono then married Susie Coelho, but divorced her in 1984. He married again in 1986 to the much younger Mary Whitaker. They had two children, Chesare Elan Bono (a son, born 1988) and Chianna Marie Bono (a daughter, born 1991). He became a Scientologist, partly because of the influence of Mimi Rogers, but stated that he was a Roman Catholic on all official documents, campaign materials, web sites, etc. Mary Bono also took Scientology courses. When his daughter Chastity came out as a lesbian, he was more accepting than Cher was at first.
Bono was a champion of the Salton Sea in southeastern California, where a park was named in his honor. The 2005 documentary film Plagues and Pleasures on the Salton Sea (narrated by John Waters) features Bono and documented the lives of the inhabitants of Bombay Beach, Niland, and Salton City, as well as the ecological issues associated with the Sea.
On January 5, 1998, Bono died of injuries after striking a tree while skiing on the Nevada side of the Heavenly Ski Resort near South Lake Tahoe, California.
Bono's death came just days after Michael Kennedy, a son of Robert F. Kennedy, died in a similar skiing accident. Bono's widow, Mary, was elected to fill the remainder of the Congressional term. Despite her two marriages since his death, she continues to champion many of Sonny's causes, including the ongoing fight to save the Salton Sea.
His ex-wife, Cher, gave a eulogy at Bono's funeral, after which the attendees sang the song "The Beat Goes On". His final resting place is Desert Memorial Park in Cathedral City, California. The epitaph on Bono's headstone reads: "And The Beat Goes On."
