Music icon and Oscar winner Cher has been involved in a lot of high-profile relationships
that've fizzled out, but she still believes in life after love.
Here’s a timeline of all of the men Cher has loved and gotten over.
Prior to his marriage to Annette Bening, Warren Beatty was a notorious playboy.
In 1962, Cher briefly became one of his many lovers, joining a list which also includes
icons Twiggy and Madonna.
At the time, then-25-year-old Beatty was in a relationship with his "Splendor in the Grass"
costar Natalie Wood — but that didn't stop him from picking up Cher, who was nine years
his junior.
In 1988, Cher told “Playboy” magazine:
"When I was 16 years old, I f----- Warren Beatty.
Just like that.
Of course, I'm one of a long list.
I did it because my girlfriends were so crazy about him, and so was my mother.
I saw Warren, he picked me up and I did it.
And what a disappointment!
Not that he wasn't technically good, or could be good, but I didn't feel anything.
So, for me, I felt, 'There's no reason for you to do that again.'"
1962 was also the year Cher met aspiring musician Sonny Bono at a restaurant in Los Angeles.
In a 2010 interview for “Parade,” she recalled:
"I swear to God, the moment I saw Sonny, everyone else in the room disappeared.
He was the coolest guy ever."
Their early relationship dynamics were complicated.
They moved in together, but Bono insisted on keeping things platonic, and told Cher
that he didn’t find her attractive.
But things changed one night when he finally kissed her after a date.
They married in 1964, and they welcomed their first child, Chaz Bono, in 1969.
Their career as a duo reached its peak in the 1970s, with their television show and
hits like "I Got You Babe."
But behind the scenes, Sonny was an overbearing partner.
Cher told "Parade,"
"He didn't want me to grow up or have any freedom.
I wasn't allowed to do anything except work.
We worked more than we lived."
Cher later learned that Sonny was unfaithful during their marriage, and she contemplated
suicide while they were together.
Finally, in 1974, the pair split.
Sonny's music career faded away soon after, though he pursued other lines of business
before he died in a skiing accident in 1998.
Cher gave the eulogy at his funeral.
September 20, 1973 marked the grand opening of the now-iconic Los Angeles club The Roxy.
Unsurprisingly, Cher was in attendance — and wound up sharing a table with Roxy co-owner
David Geffen.
Geffen was smitten.
According to Tom King's biography "The Operator: David Geffen Builds, Buys, and Sells the New
Hollywood," he gave her his address and invited her to dinner the following night.
By King's account, the pair were crazy about each other.
They were engaged within a year, and Geffen showered his fiance with extravagant gifts.
Ultimately, however, Cher left Geffen for Greg Allman of the Allman Brothers Band.
At the time, Geffen was so devastated he threatened to take legal action.
Eventually, however, he seemed to get over it, and by the mid '90s he had come out as
gay.
On June 30, 1975, four days after finalizing her divorce from Sonny Bono, Cher married
Allman Brothers Band member Gregg Allman.
However, Allman's erratic nature made the relationship a rocky one.
According to "Rolling Stone," Allman had passed out from heroin use in the bathroom on their
first date.
Cher gave him a second chance, but his substance issues continued throughout a relationship
which included a divorce, a remarriage, a child, and an album collaboration.
By the late '70s, Cher was burnt out.
In 1978, she told "People,"
"I just didn't have the juice anymore.
He's the kindest, most gentle, loving husband and father.
But then, he forgets and everything goes to s***."
By 1979, Cher was spilling to "People" about a new relationship: that with Kiss bassist
Gene Simmons.
She told the magazine,
"[We share] the best relationship I've ever had with a human being."
A major aspect of this relationship was non-monogamy.
Cher explained to the magazine that Simmons' heavy touring schedule with Kiss gave him
a, quote, "totally warranted" reputation for having one-night stands.
She too spent time with other people, but clarified,
"[It's only] for companionship.
Gene is the only one I'm crazy about.
All my relationships are serious.
I don't screw around."
Simmons, too, was devoted to the relationship, telling "People" that Cher was his first love.
But things changed around Christmas 1979.
As Simmons explained on SiriusXM's "Radio Andy," the trouble started when Cher suggested
Simmons go to Diana Ross for gift-giving advice.
"She said, uh, my best friend, Diana, is there, why don't you have her take you shopping and
stuff?
But...oops."
Sparks flew between Ross and Simmons, and fizzled between Simmons and Cher.
In 1981, actor Val Kilmer learned from a friend that Cher was interested in meeting him.
He wrote in his 2020 memoir "I'm Your Huckleberry" that he was so surprised, he spit out his
spaghetti.
He explained:
"I saw Cher as a less-than-fascinating character out of the gossip rags.
I was not motivated to meet her, not out of snobbery but simply because I was sure we
had nothing in common."
Eventually, though, Cher got her wish, when her friend Meryl Streep invited Kilmer to
a party she was throwing for Cher.
The couple broke up in 1984.
Prior to their split, Cher told "People,"
"Val is terrific but sometimes it's just too intense and hot.
[...] When we [first kissed], I thought my head would shoot right off my body.
I had to catch my breath.”
Cher reportedly met Tom Cruise at a White House fundraiser in the mid-1980s, according
to "People."
She was 39 years old at the time, while Cruise, hot off the success of his breakthrough film
"Risky Business," was 23.
In an interview with Oprah Winfrey, Cher recalled:
"I was so crazy about him.
He was so wonderful [...] And he was so, like, different [...] He was a shy boy."
In a 2013 interview on “Watch What Happens Live,” Cher had high praise for her former
lover.
"I've had, just, the greatest lovers ever!"
"Where did— where did Tom Cruise rank on that list?"
"Well, he was in the top five."
According to the "Daily Mail," Cher met movie producer Joshua Donen while he was working
as an agent for her ex-boyfriend Val Kilmer.
Cher and Donen didn't make great first impressions on each other: she thought he was rude, while
he found her to be a little frosty.
But they must have thawed out the initial freeze, because they ended up embarking on
a two-year relationship.
Donen even encouraged Cher to take her celebrated role in "Mask."
Donen had a hand in another one of her most memorable moments, as well: the 1986 Oscars.
Cher felt defiant after being snubbed by the Academy for her role in "Mask," but according
to “The Washington Post," Donen suggested she go to the awards ceremony anyway and present
one of the categories.
She explained to the paper,
"I was really upset about not being nominated and then I thought, 'I can't go to the Academy
Awards.
Joshua's father was producing it.
He said, 'Would you come and make a presentation?'
[...] That can be fun.
I can enjoy that.
But I thought, I'm not gonna go in a little black dress.
I'm gonna go as the me that they didn't like."
Cher showed up in an iconic Bob Mackie ensemble and made Oscar history.
Although she and Donen eventually called it quits as a couple, the pair remained friends.
Cher met Robert Camilletti on the night of her 40th birthday.
According to "Macleans," she was visiting a cafe in Manhattan with her then-boyfriend
Val Kilmer when an aspiring actor caught her eye.
At age 22, Camilletti was at the beginning of his career, working as a bartender and
bagel baker while he studied acting.
In a 1989 interview, Cher recalled,
"Only twice in my life have I been affected that way, and on both occasions, the men were
Italians.
Rob made my heart do something weird.
There's something quite electric and thrilling about it — you only want this one person
and you throw everything else out of the window."
Camilletti's feelings were more of a slow burn, in part because he was so surprised
that Cher was interested in him.
Apparently, the press was, too — the couple ultimately broke up in 1989 due to intense
media scrutiny.
In a 2010 “Parade” interview, Cher lamented,
"They were so mean with Robert — you know, 'the bagel boy.'"
Still, when the question of who her "one true love" was came up at a 2013 event, according
to the "Daily News," she responded,
"Robert Camilletti.
An Italian from Queens."
Cher and Bon Jovi guitarist Richie Sambora may not have stayed together, but that hasn't
stopped the pair from singing each other's praises to this day.
In a 2018 interview, Cher told the "Daily Mail,"
"[Richie's] one of the most underrated singers ever."
Sambora credits Cher, who he lived with in the late '80s, as an influence on both his
music and his fashion.
In 2011, the musician debuted a fashion line he co-designed with Nikki Lund called White
Trash Beautiful.
In an interview for "Racked" that year, Sambora cited Cher as a major inspiration.
"A turning point for me was when I was about twenty eight years old and I started dating
Cher.
[...] She taught me a lot [...] [She taught me] how to put things together.
You shouldn't wear this with that; what was right for the occasion.
Because when you're a kid you don't know that kind of stuff, especially when you're a man."
Then, in 2015, Sambora paid homage to Cher by releasing a cover of Sonny and Cher's "I
Got You Babe" on the song's fiftieth anniversary.
He told the "Daily Mail,"
"It's a tribute to one of the greatest lady's and Sonny's incredible artistic talent."
In a pairing that likely involved ample amounts of leather and drama, Cher dated former Hells
Angel member Tim Medvetz.
The duo met in 2008 through friends, according to the "Daily Mail," and bonded over a shared
love of Harley-Davidsons.
Unfortunately, their mutual passion for motorcycles was not enough to keep them together.
According to the "Daily Mail," they fell apart in 2010 due to Cher's busy touring schedule.
After a brief relationship with TV writer Ron Zimmerman, however, Cher found her way
back to her road warrior.
There were rumors that the two had plans to marry, but a rep for Cher assured "E! News"
that this was not the case.
Eventually, Cher and Medvetz fizzled out once again, this time for good.
In 2010, between her breakup and reunion with Tim Medvetz, Cher dated comedy writer Ron
Zimmerman, who was 12 years her junior.
During an interview with Jay Leno, she joked,"
"He's the oldest man I've ever dated!"
The singer revealed she met Zimmerman the new-fashioned way: on Facebook.
She explained,
"[On my friend's page] there was this really funny guy, who said the weirdest things.
Like, under religion, it said 'Zeus.'
He's very strange but the funniest person you ever met."
She reached out over Facebook, and romance blossomed — although, by 2012, she was black
together with Medvetz.
In November 2010, Cher appeared on "The Late Show with David Letterman" to promote her
movie "Burlesque."
Letterman took the opportunity to quiz Cher about her multi-decade, highly publicized
love life.
As Letterman listed off famous men, Cher responded with whether she had ever been involved with
any of them in the bedroom.
She confirmed her history with Warren Beatty, Tom Cruise, and Gene Simmons, but vehemently
denied any entanglement with singer-songwriter Michael Bolton.
As for rock star Eric Clapton, Cher said she had slept with him once.
The "Daily Mail" speculated that the one-night stand took place in 1995, when they worked
together on the charity single "Love Can Build a Bridge."
Even for Cher, there are a few that got away.
"Elvis Presley?"
"Almost."
"What— what happened that was…?"
"I got nervous."
Cher had other regrets, as well.
"Marlon Brando too, I wished I had."
"You didn't go out with Marlon Brando?"
"Well, we just...hung out for a while."
As of 2021, the "Believe" singer appears to be single.
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