Cher has been an open book about her life, loves, career and children.
The “Believe” singer released her memoir, “Cher: The Memoir, Part One,” in November 2024 and reflected on her early beginnings, rise to fame and birth of her children: Chaz Bono and Elijah Blue Allman.
The music legend welcomed Chaz Bono with ex-husband Sonny Bono in 1969. She and her second ex-husband, Gregg Allman, had son Elijah Blue Allman in 1976.
Before she had her two children, Cher sufferedseveral miscarriages, the first when she was just 18. In 2022, she shared on then-Twitter that Sonny Bono found her “sobbing” and “rocking” on the floor of their home after she experienced her first miscarriage.
Cher previously told Parade magazine in 2010 that attempting to conceive became a “nightmare” because of her miscarriages, before welcoming her first child.
When it comes to her relationship with her second son, in late 2023, Cher filed for a conservatorship to control access to Elijah Blue Allman’s finances. But by September 2024, she withdrew her conservatorship petition, attorneys for Allman said in a statement.
Read on to learn more about Cher’s sons and their relationship.
Chaz Bono
Cher and Sonny Bono, who got married in the 1960s, welcomed their first child together on March 4, 1969. The coupledivorced in 1975, and Bono died in a skiing accident in 1998.
Chaz Bono, who is a transgender man, began appearing on his famous parents’ show “The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour” as a child in 1973. Following in his entertainer parents’ footsteps, he appeared in a slew of films like “Dirty,” “Reborn” and “3 From Hell,” and shows like “The Bold and the Beautiful,” “American Horror Story: Roanoke,” “The Secret Life of the American Teenager” and “Curb Your Enthusiasm.”
Chaz Bono began transitioning in the late 2000s and filed a petition to legally change his name and gender in 2010. He documented his transition in the Emmy-nominated documentary “Becoming Chaz.”
The actor and activist is also a published author, with titles including “Family Outing” and “Transition.”
In 2020, Cher opened up about how, at first, she struggled with her son’s transition.
“It was very unlike me to — in the beginning — have a problem with Chaz being gay, and it disappeared like that,” Cher told Christiane Amanpour on CNN. “And then we talked about transgender for many years, and she would say, ‘No I don’t want to do it,’ and then he went and said, ‘OK I want to do this.’”
“It wasn’t easy. I remember calling, and the old message — the old Chaz message was on the phone — and that was very difficult. But then you have one child, but you don’t really lose them — they just are in a different shape,” she continued, later adding, “Chaz is so happy, so unbelievably happy.”
In her memoir, the entertainer begins her book with an “Author’s Note” explaining why she refers to Chaz as Chas, and that she got his blessing to do so.
“In this memoir, I refer to my son Chaz as Chas, the name he went by during the years covered in this book,” she said. “Chaz has granted his blessing for this usage. In the next volume, at the appropriate point, I will refer to my son as Chaz.”
In the book, she shares she named her first child Chastity Sun in honor of both the movie she had just filmed and Sonny Bono.
Chaz Bono has been dating Shara Blue Mathes since 2017.
Elijah Blue Allman
Cher married Gregg Allman in 1975, and the newlyweds welcomed Elijah Blue Allman on July 10, 1976.
Cher and the co-founder of The Allman Brothers Band divorced a few years later amid his struggles with drugs and alcohol. Gregg Allman died in 2017.
Elijah Blue Allman is a singer and musician like his parents and was part of the band Deadsy. He has also worked with artists like 30 Seconds to Mars, Coal Chamber and Sugar Ray. Elijah Blue Allman also made an appearance as a guitarist in Cher’s “If I Could Turn Back Time” music video.
In 2013, he married English singer Marieangela King.
In December 2023, Cher filed for a conservatorship to control access to his finances. In court documents obtained by NBC News, Cher claimed her son was “currently unable to manage his assets due to severe mental health and substance abuse issues.”
Cher said she was concerned any funds distributed to her son from a trust set up by his late father would be “immediately spent on drugs, leaving Elijah with no assets to provide for himself and putting Elijah’s life at risk.”
By mid-September 2024, attorneys for Elijah Blue Allman said in a statement that Cher withdrew her conservatorship petition for control of his finances.
Cage & Miles, LLP, said Sept. 14 that their team “successfully defended Elijah, resulting in Cher voluntarily dismissing her petition.”
“This outcome allows the parties to focus on healing and rebuilding their family bond, a process that began during mediation and continues today,” the statement said.