Shocking reason why Cher and Gregg Allman’s marriage only lasted 9 days
Cher speaks with journalists after she was inducted at the 2024 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio. REUTERS
If Cher could turn back time, she wouldn’t have done anything differently.
The 78-year-old got candid about her marriage to Gregg Allman, which technically lasted only nine days.
“I didn’t know whether my relationship with Gregory would last or not. I was living each day as it came,” the singer penned in “Cher: The Memoir, Part One.” “Then I found out I was pregnant, and we decided to get married.”
Cher with Gregg Allman in 1978. Michael Ochs Archives
Cher added that their nuptials were “arranged within a few days.” The artist told two of her friends and they ended up going along with the couple in Las Vegas for a ceremony that was “over in minutes.” Cher and Allman, who died in 2017 at the age of 69, posed for photos then flew “straight back home.”
“I was no longer Cher Bono but Cher Allman, Gregory’s third wife,” she wrote. “There was little about our wedding day that was romantic.There would be no honeymoon.”
Pop singer Cher poses for a portrait session with her husband guitarist Gregg Allman in 1977 in Los Angeles, California. Michael Ochs Archives
Cher and Gregg Allman at La Scala Restaurant in New York City on Feb. 23, 1976. Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images
Weeks later, she’d file for divorce after she allegedly discovered the singer’s Dopp kit with a “plastic bag full of white powder.” Despite standing by Allman’s side throughout his addiction struggles, Cher finding the substance was her breaking point as she was expecting their first child.
Cher, who was already mom to Chaz with ex Sonny Bono, was then told by many friends that Allman planned to divorce her.
Singer and actress Cher with Greg Allman pose for a portrait in 1977 in Los Angeles, California. Getty Images
When she confronted Allman he “lied and denied it.” Cher filed for divorce the following day.
Allman went to rehab as Cher turned to Bono for support as the pair remained friends after their split. When Allman asked Cher to visit him in rehab, Bono encouraged her to do so. During his stay, Cher joined the musician for a therapy session where he opened up about the “pressure to be Mr. Cher.”
Cher and Allman reconciled and went on a “belated honeymoon” in Jamaica. However, the star left the trip early after claiming she witnessed Allman drinking rum.
“Cher: The Memoir, Part One.” Dey Street Books
Not long after, Cher found out that Allman was also addicted to heroin and gave him an ultimatum to go to rehab again before their baby arrived.
“I don’t remember what date I’d chosen exactly. It was something arbitrary,” she shared in her memoir. “I had had it with us repeating the same pattern again and again, and had told him over the phone, ‘I’m just so tired of doing this, Gregory. I’m so tired of going to rehab with you.’ He was quiet on the other end of the line. ‘But I keep going,’ he said softly. His answer stopped me in my tracks, because it was true. He kept going to rehab, kept trying to get clean, kept making an effort despite failing in the past. In that moment, instead of thinking of my own exhaustion, I empathized with him.”
Their son Elijah was born in July 1976. Allman began his addictive behaviors shortly after, which Cher didn’t want around her baby.
Gregg Allman and Cher attend an event in October 1977 in Los Angeles. Michael Ochs Archives
Gregg and Cher Allman sing “Love the One You’re With” during their Brussels concert on Nov. 11, 1977. Bettmann Archive
“That point came soon after, when Gregory had a paranoid breakdown one night and insisted he saw men with guns in the backyard. ‘This is the last straw,’ I thought,” alleged the actress. “Whatever he is now, it’s not safe for kids. It only happened once, but I couldn’t risk it.”
Despite a previous separation, the two officially went their separate ways in 1979, having been married for four years.
