Only one member of the United States Congress also had a #1 hit record: Salvatore Phillip “Sonny” Bono. (John Hall of Orleans scored a #5 hit in 1976 with “Still the One.”) Born in Detroit and reared in Southern California from age seven, he was a promotion man for producer Phil Spector, played percussion on recording sessions, and wrote songs recorded by The Searchers (“Needles and Pins”), Sam Cooke and The Rolling Stones.
In 1965 he penned and produced the #1 million-selling-single “I Got You Babe” that launched he and girlfriend/later wife Cher Sarkisian to stardom as Sonny & Cher. They enjoyed considerable success as a recording and performing musical act in the mid-to-late 1960s, earning nine Top 20 hits together. They later became television stars in the early 1970s with The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour.
After the duo split up, Bono developed an acting career and entered electoral politics as a result of the frustrations he experienced with the city staff and regulations of Palm Springs, Calif. when opening a restaurant there. In 1988, Sonny ran for mayor of the city and won, serving a single term. His annual state of the city address one year was titled, yes, “The Beat Goes On.”
Related: Our feature on the duo’s big hit, “The Beat Goes On”
In 1994 Sonny Bono ran for Congress as a Republican and on November 8 won the House seat for California’s 44th Congressional District, focusing on such issues as extending the terms of copyrights and preserving California’s inland Salton Sea. His last public appearance with Cher was on November 13, 1987 when they performed “I Got You Babe” on Late Night with David Letterman.
On January 5, 1998, Bono died in a skiing accident at the Heavenly Ski Resort near Lake Tahoe, CA. He was 62.
His wife, Mary, completed his term in Congress and then won seven subsequent elections, serving in the House from 1998 to 2013.
