Sonny Bono was born in Detroit, the son of Zena "Jean" and Santo Sonny Bono.
41 Facts About Sonny Bono
2.
Sonny Bono's father was born in Montelepre, Palermo, Italy, and his mother was of Italian descent.
3.
Sonny Bono's mother called him "Sono" as a term of endearment, which evolved over time into "Sonny".
4.
Sonny Bono was the youngest of three siblings; he had two sisters, Fran and Betty.
5.
Sonny Bono decided early in life to become part of the music business, and began writing songs as a teenager.
6.
Sonny Bono attended Inglewood High School, but did not graduate, opting to drop out so he could begin to pursue a career as a songwriter and performer.
7.
Sonny Bono worked at a variety of jobs while trying to break into the music business, including waiter, truck driver, construction laborer, and butcher's helper.
8.
Sonny Bono began his music career as a songwriter at Specialty Records, where his song "Things You Do to Me" was recorded by Sam Cooke, and went on to work for record producer Phil Spector in the early 1960s as a promotion man, percussionist and "gofer".
9.
Sonny Bono wrote, arranged and produced a number of hit records including the singles "I Got You Babe" and "The Beat Goes On", although Cher received more attention as a performer.
10.
Sonny Bono played a major part in Cher's early solo recording career, writing and producing singles including "Bang Bang" and "You Better Sit Down Kids".
11.
Under a pseudonym, Sonny Bono co-wrote "She Said Yeah", covered by The Rolling Stones on their 1965 LP December's Children.
12.
Sonny Bono's lone hit single as a solo artist, "Laugh at Me", was released in 1965 and peaked at No 10 on the Billboard Hot 100.
13.
In live concerts, Sonny Bono introduced the song by saying "I'd like to sing a medley of my hit".
14.
In 2011, Sonny Bono was inducted into the Michigan Rock and Roll Legends Hall of Fame.
15.
Sonny Bono's acting career included bit parts as a guest performer in such television series as The Man From UNCLE, Fantasy Island, Charlie's Angels, The Love Boat, The Six Million Dollar Man and CHiPs.
16.
Sonny Bono appeared in the 1980 miniseries Top of the Hill.
17.
Sonny Bono played the role of mad bomber Joe Selucci in Airplane II: The Sequel and appeared in the horror film Troll.
18.
Sonny Bono portrayed racist entrepreneur Franklin von Tussle in the John Waters film Hairspray.
19.
In Men in Black, Sonny Bono is one of several oddball celebrities seen on a wall of video screens that monitor extraterrestrials living among us.
20.
Sonny Bono made a minor appearance as himself in the comedy film First Kid.
21.
Sonny Bono guest-starred as himself on The Golden Girls episode "Mrs George Devereaux", in which he vied with Lyle Waggoner for Dorothy's affection in a dream sequence.
22.
Sonny Bono entered politics after experiencing great frustration with local government bureaucracy in trying to open a restaurant in Palm Springs, California.
23.
Sonny Bono was instrumental in spearheading the creation of the Palm Springs International Film Festival, which is held each year in Bono's memory.
24.
Sonny Bono ran for the Republican nomination for United States Senate in 1992, but the nomination went to the more conservative Bruce Herschensohn, and the election to the Democrat Barbara Boxer.
25.
Sonny Bono was elected to the United States House of Representatives in 1994 to represent California's 44th congressional district.
26.
Sonny Bono was one of twelve co-sponsors of a House bill extending copyright.
27.
Sonny Bono championed the restoration of the Salton Sea, bringing the giant lake's plight to national attention.
28.
Sonny Bono remains the only member of Congress to have scored a number-one pop single on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart.
29.
Sonny Bono married his first wife, Donna Rankin, on November 3,1954.
30.
In 1964, Sonny Bono married Cherilyn Sarkisian, later known as singer and actress Cher.
31.
Sonny Bono married actress-model Susie Coelho on New Year's Eve 1981; they divorced in 1984.
32.
Sonny Bono wed Mary Whitaker in 1986 and they had two children, son Chesare Elan in 1988 and daughter Chianna Maria in 1991.
33.
Sonny Bono was named a godparent of Anthony Kiedis, who became a musical artist with his band, Red Hot Chili Peppers.
34.
Sonny Bono was a close friend of Kiedis's father, Blackie Dammett, and often took young Kiedis on weekend trips.
35.
Sonny Bono was a champion of the Salton Sea in southeastern California, where a park was named in his honor.
36.
Sonny Bono became interested in Scientology and took Scientology courses partly because of the influence of Mimi Rogers, but stated that he was a Roman Catholic on all official documents, campaign materials and websites.
37.
Sonny Bono died on January 5,1998, of injuries incurred when he hit a tree while skiing at Heavenly Mountain Resort in South Lake Tahoe, California.
38.
Sonny Bono was buried at Desert Memorial Park in Cathedral City, California.
39.
The epitaph on Sonny Bono's headstone reads "AND THE BEAT GOES ON".
40.
Mary Sonny Bono was elected to fill the remainder of her husband's congressional term.
41.
Sonny Bono was elected in her own right seven subsequent times before being defeated in the election of 2012.