Sonny Bono

Salvatore Phillip "Sonny" Bono (/ˈboʊnoʊ/ BOH-noh; February 16, 1935 – January 5, 1998) was an American singer, songwriter, record producer, actor, and politician. In partnership with his second wife, Cher, he formed the singing duo Sonny & Cher. A member of the Republican Party, Bono served as the 16th mayor of Palm Springs, California, from 1988 to 1992, and served as the U.S. representative for California's 44th district from 1995 until his death in 1998.

The United States Copyright Term Extension Act of 1998, which extended the term of copyright by 20 years, was named in honor of Bono when it was passed by Congress nine months after his death. Mary Bono (his widow and successor in Congress) had been one of the original sponsors of the legislation, commonly known as the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act.

Bono was born in Detroit, the son of Zena "Jean" (née DiMercurio) and Santo Bono. His father was born in Montelepre, Palermo, Italy; his mother was also of Italian descent. His mother called him "Sono" as a term of endearment, which evolved over time into "Sonny". Sonny was the youngest of three siblings; he had two sisters, Fran and Betty. The family moved to Inglewood, California, when he was seven, and his parents divorced soon afterwards. Bono decided early in life to become part of the music business, and began writing songs as a teenager. "Koko Joe", a song he wrote when he was 16, was recorded by Don and Dewey in 1958, and later covered by several other artists, including the Righteous Brothers. 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. He worked at a variety of jobs while trying to break into the music business, including waiter, truck driver, construction laborer, and butcher's helper.

Bono began his music career as a songwriter at Specialty Records, where his song "Things You Do to Me" was recorded by Sam Cooke; he went on to work for record producer Phil Spector in the early 1960s as a promotion man, percussionist and "gofer". One of his earliest songwriting efforts, "Needles and Pins", was co-written with Jack Nitzsche, another member of Spector's production team. In 1965, he achieved commercial success with his wife Cher in the singing duo Sonny & Cher. Bono wrote, arranged and produced a number of hit records for the duo, including the singles "I Got You Babe" and "The Beat Goes On", although Cher received more attention as a performer. He played a major part in Cher's early solo recording career, writing and producing singles including "Bang Bang" and "You Better Sit Down Kids".

Under a pseudonym, Bono co-wrote "She Said Yeah", covered by the Rolling Stones on their 1965 LP Out of Our Heads. His lone hit single as a solo artist, "Laugh at Me", was released in 1965 and peaked at No. 10 on the Billboard Hot 100. In live concerts, Bono introduced the song by saying "I'd like to sing a medley of my hit". "Laugh at Me" was also covered by Mott The Hoople on their first album, released in 1969. His only other single as a solo artist, "The Revolution Kind", reached No. 70 on the Billboard Hot 100 later that year. His solo album, Inner Views, was released in 1967.

Biography summary from English Wikipedia, photograph via Wikimedia Commons.