Content warning: This story discusses suicide.
Cher is opening up about a difficult period.
The "Believe" singer detailed reaching an emotional low when she began to feel "trapped" in her relationship with late ex-husband Sonny Bono, whom she divorced in 1975 following 11 years of marriage.
At one point, Cher—who was 16 when she met Sonny, then 27, and later found success alongside him as one-half of the duo Sonny & Cher—felt so "dizzy with loneliness" in their "loveless marriage" that she considered ending her life while looking out over a hotel balcony in Las Vegas.
"I saw how easy it would be to step over the edge and simply disappear," Cher wrote in her book Cher: The Memoir, Part 1, per People. "For a few crazy minutes I couldn't imagine any other option. I did this five or six times."
But the thought of setting a bad example for her loved ones—including her child Chaz, now 55, who she shares with Sonny—kept her from harming herself. As she explained, "Things like this could make people who look up to me feel that it’s a viable solution."
Eventually, Cher came to a realization, recalling that she thought, "I don't have to jump off. I can just leave him."
As for why the Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour alum was so unhappy in her marriage? While Cher admitted that she and Sonny—who died in 1998 at age 62 from injuries caused by a skiing accident—had a great onscreen relationship, the 55-year-old described him as controlling and unfaithful in their personal lives.
“He just started not to care,” she said. “About me.”
And Cher alleged that Sonny was withholding most of the money they made off their joint business ventures.
“Sonny owned 95 percent of the company and his lawyer owned five,” she said. “And it was called Cher Enterprises, but I own nothing! And we’d worked together for almost 12 years.”
The same year she split from Sonny, Cher tied the knot with singer-songwriter Greg Allman, with whom she shares 48-year-old son Elijah. Four years later, the pair finalized their divorce.
Since then, Cher said that she has confronted Sonny—who went on to remarry twice—about why he denied her access to their money, to which she said he replied, "I always knew you’d leave me.”
"I said, ‘That’s not a reason! Son, how could you do it? I was there by your side working, all those nights, all those days, through good, through bad,’” continued Cher, who is currently dating Alexander "A.E." Edwards. “He didn’t have an answer."
She added, "And we were still friends after that."
For a look back on Cher's legendary career, keep reading to revisit her most iconic fashion moments.