NBC News: “Cher filed a potentially million-dollar lawsuit Wednesday accusing Mary Bono, the widow of her ex-husband Sonny Bono, of wrongly withholding royalties for songs like ‘I Got You Babe’ and ‘The Beat Goes On.’
“Cher and Sonny Bono, who made up the 1960s and ’70s pop duo Sonny & Cher, were married from 1967 to 1975 before they divorced and agreed to ‘an equal division of their community property,’ which included an even split of music royalties, according to Cher’s federal lawsuit filed in Los Angeles. The 50-50 split carried on after Sonny Bono died in a skiing accident on Jan. 5, 1998, Cher said.
“Last month, Mary Bono, through the Bono Collection Trust, told Cher that she would be cut off from royalties for Sonny & Cher hits like ‘I Got You Babe,’ ‘The Beat Goes On,’ ‘Baby Don’t Go,’ ‘Little Man’ and ‘Bang Bang.’ The ‘notice of termination’ stunned Cher, as she ‘has been the unchallenged owner of her fifty percent of all musical composition and record royalties,’ her lawsuit said.”