Goddess of Pop Cher was initially married to Sonny Bonny, her long-time duet singing partner, on October 27, 1964, and went separate ways in 1975. Four days after finalizing her divorce from Sonny, Cher tied the knot with the Southern rocker Gregg Allman.

A new book by Alan Paul, Brothers, and Sisters: The Allman Brothers Band and the Inside Story of the Album That Defined the ’70s, detailed that Cher and Allman’s initial connection dates back to 1974 when Allman visited the rock club Troubadour in West Hollywood. After several dates, the duo became an item.

Cher underestimated Gregg Allman’s drug problem

In an interview with Fox News Digital, Paul, while promoting his new book, Alan revealed that Allman’s life was plagued with drug addiction, but he couldn’t tell Cher. “Gregg at the time was a full-blown drug addict, and he was struggling to overcome it, he did go in and out of rehab several times. He had periods where he was able to overcome it. He talked about that very openly,” he told the news outlet. “Cher, even though she had been in Hollywood and a celebrity since she was 16-17, was quite naive. She didn’t understand what that meant. Gregg at one point, early in their relationship, says to her, ‘Just go home. Pretend this was a trip to Disneyland. It was fun while it lasted. Now go home,'” Paul confessed. “He couldn’t bring himself to tell her he was an addict.”

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However, when he finally told the popstar, she could not fully grasp the enormity of the problem, thus, she felt it could be easily combated. “Her reaction was like, ‘That’s fine, it’s a problem, and we’ll fix it,’ she understood it as a problem, but she thought it was something where you go to a doctor, you could go to rehab, and you’ll be better,” Paul admitted to Fox News Digital. “She didn’t understand… And Gregg talked so openly about that… From the very beginning of their relationship, it was overshadowed by his drug use.”

Alan Paul says Gregg Allman continued to love Cher despite their issues

Despite Allman’s efforts to battle his addiction, he and Cher ultimately decided to part ways for good in 1979. Paul disclosed that their separation was due to Allman’s addiction and public scrutiny of their relationship. “When I said drugs were really the problem, I do believe that, but I also think this level of celebrity access and inability to have a private life was also part of that,” the author explained. “That compounded the other. It was really hard to work out one problem under this glare that they couldn’t get out of. They were on one of the first covers of People magazine. That side of celebrity culture was just beginning. They were the Kim and Kanye of 1974-1975.”

He also stated that during his research for writing his new book, he found materials that suggested Allman still loved Cher despite the divorce. “I had access to these interviews by Kirk West who… was a tour manager, he was their archivist, he was their historian. He was writing a book in the ’80s,” Paul detailed. “He had some incredible interviews with Gregg. In those interviews, Gregg talked extensively about Cher and his relationship. What was incredible was… Gregg didn’t like to talk about Cher that much. People took that for disliking her, having aggression toward her, or something. I don’t believe that was ever the case. I think it was the opposite. He never stopped loving her.”

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