How long were Cher and Gregg Allman married? 'Believe' singer reveals why she filed for divorce nine days after wedding

By Kinette Sumadia

Modified Nov 19, 2024 21:09 GMT

Cher recalled her short marriage with Gregg Allman and revealed why the marriage didn't last long. In her latest memoir, Cher: Part One, published on November 19, the Believe singer revealed that her marriage to Allman only lasted nine days. She talked about not knowing if their relationship would last in the book until she got pregnant, saying:

"I didn't know whether my relationship with Gregory would last or not. I was living each day as it came. Then I found out I was pregnant, and we decided to get married."

Cher married Allman in 1975, and according to her, it only took several days to organize the wedding. They had the ceremony in Las Vegas, which only two of her friends attended. The wedding, she recalled, was "over in a few minutes," and they posed for wedding pictures before going back home. She said they didn't have a honeymoon and that "there was little about [their] wedding day that was romantic."

However, days after the wedding, she filed for divorce after allegedly finding a "plastic bag full of white powder" in the late singer's toiletry bag. Although Cher filed to divorce Gregg Allman nine days after the wedding, they reconciled and remained together for about four years until they parted ways in 1979.

She was the third wife of the late Allman Brothers Band singer, who passed away at age 69 in 2017 after suffering complications from liver cancer.

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Cher explains the breaking point in her marriage with Gregg Allman

The singer-actress, also known as the "Goddess of Pop," went into detail about what went wrong with her marriage to Gregg Allman in her new memoir. After filing for divorce days after their wedding, they seemingly reconciled, and Allman checked into rehab. They allegedly attended therapy at the time, where the late singer shared the "pressure" he feels about being "Mr. Cher."

Their reconciliation also brought them to decide to go on a honeymoon, and they picked Jamaica for it. However, the trip didn't last long after the Moonstruck star saw her new husband drinking, which led to an argument. Soon, she reportedly discovered his drug addiction, leading her to give him an ultimatum.

Cher recalled a conversation with Allman on the phone about his addiction and rehab. She said:

"I had had it with us repeating the same pattern again and again, and had told him over the phone, 'I'm just so tired of doing this, Gregory. I'm so tired of going to rehab with you.'"

Although she didn't mention what Allman said on the phone, she said that "his answer stopped [her] in [her] tracks" because she said it was "true." She added:

"He kept going to rehab, kept trying to get clean, kept making an effort despite failing in the past. In that moment, instead of thinking of my own exhaustion, I empathized with him."

It appeared that they reconciled again because Allman went to rehab just before Cher gave birth to their son, Elijah Blue Allman, in July 1976. However, an incident happened after they brought home their newborn, and it was something that made the Believe singer realize that their marriage was over. She recalled:

"Gregory had a paranoid breakdown one night and insisted he saw men with guns in the backyard. 'This is the last straw,' I thought."

She said that she didn't think it was safe for the kids after that incident. And while it only happened once, Cher said that she "couldn't risk it." She also had her kid from her previous marriage to Sonny Bono at the time.

As for Gregg Allman, he opened up about the rocky marriage to Entertainment Weekly in 1992. He said that "there was no future for us" because of Cher's "constant paranoia" about him going back to alcohol.

She officially separated from Allman after the alleged "paranoid breakdown," but their divorce wasn't finalized until 1979.