Sonny Bono's Real Name: Sonny Bono

Quick answer: The entertainer and later member of Congress was known as Sonny Bono. Biography.com and the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress independently list a February 16, 1935, birth in Detroit and a January 5, 1998, death. Biography.com gives the longer name Salvatore Phillip Bono, which appears there. This page titles him under the public name.

Real name and early life

Independent publishers identify him under the professional name Sonny Bono. Biography.com says he was born Salvatore Phillip Bono on February 16, 1935, in Detroit, Michigan, the son of immigrants from Sicily, and that the family moved to Los Angeles when he was around seven. The congressional biography independently says he was born in Detroit, Michigan, on February 16, 1935, and attended Inglewood High School in Inglewood, California. Biography.com independently says he attended Inglewood High School but dropped out.

Career highlights

Biography.com says he began his music career as a songwriter and singer for Johnny Otis's Dig Records label in the early 1960s, later worked with Sam Cooke and Phil Spector, and formed a professional and personal partnership with Cherilyn Sarkisian, known as Cher. The same account says their biggest hit, "I Got You Babe," went to the top of the pop charts in 1965, with later songs including "Baby Don't Go" and "The Beat Goes On," and that The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour began during the summer of 1971. Biography.com later says he was elected mayor of Palm Springs, California, serving from 1988 to 1992, and in 1994 was elected to Congress as a representative from California's 44th Congressional District. The congressional biography independently lists work as a restaurateur, entertainer, songwriter, and producer, service as mayor of Palm Springs from 1988 to 1992, and election as a Republican to the 104th and 105th Congresses, serving from January 3, 1995, until his death.

Death

Biography.com says that on January 5, 1998, while on a skiing holiday with his wife Mary Whitaker Bono, he collided with a tree and died of head trauma. The congressional biography independently records his death on January 5, 1998, in a skiing accident in Lake Tahoe, California, and notes interment in Desert Memorial Park, Cathedral City, California.

Name notes for searchers

People looking up Sonny Bono or Salvatore Phillip Bono are looking for the same entertainer and later representative, including the Sonny and Cher work most often associated with his name. This page uses the public professional name.