Cher filed for divorce from husband Sonny Bono. Despite the 11 year difference in their ages, they had been nearly inseparable after meeting in November 1962 at a coffee shop when Sonny was working with producer Phil Spector as a drummer, singer, engineer and songwriter (he co-wrote “Needles and Pins” with Jack Nitzsche). Sonny liked her voice and soon Spector was using her vocals in the studio as a backup singer. In 1964, the couple formed their own novelty act called Caesar & Cleo and often performed in the appropriate character costuming, but soon dropped the whole bit, re-launched themselves as Sonny & Cher and began dressing in the second-hand clothing shop chic, the hippie-style manner of dress that was gaining favor among the era’s youth at the time, a development that contrasted with their own drug-free lifestyle.
