The Most Famous Men Cher Has Ever Dated

Cher's dating history reads like a who's who of Hollywood with a diverse range of names that prove she definitely doesn't have a type. However, one commonality is that Cher typically ends up in age-gap romances. When she met her first husband, Sonny Bono, in 1963, she was 16, and he was 28. Their relationship was tumultuous and fiery. Cher told music journalist Benjamin Svetkey in 1999 that although there was no physical or verbal abuse, she felt trapped and like she was losing her sense of self (via Blank on Blank). Cher filed for divorce in 1974, citing "involuntary servitude," and was free and single a year later.

However, Cher swapped vows with Gregg Allman three days after her divorce was finalized, this time in a quickie Las Vegas ceremony. Her second marriage didn't fare much better than her first. Cher and Allman's yo-yo romance was the stuff of tabloid dreams, resulting in them later being dubbed "The Kim and Kanye of [the 70s]." Cher filed for divorce after nine days, reunited with Allman a month later, and then split for good in 1979.

Although her marriages failed, they resulted in Cher's two sons, Chaz Bono and Elijah Blue. Still, she did not intend to walk down the aisle a third time. Instead, she remained steadfastly single and sowed her wild oats. We're going to turn back time and look at some of the famous men Cher has dated. So, buckle up, Iceman, we're heading for some risky business.

Given Warren Beatty's well-documented history as a lusty lothario, it's little surprise that he crossed paths with Cher back in the day, sparking a passionate but short-lived romance. Cher revealed the details about her fling with Beatty in a 2018 interview with Elle. She was just sweet sixteen, driving down Sunset Boulevard in her stepdad's car when Beatty's white Lincoln convertible almost collided with her. "Are you nuts?" Cher recalled asking the driver. "Then I looked at his face, and I thought, 'My God, it's Warren Beatty.'"

"Ten years older than me, at twenty-five, Warren was so drop-dead gorgeous I had to steady myself as he walked back toward me," she admitted in "Cher: The Memoir, Part One." The couple hit it off, resulting in Cher heading to Beatty's house for "cheese and crackers" and a dip in his pool. She didn't get home till 4 am, much to her mom, Georgia Holt's displeasure. She grounded the teen, but Beatty, being Beatty, sweet-talked her into letting Cher go on another date with him.

However, she kicked him to the curb after meeting Sonny Bono. "Look, I was young, and I went out with him because my mom and my best friend loved him," Cher told Entertainment Weekly in November 2024. "So, for me, it was kind of fascinating. But it wasn't like, 'Oh, this is so amazing' and 'I can't believe it' or whatever."

Cher dated KISS bassist and singer Gene Simmons in the late '70s. Her record label head, Neil Bogart, introduced the two at an event for President Gerald Ford, and they immediately hit it off. In "Cher: The Memoir, Part One," she wrote that the night after their first date, Simmons racked up a $2,800 phone bill calling her from his hotel room in Japan. "That's when he blurted out that he loved me," Cher claimed (via People). "We hadn't even kissed. We'd only been out once before he left. What is it with these men?"

It appears that Simmons still holds a torch even after all these years. "Wonderful lady," he said of Cher in a November 2024 interview with Dan Rather. "A loving mother, a caring.... she's wonderful. I treasure the time we had together, and she's still a friend." Simmons was the new kid in Hollywood when he met Cher. "I didn't understand anything about Los Angeles. I was thrust into the deep end of the pool coming from New York," he said, explaining that she took him under her wing, and they eventually moved into a Malibu pad together.

By all accounts, chez Cher-Simmons was the place to be, with Dolly Parton and "Charlie's Angels" dropping in and Neil Diamond and Barabara Streisand jogging by. "I have no idea what I'm doing here; I clearly don't belong," Simmons remembered thinking. Still, he concluded that Cher "was a great lady."

Cher and Tom Cruise don't make for the most obvious of romantic partnerships, but they apparently got hot and heavy way back when. Cruise's brief relationship with Cher occurred when he was a broke, fresh-faced 23-year-old actor on the brink of making it huge in Hollywood, with "The Outsiders" and "Risky Business" under his belt and "Top Gun" looming. Meanwhile, Cher was a twice-divorced 38-year-old and bonafide superstar.

The unlikely couple first met at Madonna and Sean Penn's ill-feted Malibu wedding in 1985. They crossed paths again in Washington. "Then a bunch of people who were dyslexic were invited to the White House, and Tom and I are both dyslexic," Cher told the Daily Mail in 2018. "We didn't go out till way later, but there definitely was a connection there."

Once the spark was lit, it burned bright and fast. In a 2008 interview, Oprah asked Cher if she went on a date with Cruise, and she corrected her, saying, "That was a long date — I lived in his apartment." Cher continued, "You know what? He was so wonderful, and I was so crazy about him, and he was so different. He was a shy boy; he didn't have any money." Then, in December 2013, she told Andy Cohen during an episode of "Watch What Happens Live" that Cruise "was in the top five" of her all-time best lovers.

Cher made out like a bandit with the '80s Hollywood hunks she landed. In addition to dating a young Tom Cruise, she landed his "Top Gun" co-star Val Kilmer. There's no word on whether he makes it into Cher's top five lover list, but he's at the top of her friends list. "He's like nobody I've ever known. He is exasperating and hysterical. Thrilling and funny, and doesn't do what anyone else does," Cher said of Kilmer in an August 2021 interview with People. "I don't know how we stayed friends; we just did. We didn't try. We just were."

The singer said she met the actor at a birthday party a friend threw for her. "He was so young. Was he 22? What was I? I don't know. Thirty-something. It was a bigger deal back then," she said, explaining that she only dated younger guys because men her age didn't make the cut. Cher said they coined cute nicknames for each other: Sid and Ethel, in addition to "Valus Maximus and Cherus Reprimandus."

She described a hot and heavy romance rooted in friendship, mutual respect, and shared humor. Cher admitted to falling deeply, madly in love. However, their "alpha male" personalities clashed and ultimately led to their relationship's downfall. Still, she was there for Kilmer throughout his terrifying cancer ordeal, and they maintain a close bond to this day. "I loved him — and I love him," Cher said.

Cher first met Richie Sambora when he helped co-produce her 1987 album, "Cher." However, things didn't turn romantic until 1989, when she split from Rob Camilletti, the "Bagel Boy" she dated for three years. True to Cher form, Sambora was 14 years her junior. Sadly, their relationship was short-lived — she reportedly kicked him to the curb after six months for sleeping with a groupie.

Still, Cher and the self-titled Bon Jovi Consigliere have remained super close over the years. "Basically, what happened was both of us were so busy, me being in Bon Jovi ... and Cher doing her movies, and doing her tours, and her stuff ... we found it hard to come together," Sambora said during an appearance on "The Arsenio Hall Show" in 1992. "We still have fun together. We still always have a good relationship, although it didn't work out in that particular aspect."

"Happy birthday to the one and only @Cher.. beautiful inside and out.. you always left me breathless... and still do.. big love to you sweetheart... richie," Sambora posted on X, formerly Twitter, in May 2020.