What We Know About Cher And Gene Simmons's Past Affair

Cher's 2024 autobiography, "Cher: The Memoir – Part One," has been a true treasure trove of information for fans, detailing many of Cher's past romances with everyone from Warren Beatty, to Cher's former husband Sonny Bono, to KISS frontman Gene Simmons. As it turns out, Cher had a real impact on Simmons right from their first meeting.

According to Cher's memoir, she and the outspoken rocker first crossed paths at a special gala held in honor of President Gerald Ford in 1977. The pair hit it off and Simmons drove her home. Days later, the pair went out together to a concert, but Cher wrote that she wasn't particularly interested in him after he flirted with both her and her friend. Simmons, however, was still very much interested in Cher and spent thousands of dollars in phone charges when he flew to Japan shortly after their first date and called her repeatedly. "That's when he blurted out that he loved me. We hadn't even kissed. We'd only been out once before he left," Cher recalled, adding that it made her wonder, "What is it with these men?" While things didn't click immediately for the pair, destiny had other plans.

The 1970s were a chaotic time in Cher's love life, what with her contentious divorce from Sonny Bono, during which time she had a two-year romance with David Geffen. Just days after her divorce was finalized in 1975, she married rocker Gregg Allman, and then filed for divorce nine days later due to his substance abuse issues. The pair managed to work through their problems and remained married until calling it quits for good in 1979 — which is when the dalliance between Simmons and Cher truly began.

Speaking with People magazine in October 1979, Cher said her romance with Gene Simmons was "the best relationship I've ever had with a human being." That being said, Cher also admitted that, after her two failed marriages, she had a different outlook on love than most people. "I'm going through a very liberated phase right now," Cher told the publication. "I think I have a very masculine attitude to dating." Cher said she had no problem with Simmons occasionally bedding other women while touring, and that she herself occasionally went out with other men, but more for "companionship" than sexual intimacy, adding "Gene is the only one I'm crazy about."

Meanwhile, Simmons was as effusive at the time about Cher, telling the outlet "I'm crazy about Cher, nuts about her. She's my first love." However, it seems that things began to fizzle out later that year. As Simmons said during an appearance on the "Howie Mandel Does Stuff" podcast, Simmons asked Cher what she wanted for Christmas, and Cher suggested he go shopping with her best friend, Diana Ross, to get some ideas. When the pair met up, there were unexpected sparks, and a romance formed.

In his book "KISS and Make-up," Simmons recalled of his burgeoning connection to Ross, "We didn't think much of it, and I'm not sure that either of us had any hidden agenda, but pretty quickly it became apparent something was happening." Soon enough, they'd begun a romance of their own. While Simmons told Mandel that he managed to remain friends with both iconic divas, the love triangle drove a permanent wedge between Cher and Ross, ending their friendship forever.