ON THIS DATE (17 YEARS AGO) January 5, 1998: Sonny Bono (b. February 16, 1935) tragically killed in a skiing accident at a resort near Lake Tahoe. Bono was a singer, actor, record Producer and Politician born in Detroit. He began his music career working at Specialty Records where his song Things You Do to Me was recorded by Sam Cooke, and went on to work for the legendary record producer Phil Spector in the early 1960s as a promotion man, percussionist and gofer. One of his earliest songwriting efforts was Needles and Pins which he co-wrote with Jack Nitzsche. Later in the same decade, he achieved commercial success, along with his then-wife Cher, as part of the singing duo Sonny and Cher. Bono wrote, arranged, and produced a number of hit records with singles like I Got You Babe and The Beat Goes On. He also played a major part in Chers early solo career with recordings such as Bang Bang and You Better Sit Down Kids. Sonny later went into acting and politics.
Posted on: Tue, 06 Jan 2015 01:58:54 +0000