Sonny Bono, a California congressman at the time and previously an entertainer, died nearly 20 years ago in a skiing accident at Heavenly Mountain ski resort.
On Jan. 5, 1998, the 62-year-old Bono slammed into a tree at an estimated 30 mph and died during an afternoon ski run through dense woods at the Lake Tahoe ski resort, according to Nevada officials at the time.
An avid skier, Bono was tempting fate when he sped off ahead of his family to one of Heavenly ski resort’s main trails at dusk to do some “tree skiing.”
He was reportedly weaving through trees in the fresh powder on the fringe of a groomed trail. Local officials said there was no indication of any substances or alcohol.
Officials reported that the Heavenly resort ski patrol found Bono’s bloody body in a foot of snow on the Nevada side between 6:30 and 7 p.m. after a search of the mountain. He died of massive head and neck injuries.
Reports said that Bono had skied ahead of other family members when the accident happened. Bono had planned to meet up with his wife at the bottom of the Upper Orion slope, an intermediate trail he had skied numerous times.
Bono’s death was an eerie replay just days after Michael Kennedy, son of the late Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, died of head injuries in a ski accident in Aspen, Colo. Kennedy hit a tree while throwing a football on skis during a family vacation.
Bono was not wearing a helmet, a common practice for today’s skiers and snowboarders. The news of Kennedy’s death had prompted Sonny and Mary to discuss helmets. Sonny said he’d get one before their next ski trip.
Word of Bono’s death drew tributes from Hollywood to the White House, where President Bill Clinton remembered the conservative Republican as a “witty and wise participant” in government. Bono’s former wife – Cher – cut short a trip to London and was spotted crying on her flight home to Los Angeles.
Media trucks from around the state converged on Heavenly the morning after Bono’s body was found, setting up their satellite trucks and conducting interviews in the California side of the resort’s parking lot.
Bono, who lived in Palm Springs, was on a Lake Tahoe vacation with his wife, Mary Whitaker, and their two children, when the accident happened.
For two decades, Bono made regular trips to the slopes of South Lake Tahoe, a breathtakingly beautiful skiing area that straddles the California-Nevada border. Bono had grown close to the late Bill Harrah, owner of the Harrah’s Hotel and Casinos, when he and Cher were TV’s biggest musical stars of the 1970s. The pair frequently played to the crowds at Harrah’s.
Bono was a former singer whose records with Cher topped charts in the 1960s. After their divorce he went into politics, becoming mayor of Palm Springs from 1988 to 1992, and congressman for California’s 44th district from 1995 until his death.
