Cher sues Sonny Bono's widow, claiming she is holding back on royalties from their 60s hits

• Cher filed a lawsuit in federal court against the widow of Sonny Bono on Wednesday.
• The suit alleges Bono is illegally withholding royalties from hits by the popular duo Sonny & Cher.

Cher filed a lawsuit against the widow of Sonny Bono, alleging that she is illegally withholding royalties from hits by the popular duo Sonny & Cher in the 1960s.

The lawsuit - filed against former Massachusetts Rep. Mary Bono in a Los Angeles federal court on Wednesday - is asking for damages that could exceed $1 million, according to court documents.

Deadline first reported the lawsuit on Thursday.

Cher and Sonny Bono divorced in 1975 and agreed to equally split the royalties from songs they recorded together. Their shared hit songs included "I Got You Babe" and "The Beat Goes On."

The lawsuit alleges that Bono has denied Cher of royalties and other rights from the agreement, though court documents did not mention anything specific. According to NBC News, the lawsuit alleges that Mary Bono (through the Bono Collection Trust) "told Cher she would be cut off from royalties to Sonny & Cher hits" last month.

Mary Bono was the fourth wife of Sonny, who died in 1998 in a skiing accident. He and Cher were married from 1967 to 1975.

Cher's lawyers and Mary Bono did not immediately respond to a request from Insider for comment.