The entertainment world is reeling this weekend after news broke that Cher’s youngest son, Elijah Blue Allman, was rushed to a California hospital following a reported drug overdose on Saturday morning.
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Allman, 48, the son of legendary singer Cher and the late musician Gregg Allman, was transported to a hospital in Joshua Tree, California, after being found unresponsive. While the specific drugs he was using remain unknown, sources indicate that he is currently receiving “the best care possible” and is “very lucky to have survived”.
Sources close to the situation emphasize that Cher, the iconic ‘Believe’ hitmaker, is ‘doing everything she can to get him the help he needs’. Her “only concern right now is for her son’s well-being”.
This isn’t Allman’s first battle with addiction. The musician has been open about his struggles, revealing in a candid 2014 interview that he started experimenting with drugs like weed and ecstasy at just 11 years old. He confessed that heroin “kind of saved” him during a particularly dark period, stating, “If I didn’t have that at that point, I don’t know what I would have done”. Allman also admitted to having “close calls” and moments “at the edge of mortality” due to his drug use.
The severity of his issues led to a highly publicized legal battle in 2023 when Cher filed for a conservatorship to manage his finances. Court documents revealed her deep concern that any money distributed from a trust set up by his late father would “immediately be spent on drugs, leaving Elijah with no assets to provide for himself and putting Elijah’s life at risk”. Cher argued her son was “substantially unable to manage his own financial resources due to severe mental health and substance abuse issues”.
After nine months of legal drama, the mother and son reached a private agreement, leading Cher to voluntarily dismiss her petition in September 2024. Attorneys for Allman stated that this outcome allowed the parties to “focus on healing and rebuilding their family bond”.
Adding another layer of complexity, Allman’s overdose comes shortly after his estranged wife, Marieangela King, served him divorce papers on May 17. King, who was married to Allman for 11 years, cited “irreconcilable differences”. Notably, King had previously accused Cher of hiring four men to kidnap Elijah from a New York hotel room in November 2022 to force him into treatment, an allegation Cher denied as “not true”.
Despite their past and current marital issues, Marieangela King Allman shared an exclusive statement with PEOPLE, expressing her support and recognizing his “inner struggles”. She stated, “I will always root for him. My support is steadfast and comes from a place of deep respect for the person he is and the resilience he continues to show”.
Allman’s hospitalization also follows recent public sightings where he appeared “disheveled” and “disoriented” outside the Chateau Marmont hotel in Hollywood just last month. Allman is a musician himself, professionally known as P. Exeter Blue, and was a founding member of the metal band Deadsy.
Cher also has an older son, Chaz Bono, 56, whom she shares with her late first husband Sonny Bono. Chaz notably came out as trans and began transitioning after his 40th birthday in 2009, later fronting a documentary about his journey in 2011. For much of their lives, Cher raised Elijah and Chaz as a single mother.
The current situation highlights the ongoing challenges of addiction within families, even for public figures like Cher, who continues to stand by her son during this difficult time.