The Ups And Downs Of Cher's Son Elijah Blue Allman Over The Years

The following article references addiction.

Elijah Blue Allman was born on July 10, 1976. He is the only child of pop diva Cher and rock god Gregg Allman. Cher married the southern rocker days after her divorce from Sonny Bono was finalized. "I didn't know whether my relationship with Gregory would last or not. I was living each day as it came," she wrote in her book "Cher: The Memoir, Part One." "Then I found out I was pregnant, and we decided to get married." The rocky relationship ended in 1979.

The world Elijah Blue Allman was born into was hardly a stable one. At the time, Cher was an established music star, and her movie career was about to take off. Following her marriage to Gregg Allman, Cher continued to date famous men, linking up with Hollywood A-listers like Tom Cruise and Val Kilmer. Meanwhile, Gregg, who died in 2017 of liver cancer, married four more times. He also continued to make music with the Allman Brothers and as a solo act, eventually finding sobriety after struggling with addiction for a significant portion of his life.

Though Elijah may have grown up in the shadow of two famous parents, he also carved out a niche for himself in the music industry. However, like his father, Elijah has also grappled with his own addiction issues. While being the kid of two music icons might sound like a dream on paper, Cher and Gregg Allman's son's story is full of tremendous ups and downs.

Cher and Gregg Allman got married in 1975. A look inside Cher's fast relationship with Gregg Allman shows that the pop singer and Southern rocker was a tumultuous one from the start. Cher filed for divorce nine days after they tied the knot. She blamed their marriage woes on Gregg's addiction to alcohol and heroin. Then, Cher found out she was pregnant. The "Believe" singer gave birth to Elijah Blue Allman in 1976, and the couple attempted to give their marriage another shot.  

Cher's son Elijah was grateful for her romances with celebs like Tom Cruise, as he was happy to have any sort of present father figure in his life. Throughout his childhood, Elijah was estranged from Gregg, as the "Ramblin' Man" rocker was in the throes of addiction. Cher told USA Today in 2024, "I loved [Gregg Allman] so much and he was so wonderful. He was this amazing man who happened to be a heroin addict." 

Elijah Blue would be raised by a single career-driven mom, who opted to send her son to boarding school. "When you go to boarding school at 7 years old, it's kind of hard to feel like you're not being shunned," Elijah told ET in 2014. "But I'm at an age where I'm making peace with it because you just have to. But I still...it doesn't mean it's right. It's still wrong to do that."

It was never a secret that Gregg Allman, who was best known as the lead singer, songwriter, and organist for the legendary Southern rock band the Allman Brothers, struggled with drugs and alcohol. In his memoir, "My Cross to Bear," he wrote candidly about his addiction journey, which included nearly 20 rehab stints and created strain within his personal life and career.  

Gregg and Cher's son, Elijah Blue Allman, also has a long history of drug misuse. "I started with drugs around the same time that we all did, around 11," he told ET in 2014. "I mean it's just what you did, it's just what everybody did." Elijah continued, "I [was] just looking to escape all the things in my past and, that's when you turn to those kind of drugs, you know heroin and opiates."

The reason why people are concerned about Cher's son Elijah Blue Allman is largely due to his enduring issues with substance misuse. In 2025, TMZ reported that Elijah was rushed to a hospital in California after overdosing. That was Elijah's first near-death experience. "I did have some close calls and some moments of really feeling at the edge of mortality ... I always kind of kept it a little bit safe but you never can do that. Even though you think that in your mind, of course the wrong things can happen," he said in 2014. 

It's no stretch to say Elijah Blue Allman is the son of music royalty. His mother Cher is a pop diva and his father Gregg Allman is a rock god. Although Elijah did not achieve the level of success of his parents, he still got a small taste of rock stardom. Most notably, Elijah, also known by his stage name Phillips Exeter Blue, served as the frontman and guitarist of prog-rock band Deadsy. The outfit formed in the late 1990s and played together for about a decade. The band is a mix of synth, gothic rock, metal, and emo; Deadsy labeled their style "Undercore." There are only a few other Undercore bands, one of them being the Jared Leto-fronted band 30 Seconds to Mars.

Deadsy released their first album, "Commencement," in 2002, after a lot of industry drama that included their original label dropping the band. "I wanted to make the most abstract [stuff] that had nothing to do with what anyone was doing," Elijah told the Los Angeles Times at the time. "I'm influenced by the whole idea of creating an alternate reality." A writer from New Noise Magazine described the band's sound as "too strange for radio, too icy for the Hot Topic crowd. Yet for those who found it, it felt like a secret order."

Deadsy released their sophomore effort, "Phantasmagore," in 2006, before taking a break the following year. They temporarily reformed in 2018 but never released their planned third album, "Subterfugue."

When we take a look inside Cher's sad relationship with son Elijah Blue Allman, it's clear that their dynamic is complicated. Like most tumultuous familial relationships, they have gone through good times and bad, even at one point not speaking for years. "He and I have such a bizarre relationship. We've had so many strange moments. I don't really understand him. Somehow Elijah and I kind of talk through osmosis," Cher told Dr. Phil in 2014 (via People).

In 2023 and 2026, Cher filed temporary conservatorships over Allman, neither of which went over well with him. And years before that, when Allman eloped with Marieangela King in 2013, he did not invite his mother to the small ceremony that he had at his house in Beverly Hills. The musician said that Cher never contacted him to offer congratulations after getting married. "It's like a Mexican stand off but we have a history (of not talking)," Allman told the Daily Mail in 2014. "When I first started my band we went a long time, maybe a couple of years."

Before the elopement, Cher evidently excluded Allman and King from family holiday celebrations. The scorned son took the family beef to X. "Me and my fiancée we're not invited to the Malibu house for Christmas. #smileonebighappyfami-lie," he wrote (via the Daily Mail).

Lyme disease is typically caused by a tick bite. It initially causes flu-like symptoms like fatigue, fever, and chills. If the disease is left untreated, Lyme can result in severe joint pain, heart issues, nerve pain, and brain fog. For some, Lyme disease can become a life-threatening illness. Most people take antibiotics and get over the infection; however, some people never make a 100% recovery. 

For Elijah Blue Allman, his Lyme disease became a battle of life and death. The musician was eventually able to have his condition treated by doctors in Germany. He told ET in 2014 that his health journey with Lyme was "so much darker" than his struggles with addiction. 

In a 2014 interview with the Daily Mail, Allman talked about how his family, especially Cher, reacted to his Lyme disease diagnosis. "It was very hard for my mother to accept," said Allman. "The going notion for a lot of years was that it was imaginary, because that's just easier ... That's not to say that she wasn't supportive, she was. But in that bitter cold when you don't know if you're going to be alive tomorrow, you need extra from everybody. You need copious amounts."

In a 2026 interview with The Sun, a woman named Kayti Edwards revealed to the world that Elijah Blue Allman is the biological father to her daughter, Ever. Edwards, the step-granddaughter of Hollywood legend Julie Andrews, is a former model and current owner of a horse rescue in California. She said that she had a brief fling with Allman in 2010 and became pregnant. 

Though Allman has had some contact with his daughter, it's been limited. "He would pop in every couple of years but would just say hello," said Edwards. However, Edwards said she's kept him at arm's length for the sake of their daughter. "He wanted to see her and have a relationship with her, but he wasn't in any fit state," she added. 

In 2021, Allman apparently mentioned to Cher that he'd become a father, but at the time, Cher took his words with a grain of salt. Four years later, the pop icon sought out confirmation. "Cher got in touch with me last June and asked if it was true, so I had to confess," Edwards said in the aforementioned interview with The Sun.  Edwards noted that she and Ever went to Cher's house in Malibu for a visit, sharing, "She was lovely and kind." Edwards added that Cher and Ever have had continued contact and the pop diva, who had previously expressed her desire to be a grandmother, has sent Ever gifts for Christmas and her birthday. "I don't have any grandchildren. I wish I did, I really do," Cher told The Mirror in 2018. "I think grandparents are more fun than parents."

In 2021, Elijah Blue Allman filed for divorce from Marieangela King. Following the split, King subsequently submitted divorce documents that claimed Cher hired four men to kidnap her son. The incident reportedly took place in 2022 while the estranged couple was in a hotel room in New York City, attempting to rebuild their marriage over a 12-day period. King alleged in the documents that the four men not only took Allman from the room, but said Cher had hired them. King added that she knew Allman was sent to a treatment facility but didn't know which one. 

Cher denied the elaborate kidnapping scheme, but she did acknowledge that she was trying to do what was best for her son at that time. "I'm a mother. This is my job — one way or another, to try to help my children," she told People in 2023. "You do anything for your children. Whenever you can help them, you just do it because that's what being a mother is."

In 2023, Allman reportedly was sent to a treatment facility following an extended stint at the Chateau Marmont in Los Angeles. According to a Daily Mail report, Allman lived at the hotel for six months, and the staff even contacted Cher after he reportedly passed out in front of the property. "It always looked like it was dipped in something. He looked strung-out and messy, like he was a homeless person living on the streets," an unnamed source told the outlet.

In April 2025, Marieangela King filed for divorce from Elijah Blue Allman. It was not an easy decision, as she long regarded him as her best friend. However, Allman's addiction, mental illness, and erratic behavior proved to be more than she could handle. "It's not what I want. That day I filed for divorce; there was no other option," she told People in 2025. "I have got to just focus on myself and on God and on things that are productive. I'm always there for Elijah." As previously noted, Allman filed for divorce in 2021, but the couple reconciled.

"We had love. But we also had pain," King added. "My cage has never been so rattled before. And I never thought that I could lose myself, and I did." King ended their relationship 14 years after their first date. "I still tell him I love him all the time," revealed King. 

In the wake of the news of Allman's split from King, unnamed sources told tabloids that both Allman and Cher were apparently relieved by the dissolution of the relationship. "He's sad his marriage is ending, but he seems to agree with his mom — that this is for the best," a source reportedly told InTouch in 2025. "Now he just wants it to be over as quickly as possible."

If Elijah Blue Allman isn't careful, he may be permanently banned from the state of New Hampshire. According to WMUR, in March of 2026, Allman was arrested for "causing a disturbance and acting belligerently" at a dining hall at St. Paul's School, which is a prestigious boarding school in Concord, New Hampshire. Allman is not affiliated with the private school in any way. Concord police charged him with simple assault, criminal trespassing, criminal threatening, and disorderly conduct.

Just two days later, New Hampshire police officers arrested Allman again, this time for breaking and entering. He was reportedly found smoking a cigarette on a couch in a home that wasn't his after forcibly entering through the back door. Allman claimed that he had permission to enter the house, but the couple who owned the home said that he was unwelcome. Nothing was taken from the premises. He was charged with burglary, two counts of criminal mischief, and breach of bail. 

A court case concerning the home invasion was canceled days later. As of April 2026, it has not been rescheduled. Neither Allman nor Cher has issued a public statement concerning the incidents. However, the concerned mother did file a petition for conservatorship of Allman's estate the following month. 

Strange details about Cher's relationships certainly include the conservatorship saga with her son. As previously noted, in 2023, Cher filed a request for conservatorship over Elijah Blue Allman's estate. Cher argued that due to Allman's history of mental health issues and substance misuse, she did not think he was fit to handle his estate. Allman responded by filing an objection. "I am doing well and do not need the help my mother is offering," Allman wrote in the file (via People). The two parties exchanged several court filings. Cher's requests were denied and dismissed by the court. 

Following her son's back-to-back arrests in New Hampshire in 2026, Cher filed a second petition for conservatorship of Allman's estate, once again citing his drug use and presumed inability to handle his finances. "The life of Elijah Allman ('proposed conservatee') has significantly deteriorated since a prior conservatorship petition was filed in [December] 2023," the petition stated (via The New York Post). "The proposed conservatee is currently in custody in the State of New Hampshire in a locked psychiatric hospital in an attempt to restore him to competency to face criminal charges."

Elijah's father, Gregg Allman, who died in 2017, left his son $120,000 a year through a trust. "Elijah has no ability to manage money, and any dollar he receives from his father's trust (his only source of income) is immediately squandered without regard for his liabilities or well-being," Cher reported in the 2026 petition (via The New York Post). A judge ultimately denied the second filing.

If you or anyone you know needs help with addiction issues, help is available. Visit the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration website or contact SAMHSA's National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).