Cher has filed for temporary legal conservatorship of her 47-year-old son Elijah Blue Allman, according to a petition filed Tuesday in Los Angeles Superior Court and obtained by Billboard.
In the petition, the “Believe” singer cites her son’s ongoing substance abuse battle, which he’s spoken about in the past. She seeks to be the sole conservator of Allman’s estate, arguing that he “is currently unable to manage his assets due to severe mental health and substance abuse issues.”
“Elijah is entitled to regular distributions from the Trust, but given his ongoing mental health and substance abuse issues, petitioner [Cher] is concerned that any funds distributed to Elijah will be immediately spent on drugs, leaving Elijah with no assets to provide for himself and putting Elijah’s life at risk,” according to the documents. “Elijah is currently unable to manage his finances and the distribution of funds directly to Elijah would not be in his best interests.”
Allman is the son of Cher and former husband, the late Gregg Allman, one of the founding members of the Grammy-winning Allman Brothers Band. Allman and Cher were married from 1975 to 1979, and Elijah Blue is their only child together. Allman died in 2017 after a battle with liver cancer.
Like his parents, Elijah Blue Allman also made a career for himself in the music industry. He was the lead singer of the industrial metal band Deadsy. The rockers charted a pair of LPs on the Billboard 200: 2002’s Commencement (No. 100) and 2006’s Phantasmagore (No. 176).
In October, Cher addressed claims made last year by Elijah Blue’s estranged wife, Marieangela King, in divorce documents, which alleged that the pop icon had sent four men to kidnap Allman from a New York City hotel room, telling People magazine, “That rumor is not true.”
Cher’s legal moves come just two years after she took to X (formerly Twitter) to celebrate the end of Britney Spears‘ high-profile conservatorship. “Thank God, I’ve talked [and prayed] about this [for] years,” she wrote. “I’m more than thrilled [for] her!! Bless our [superstar]. #FreeBritney.” Spears’ 13-year conservatorship came to an end on Nov. 12, 2021, after a passionate grassroots movement gained steam online to end the arrangement that gave her dad, James Spears, control of her personal and professional lives.
According to the court documents, a hearing has been scheduled for March 6, 2024. Billboard has reached out to representatives for Cher and legal representation for Elijah Blue Allman for further comment.
Last week, Cher returned to the Billboard Hot 100 for the first time in nearly 22 years. “DJ Play a Christmas Song,” the breakout hit from her first Christmas album, entered the tally at No. 94, marking her first appearance on the ranking since “Song for the Lonely” topped out at No. 85 in 2002. A few weeks prior, “DJ Play a Christmas Song” helped Cher become the first soloist in history to earn a new No. 1 on a Billboard songs chart in each of the seven decades from the 1960s through the 2020s (excluding the Bubbling Under Hot 100). “DJ” topped Dance/Electronic Song Sales on the chart dated Dec. 2, 2023.
