Cher and Bob Mackie End 42-Year Partnership: "I'm Crying," the Singer Tweets

Singer and costume designer have been working together since meeting on The Carol Burnett Show in 1967

By Zach Johnson Mar 14, 2014 5:59 PMTags
CherHarry Langdon/Getty Images

It's over! Cher and Bob Mackie have ended their 42-year partnership, the singer tweeted Thursday.

The iconic singer, 67, has been working with the designer, 73, since the beginning of her career. In the early '70s, with Mackie's assistance, Cher made history as the first woman to bare her midriff on TV.

The good ol' days are over, it seems, as Mackie declined to dress Cher for her Dressed to Kill Tour, which kicks off March 22 in Phoenix, Ariz., and features special guests Pat Benatar and Neil Giraldo.

"Telling you Something That Has BROKEN MY HEART," Cher tweeted. "THE MAN WHO MADE ALL MY COSTUMES SINCE 1972 DECIDED HE COULDNT DO MY LAST TOUR." The diva continued, "NO MATTER HOW DISAPPOINTED ANY OF U ARE, YOU DONT KNOW MY GRIEF. IM SURE BOB CANT KNOW HOW MUCH I MISS HIM.FELT I HAD TO TELL U IM CRYING. I TRIED TO CONVINCE HIM TO END WITH ME,BUT HE HAD MANY REASONS As 2 Why He couldn't do it. 2 many obligations Not Enough Time EVEN 2 DO 1."

Luckily, Cher has already found a replacement. "THANK GOD I HAVE A LOVELY MAN & WONDERFUL DESIGNER !! HUGH DURANT. HE IS TALENTED & BRAVE," she tweeted. "WE WILL PERSEVERE."

Harry Langdon/Getty Images

Cher and Mackie first met when he worked with the singer on The Carol Burnett Show. "It was 1967 and I was working on a loose thread on a beaded gown and Cher came over and said, 'Oh, someday I'm going to have one of those," Mackie told WWD in August 2013. "And we became friends after that.

The musician kept Mackie on his toes. "It's not like dressing a regular person­—it's like dressing a crazy goddess," he said. "Sometimes she's an Egyptian goddess and sometimes she's a biker chic goddess."

Mackie was supposed to create 20 looks for Cher's farewell tour. "When you change that many times, you don't wear any one thing for very long," he told WWD. "And it's not a big dancing operation here."

In 2001, he designed a custom look for Cher's official Barbie doll. Many of Mackie's most famous designs were auctioned off at Sotheby's in 2006. He has also dressed the late greats, including Judy Garland and Whitney Houston, as well as living legends Diana Ross, Liza Minnelli and Tina Turner.