Who is the only US member of Congress to ever score a number one hit?
Politics and music rarely ever go well together. Especially in the States.
It’s pretty hard to muster all the rock and roll danger, subversion and sex appeal when orbiting the Man, or even being paid by him. Trouble is, with the last near half a century of corporate, bipartisan, ultra-capitalist mush that passes for democracy on Capitol Hill, any street cred is in tatters if you’re even considering the ghoulish Democratic machine outside its DSA fringe, let alone the Republican Party in either of its GOP or MAGA wings.
Jello Biafra gave it a good crack. Back in 1979, the Dead Kennedys frontman threw his hat in the ring for San Francisco mayor, running as an independent against future California senator Diane Feinstein. Remarkably, Biafra would come out third of ten candidates, forcing a secondary run-off between Feinstein and Republican-turned-independent Quentin Kopp, much to the embarrassment of the city’s political class… Jump to 2000, and Biafra would come in a staggering second, along with author Stephen Gaskin, for leadership of the Green Party.
Beyond Biafra, Martha Reeves served on the Detroit City Council, and there have been numerous presidential bids for promotional reasons, but sticking to legit artists in the US legislature, there are only two professional musicians. One is former New York’s 19th congressional district representative, John Hall, the former frontman for soft rock band Orleans, who jumped from the charts to politics and served two terms for the Democrats from 2007 to 2011.
He never had a Hot 100 chart-topper, though.
So, who is the only member of Congress to count a number one?
Reportedly, an entry into politics was first triggered by frustration at government bureaucracy surrounding the opening of a restaurant. Over 20 years earlier, one Sonny Bono was one of the leading forces of 1960s pop, striking Billboard gold with his former wife and singing partner, Cher, before the two forged a second career in the variety show business, then later his solo acting on TV and even in Hollywood.
Then politics called. Serving as mayor of Palm Springs from 1988 to 1992, Bono would fancy his chances as a Republican congressman for California’s 44th district, eventually winning the internal primaries after a failed effort, then winning the election, serving in the House from 1995 and enjoying a second term before his death in 1998.
Bono’s tenure in Congress meant that he holds the distinction of being the only member of either the House or the Senate to count a US number one, having topped the charts back in 1965 with Sonny & Cher’s immortal ‘I Got You Babe’.
His political legacy is a lot drier than his soupy pop, though. Receiving plaudits for his championing of the Salton Sea’s restoration, his only other real stamp on US law was his co-sponsorship of a House bill extending the length of terms for copyright protection, passed as the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act in his memory but dubbed the Mickey Mouse Protection Act after intense corporate lobbying by The Walt Disney Company to delay Steamboat Willie’s public domain status another 20 years.
This largely legislative slant to his politics makes for a curious career for the controversial pop star. In a way, his journey from the charts to Congress is fascinating by virtue of its utter banality.
