Cher and Val Kilmer dated briefly in the ’80s and remained good friends since for decades before he died on April 1 at 65

Cher is reflecting on her friendship with Val Kilmer.

In a 2020 interview with PEOPLE, the “Believe” singer discussed a note she sent to Kilmer years before his death. The Batman Forever actor died on Tuesday, April 1 at 65 years old.

Cher, 78, says that after she sent Kilmer a letter and he “wrote me the sweetest thing” in response after screening Val, the 2021 documentary about the Top Gun actor.

“This is what I started writing, but I hadn’t written him in a while,” she begins, pulling up the note she wrote at the time. “I love you, just saw Val. I have to be interviewed about it Monday.”

“And then I said, ‘You are so many things, I’m too tired to tell you.’ And then I wrote and he didn’t answer, and I said, ‘Is this you?’ And then I said, ‘Vallus Maximus, Cherus Reprimandus.’ “

The Moonstruck actress then wrote, “where the f— are you?” to Kilmer before addressing him more tenderly.

Kevin Mazur/Getty; Lev Radin/Shutterstock

“And then I wrote, ‘I’m sorry if I did anything to piss you off or hurt your feelings, I love you and your doc was all things. I love the things that pissed me off, the things that made me hysterical, amazed, hurt, astonished, et cetera.’ ”

Cher signed off with the nickname Kilmer used for her, writing, “You are brave, beyond brilliant. Ethel.”

“And then he wrote, ‘Oh, this means more to me than you’ll ever know. Love you forever, Sid.’ It’s so tender,” she concluded.

Val Kilmer and Cher in Los Angeles in April 1983.  Barry King/WireImage

Kilmer died on April 1. His daughter, Mercedes, told The New York Times that he had died of pneumonia. Kilmer was diagnosed with throat cancer in 2014 and later recovered.

Cher, whom Kilmer dated in the early ’80s and remained good friends with him since, honored him on X. “VALUS Will miss u,U Were Funny, crazy, pain in the ass,GREAT FRIEND, kids💜U,” she began her post.

Val Kilmer and Cher in Los Angeles in April 1984.  Bill Nation/Sygma via Getty

She said that he was “brilliant” as Mark Twain for his role in 2014’s Tom Sawyer & Huckleberry Finn and his performance in the one-man play Mark Twain: Citizen Twain on Broadway.

“BRAVE here during ur sickness,” she concluded.

Cher and Val Kilmer in in New York City in June 1982.  Walter McBride/Corbis via Getty

She told PEOPLE about their relationship in 2021 for a cover story about the Tombstone actor.

“We became friends because we laughed at the same things constantly. He would sleep over and it was just a friendship [at first],” she said, adding that Kilmer was “was so good with my kids.”

“We had unbelievable times and then put up with some times when they weren’t [that way] because we were both alpha males. We were both individuals and neither of us was going to give up on that,” Cher recalled.