Connie Francis, the chart-topping pop singer of ’50s and ’60s classics like "Who’s Sorry Now, “Stupid Cupid,” “Where the Boys Are” and the recently TikTok viral “Pretty Little Baby,” has died. She was 87.
Ron Roberts — Francis’ longtime friend and president of her label, Concetta Records — first announced the news in a Facebook post on Thursday night, which Francis’ official account reposted. “It is with a heavy heart and extreme sadness that I inform you of the passing of my dear friend Connie Francis last night,” he wrote. “I know that Connie would approve that her fans are among the first to learn of this sad news. More details will follow later.”
The acclaimed singer had recently been hospitalized for “extreme pain,” but had posted on Facebook July 4 that she was “feeling much better after a good night.”
Francis became one of the defining female singers of the ’50s and ’60s, topping the charts on multiple occasions and selling over 200 million records worldwide with hits like “Stupid Cupid,” “Who’s Sorry Now” and “Frankie.”
In 1960, she became the first woman to reach No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with “Everybody’s Somebody’s Fool,” and later became the first woman to have three songs hit No. 1.
She recently experienced a resurgence when B-side “Pretty Little Baby” went viral on TikTok, resulting in over 30 million new streams of the song and its entry into Spotify’s global and U.S. charts as well as reaching the top five of iTunes’ U.S. pop songs chart.
Francis then joined TikTok, where she thanked her newfound fans in a video, saying she was “flabbergasted and excited” by the song’s popularity over 60 years later.
Born Connie Franconero in Newark, N.J. on December 12, 1937, Francis regularly performed at talent contests and pageants in the neighborhood and was eventually advised, before an appearance on the variety show “Arthur Godfrey’s Talent Scouts,” to change her last name to Francis for easier pronunciation.
She had a rocky start in the music industry, with her first eight singles failing commercially after she signed to MGM Records in 1955. Though she had her first taste of success in 1957 with the Marvin Rainwater duet “The Majesty of Love,” which broke into the Billboard Hot 100, her recording contract with MGM came to an end.
Francis considered pursuing a career in medicine and was accepted into New York University, but at what was meant to be her final session, she recorded a cover of the 1923 song “Who’s Sorry Now.”
Despite the song had a slow start, Dick Clark played it on his “American Bandstand” in January 1958 and invited her to perform it on “The Saturday Night Beechnut Show” (which would later become “The Dick Clark Show”).
The performance launched her career, and “Who’s Sorry Now” reached No. 1 on the U.K. Singles Chart and No. 4 in the U.S., resulting in MGM Records renewing her contract.
After teaming up with the songwriting duo Neil Sedaka and Howard Greenfield, Francis had a slew of charting hits comprising both original and cover songs like “Stupid Cupid,” “My Happiness,” “Among My Souvenirs,” “Lipstick on Your Collar” and “Frankie.”
She followed that with an album of Italian songs, “Connie Francis Sings Italian Favorites,” which released in late 1959 and broadened her reach to a more adult audience. But her success with pop continued into the early 1960s, earning more hits that reached the top 10: “Breakin’ in a Brand New Heart,” “When the Boy in Your Arms (Is the Boy in Your Heart),” “Second Hand Love” and “Where the Boys Are.”
Francis became one of the first recording artists to regularly make albums sung entirely in other languages, including in Italian, Yiddish, German, Romanian, Spanish and Irish. Her 1960 German-language song “Die Liebe ist ein seltsames Spiel” reached No. 1 in West Germany and led to her becoming a hugely popular artist in Europe, representing the epitome of a female American pop singer to the global masses. Even during the Cold War, her songs were played and well received in the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia.
In the mid-1960s, Francis’ grip on the U.S. charts began to weaken as the Beatles and Rolling Stones took over.
However, she remained a successful live performer and consistently sold out concerts in the U.S. and around the world. In 1969, her contract with MGM expired.
The ’70s brought a difficult period for Francis as she alleged she had been raped at a motel while appearing at the Westbury Music Fair in New York. Though the assailant was never found, she sued the motel chain for inadequate security and won a a $2.5 million settlement. However, the incident plummeted Francis into depression and she only recorded one album, “Who’s Happy Now?,” in 1978.
She later underwent nasal surgery and lost her voice, rendering her unable to perform until 1981. That same year, her brother was killed by the mafia and Francis once again retreated from the spotlight. In 1984, she wrote about her struggles in the memoir “Who’s Sorry Now?,” which became a bestseller.
During her later career, Francis continued to record music and perform live, headlining several shows in Las Vegas. She released another autobiography, “Among My Souvenirs,” in 2017 and officially retired in 2018.
Francis was married four times and was also in a relationship with singer Bobby Darin. During her third marriage to restaurateur Joseph Garzilli, she adopted a son named Joey. She was in a relationship with Tony Ferretti from 2003 until his death in 2022.
She is survived by her son, Joey Garzilli.
Connie Francis
Connie Francis
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