Connie Francis, the pop singer known for hit singles like “Pretty Little Baby” and “Everybody’s Somebody’s Fool,” died on Wednesday, July 16. Francis’ publicist, Ron Roberts, announced the musician’s death on Facebook, sharing that she died in a hospital in Pompano Beach, Florida. A cause of death was not provided. Francis was 87 years old.
Francis was born Concetta Rosemarie Franconero in Newark, New Jersey, in 1937. Encouraged by her father, George Franconero, she began playing music as a toddler, and, as a child, she appeared on television programs like Arthur Godfrey’s Talent Scouts.
Francis signed a deal with MGM Records in 1955, but it took a few years before she gained popularity. Her cover of “Who’s Sorry Now?” proved to be her first hit song, as it reached No. 4 on the Billboard Top 100 in the spring of 1958. From there, the hits kept coming, with songs like “Stupid Cupid,” “My Happiness,” “If I Didn’t Care,” “Lipstick on Your Collar,” and “Frankie” all performing well on the charts.
In June 1960, Francis made history as the first female artist to summit the Billboard Hot 100, thanks to “Everybody’s Somebody’s Fool.” Francis went on to score two more No. 1 songs, “My Heart Has a Mind of Its Own” and “Don’t Break the Heart That Loves You.” Building on her success in music, Francis ventured into the world of cinema, starring in movies like 1960’s Where the Boys Are and 1963’s Follow the Boys.
Francis’ brand of pop music grew less popular as the 1960s went on and teenagers flocked to British invasion bands like the Beatles and the Rolling Stones. And, as her recording career suffered, Francis experienced personal tragedy in 1974 when she was raped at knifepoint in her hotel room after performing at the Westbury Music Fair. She was eventually awarded $2.5 million in damages, but went into seclusion.
Francis returned to the public eye in the late 1980s, and she performed live with some regularity. She published a memoir, Among My Souvenirs, in 2017, and, earlier this year, “Pretty Little Baby” became newly popular among a new generation of teenagers after going viral on TikTok. “My thanks to TikTok and its members for the wonderful, and oh so unexpected, reception given to my 1961 recording ‘Pretty Little Baby,’” Francis shared online. “The first I learned of it was when Ron called to advise me that I had ‘a viral hit’. Clearly out of touch with present day music statistics terminology, my initial response was to ask: ‘What’s that?’ Thank you everyone!”
“From breaking barriers as the first female singer to top the Billboard Hot 100 in 1960, to going viral on TikTok at 87 with her infectious song ‘Pretty Little Baby,’ Connie Francis led a truly extraordinary life,” Bruce Resnikoff, the president and chief executive of Universal Music Enterprises, said in a statement. “She gave the world countless, timeless songs and inspired generations with her voice, resilience, and trailblazing spirit. We are deeply saddened by her passing, but take comfort in knowing how joyful and fulfilled she felt in these last few months, as a new generation discovered her music and celebrated her legacy.”
