Connie Francis, the American pop icon known for Pretty Little Baby, has died at the age of 87, just weeks after being hospitalised with what she described as “extreme pain.”
The news of her passing was confirmed on Thursday by her close friend Ron Roberts, who is also the president of her record label, Concetta Records.
“It is with a heavy heart and extreme sadness that I inform you of the passing of my dear friend Connie Francis last night,” Roberts wrote in a statement posted on Facebook.
“I know that Connie would approve that her fans are among the first to learn of this sad news. More details will follow later.”
Her death was also acknowledged on her official Facebook page.
Francis had been forced to cancel a scheduled Independence Day appearance with veteran radio host Cousin Brucie earlier this month after being admitted to hospital in severe discomfort.
She wrote in a July 2 social media update: “Hello everyone – as many of you may now have learned through Cousin Brucie’s Facebook page, I am back in hospital where I have been undergoing tests and checks to determine the cause(s) of the extreme pain I have been experiencing.
“I had hoped to take part in Brucie’s show for Independence Day, having had to cancel a previous slot a few weeks ago when receiving treatment on my hip. Sadly, I had to let him know that I again had to withdraw. My thanks for your many get well soon messages. I will endeavour to keep you updated. Love, Connie.”
In a health update shared in June, she revealed she had undergone medical tests due to pelvic pain on her right side and was later informed she had suffered a fracture.
“It looks like I may have to rely on my wheelchair a little longer than anticipated,” she said at the time, adding that she would be unable to attend the event.
Francis, who was born Concetta Franconero in Newark, New Jersey, rose to fame in the 1950s and 1960s, becoming one of the most successful female recording artists of her era.
While many of her best-known songs were recorded decades ago, she recently experienced a surprising resurgence in popularity thanks to social media.
Her track Pretty Little Baby, which originally wasn’t released as a single, has become a viral favourite on TikTok and Instagram Reels in 2024, featured in videos by celebrities including Kylie Jenner and Kim Kardashian.
According to Billboard, U.S. weekly streams of the song jumped from 17,000 in April to 2.4 million by May.
Globally, it has now surpassed 14 million streams, reaching No. 67 on Spotify’s Global Top 100 chart.
Speaking about the track’s renewed popularity in May, Francis admitted that she “didn’t even remember the song.”
She told People: “I had to listen to it to remember. To think that a song I recorded 63 years ago is touching the hearts of millions of people is truly awesome. It is an amazing feeling.”
Calling it “an honour,” she added: “To see that they’re paying homage to me is just breathtaking.”
Francis, who first found fame and success in the 1950s, was best known for hit singles such as “My Heart Has A Mind Of Its Own,” “Where the Boys Are,” “Don’t Break The Heart That Loves You” and more.
In 2018, Francis opened up about the story behind one of her biggest hits, “Who’s Sorry Now?”.
“My father wanted me to record that song for a year and a half and I turned him down,” she told Fox News Digital. “It was a square song, it was written during the 1920s, and the kids on ‘American Bandstand’ would laugh me right out of the show. He said, ‘If you don’t sing this song, sister, the only way you’ll get on ‘American Bandstand’ is if you sit on top of the television set.’ So I did it as the last song.”
“I stretched the other songs before I got to ‘Who’s Sorry Now’ so there wouldn’t be time,” she continued. “But there were 16 minutes left. My father said, ‘If I have to nail you to that microphone, you’re gonna do “Who’s Sorry Now.”’ So I did it. I didn’t like it… I remember that record had been out for three months and it went nowhere… But Dick Clark liked it… It was a cosmic moment for me. It’s a moment I’ll never forget. Because I knew in five seconds my life would never be the same. And it wasn’t. It was a happy shock.”
Francis faced a number of personal challenges throughout her life, including a suicide attempt in 1984, surviving rape in 1974 and family turmoil.
“To make a short story long, in the ’80s, I was involuntarily committed to mental institutions 17 times in nine years in five different states,” she told the Village Voice in 2011. “I was misdiagnosed as bipolar, ADD, ADHD, and a few other letters the scientific community had never heard of. A few years later, I was discovered to have had post-traumatic stress disorder following a horrendous string of events in my life.”
Francis was married four times and is survived by a son, Joseph Garzilli Jr.
Original article source: Connie Francis, ‘Pretty Little Baby’ singer, dead at 87
