According to her management, Connie Francis, the American pop singer who peaked at number one on the charts in the 1950s and 1960s with songs about heartbreak and young love, passed away on Wednesday night at the age of 87.
According to manager Ron Roberts, Francis was admitted to the hospital earlier in July due to excruciating pelvic pain and spent some time in critical care. He did not specify the reason or location of his death.
Francis sold tens of millions of singles in the late 1950s and early 1960s, including the sultry, maudlin ballads “Who’s Sorry Now” and “Where the Boys Are,” as well as the skittering, lovesick hit “Stupid Cupid.” Francis had a strong, clear voice that could be both upbeat and melancholy.
She achieved the first female number one on the Billboard Hot 100 list in 1960 when she released “Everybody’s Somebody’s Fool.” She was 21 at the time. In the studio, she became a skilled polyglot, recording renditions of her successes in Italian, Spanish, and a number of other languages. She also recorded the song “Die Liebe ist ein seltsames Spiel” in German.
Born on December 12, 1937, in Newark, New Jersey, Francis was given the name Concetta Franconero by her Italian-American parents. In the 1950s, a talent scout suggested that she change her stage name to something that radio DJs could pronounce more easily.
According to her memoir, the most influential person in her life was her father, who made a living as a laborer in New York’s factories and shipyards and taught her how to play the accordion when she was a young girl.
“I played the accordion the way I did everything else in life–with a vengeance!” she said. “Music became my sole focus in life.”
Francis stated that she recorded “Who’s Sorry Now,” which would become her first hit, at his insistence. In the 1950s, she broke up with singer Bobby Darin at her father’s advice. One of her biggest regrets in life, she said, was not eloping with Darin.
Her 1962 song “Pretty Little Baby” went viral earlier this year on the social media platform TikTok, where millions of people watched videos of individuals lip-syncing to it.
She admitted to People magazine that she had forgotten the song had even been recorded.
“To think that a song I recorded 63 years ago is touching the hearts of millions of people is truly awesome,” she stated.
