Connie Francis: superstar of the early 1960s pop scene
The 'Pretty Little Baby' and 'Stupid Cupid' singer has died aged 87

Connie Francis, who has died aged 87, had a string of hits in the late 1950s and early 1960s, including "Stupid Cupid", "Lipstick on Your Collar", "Everybody's Somebody's Fool" and "Mama".
From 1958 to 1963, she was the third- highest-selling artist in the US, behind only Elvis Presley and The Beatles. She pioneered the fanzine and pop merchandise, from branded T-shirts to the Connie Francis doll. But her career tailed off in the mid-1960s, said The Daily Telegraph, and her life "was blighted by a catalogue of personal tragedies including four divorces, two miscarriages, rape" and "mental breakdown".
Musical prodigy
Born Concetta Rosa Maria Franconero in 1937 in Newark, New Jersey to an Italian-American family, Francis displayed prodigious musical talent from an early age, learning to play the accordion at the age of three. Encouraged by her domineering, music-loving father, she soon appeared in variety shows, and signed a recording contract with MGM in 1955. At the age of 17, she was about to elope with Bobby Darin, a fellow singer, when her father chased him off with a shotgun.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Francis's first ten singles for MGM all flopped. She was on the point of giving up music in favour of studying medicine, said The Guardian, when her 11th single, "Who's Sorry Now?" – one of her father's favourite songs, which she personally disliked – sold a million copies in the US and topped the British charts. Nearly 30 hit songs on both sides of the Atlantic would follow, along with starring roles in musical comedies.
Later struggles
Francis was one of the so-called "white bread" school of late 1950s singers, who offered a "safe" alternative to the rock'n'rollers, said The Times. But there was nothing bland about her distinctive "sobbing" voice, heard to striking effect on both "tearful ballads" and "jauntier, up-tempo numbers". However, like many artists of her era, she was left sounding outdated by the arrival of The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan and the like. By the late 1960s, "she was reduced to singing in nightclubs and patriotically entertaining the troops in Vietnam".
In 1974, after a concert in New York, Francis was raped at knifepoint at her hotel. The event triggered years of depression and agoraphobia, and she was eventually committed to a mental hospital by her father. In 1981, her brother, an attorney who testified against the Mafia, was shot dead by a hitman, compounding her agony. None of Francis's marriages brought her much happiness. "I chose every record I made with more care than I picked my husbands," she said. After a series of failed comebacks, she began to perform again from the late 1980s; in 2004, she headlined in Las Vegas. This year, to her delight, her 1962 song "Pretty Little Baby" went viral on TikTok.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
A little-visited Indian Ocean archipelago
The Week Recommends The paradise of the Union of the Comoros features beautiful beaches, colourful coral reefs and lush forests
-
Diane Keaton: the Oscar-winning star of Annie Hall
In the Spotlight Something’s Gotta Give actor dies from pneumonia at the age of 79
-
Heirs and Graces: an ‘enthralling’ deep dive into the decline of nobility
The Week Recommends Eleanor Doughty explores the ‘bizarre fascination’ with the British aristocracy
-
6 sporty homes with tennis courts
Feature Featuring a clay tennis court in New York and a viewing deck in California
-
Critics’ choice: Seafood in the spotlight
Feature An experimental chef, a newspaper-worthy newcomer, and a dining titan’s fresh spin-off
-
Taylor Swift’s Showgirl: Much glitter, little gold
Feature Swift’s new album has broken records, but critics say she may have gotten herself creatively stuck
-
Theater review: Masquerade
218 W. 57th St., New York City 218 W. 57th St., New York City
-
Film reviews: Roofman and Kiss of the Spider Woman
Feature An escaped felon’s heart threatens to give him away and a prisoner escapes into daydreams of J.Lo.