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Connie Francis, ’50s-’60s Hitmaker Whose Career Earned Recent Boost With ‘Pretty Little Baby,’ Dies

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Connie Francis in 1961 (Publicity photo, from her Wikipedia entry)

Connie Francis, the pop singer whose chart-topping hits of the 1950s and ’60s included “Who’s Sorry Now,” “Everybody’s Somebody’s Fool,” “My Heart Has a Mind of Its Own” and “Don’t Break the Heart That Loves You,” died yesterday, July 16, 2025. Her death was confirmed by her manager, Ron Roberts.

Roberts posted on Facebook, “With a heavy heart and extreme sadness, I inform you that my dear friend Connie Francis passed away last night. I know Connie would approve of her fans being among the first to learn this sad news.”

The place and cause of death were not disclosed, however it is known that Francis had been hospitalized for some time due to what she described as “extreme pain.” Francis was 87.

Although Francis had not placed a single on the Billboard chart in more than 50 years, an obscure 1962 recording, “Pretty Little Baby,” had gone viral in recent months via TikTok, where it was touted by such influencers as the Kardashians, who used the song in videos. “I recorded this song 63 years ago, and knowing that a whole new generation now knows who I am and knows my music is exciting for me,” Francis told People magazine in March. “To be honest, I couldn’t even remember the song! I had to listen to it to remember.”

At the time of her death, the recording had garnered over 27 billion views globally on TikTok, according to a press release from UMe, which owns the rights to her hit catalog. The song has been released in multiple languages and in remixes.

Photo from Francis’ Wikipedia page

Connie Francis was born Concetta Rosa Maria Franconero in Newark, N.J., on Dec. 12, 1937. As a child, she entered talent contests as an accordionist and singer and was featured on the Arthur Godfrey’s Talent Scouts radio and TV program in 1950. After graduating high school in 1955 she recorded a series of demonstration records, then signed with MGM Records that same year. She didn’t hit the charts until 1957, when a duet with country singer Marvin Rainwater, “The Majesty of Love,” scraped the bottom of the top 100. But her next release, a cover of the 1923 song “Who’s Sorry Now,” also in 1957, rose to #4 and established Francis as a new star.

Following that hit and a few that did not fare as well, Francis became a major star. In all, she scored 16 Top 10 singles in all, including “My Happiness” (1958), “Lipstick on Your Collar,” “Frankie” and “Among My Souvenirs” (1959), “Mama” and “Everybody’s Somebody’s Fool” (the latter her first #1, in 1960, and the first recording by a female artist to top the Billboard Hot 100), “My Heart Hs a Mind of Its Own” (#1, 1960), “Where the Boys Are” (1961), “Don’t Break the Heart That Loves You” (#1, 1962) and “Vacation” (also 1962). Another hit, 1958’s “Stupid Cupid,” written by Neil Sedaka and Howie Greenfield, reached #14 but remained an oldies radio staple for years.

In addition to her English-language recordings, Francis also recorded in Italian, Hebrew/Yiddish and other languages. Her only two Top 10 albums were, in fact, Italian Favorites and More Italian Favorites, both released in 1960. Francis became an international star in the 1960s, even in countries that were behind the so-called “Iron Curtain” during the Cold War of the era.

Francis also acted, most notably in the 1960 film  Where the Boys Are, for which she also sang the title track, also penned by Sedaka-Greenfield.

Francis’ success as a recording artist diminished with the advent of the British Invasion in the early ’60s, however she continued to place singles on the chart into 1973, when she logged her final entry, her 67th, on that chart.

Francis in 2025 (Photo by Erick Quituizaca; courtesy of Universal Music)

In 1974, Francis made the news when she was raped and assaulted at a motel on Long Island, N.Y. She underwent surgery and was unable to sing until 1981. Francis sued the motel chain and won a $2.6 million judgment, one of the largest for sexual assault to that time.

In 1981, Francis returned to recording and live performance but she was unable to continue for long, due to mental health issues stemming from the events of 1974. She developed manic depression following the assault, and spent time in psychiatric hospitals.

In 1984, she published her first memoir, Who’s Sorry Now, and resumed her career in 1989. Another memoir, Among My Souvenirs (The Real Story), was published in 2018.

She retired in 2018 and moved to Florida.

Watch Francis sing “Where the Boys Are” on The Ed Sullivan Show

Listen to “Pretty Little Baby”

Books by and about Francis, as well as her recordings, are available here.

Related: Musician and celebrity deaths of 2025

Jeff Tamarkin

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