Connie Francis, ‘Pretty Little Baby' singer, dies at 87; all about her life and career

Time of India

17-07-2025

Singer
Connie Francis
has died at 87, her close friend Ron Roberts confirmed on the social media platform Facebook on Thursday, July 17, 2025. She was an iconic singer known for 'Pretty Little Baby' and 'Everybody's Somebody's Fool.' Francis died two weeks after it was revealed that she'd been hospitalized due to "extreme pain," according to media reports. "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 on Facebook. "I know that Connie would approve that her fans are among the first to learn of this sad news," he added.
Francis's close friend, Ron Roberts, is the president of the musician's label, Concetta Records. More details will follow later," the message, which was also shared on Francis' official Facebook profile, concluded. This comes after Francis confirmed on July 4, 2025 (Friday), in a Facebook post that she was "feeling much better after a good night," two days after it was confirmed that she had been hospitalized.
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The musician revealed that she was "back in hospital" on July 2, telling fans she'd been "undergoing tests and checks to determine the cause(s) of the extreme pain I have been experiencing." Francis was back in the news because her 1962 song "
Pretty Little Baby
" became a big hit on TikTok, 63 years after she recorded it as a B-side.
Connie Francis's personal life and career
Francis, a contemporary of Elvis Presley and Brenda Lee, was one of the most popular singers of the 1950s and early 1960s. She had Top 10 singles like "Who's Sorry Now?' "My Heart Has A Mind Of Its Own," "Where the Boys Are," and "Don't Break The Heart That Loves You."
Live Events
Francis was the first woman to have a No. 1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 with her 1960 track 'Everybody's Somebody's Fool.' Born in Newark, New Jersey, in 1937, Francis began taking part in talent contests and pageants at the age of 4 at her father's encouragement, singing and playing accordion. Later, she began appearing on TV shows. She was a featured performer on NBC's Startime Kids. She went on to choose Connie Francis as her stage name.
In 1955, she signed a recording contract with MGM Records, but most of her early singles did not achieve success. She was on the verge of being dropped by the label, but her father convinced her to record a version of "Who's Sorry Now?" as a final attempt at a hit in 1957. The track became a hit after it debuted on Dick Clark's American Bandstand in 1958. It then became a hit in both the U.S. and the U.K., and Francis and Clark would form a lifelong friendship.
From there, the singer tasted more success and her career grew with follow-up hits like "My Happiness," "Lipstick on Your Collar," and "Among My Souvenirs." Her 1959 album Connie Francis Sings Italian Favorites became her most successful, and 1960's 'Everybody's Somebody's Fool' became her first No. 1 in the United States—and the first ever by a solo female artist on the Billboard Hot 100, which had launched in 1958.
International Success
Francis also became popular worldwide, partly because she recorded her songs in different languages. She had two more No. 1 hits, with 'My Heart Has A Mind Of Its Own' (which hit the top spot just three months after "Everybody's Somebody's Fool") and 'Don't Break The Heart That Loves You.'
According to People.com, she had a relationship with singer Bobby Darin early in her career, but her father kept them apart. The singer considered Darin, who died in 1973 at age 37, the love of her life.
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