Latest news with #Everybody'sSomebody'sFool
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Connie Francis' Deep Cut ‘Pretty Little Baby' Becomes a Viral Hit 63 Years Later
Welcome to Billboard Pro's Trending Up newsletter, where we take a closer look at the songs, artists, curiosities and trends that have caught the music industry's attention. Some have come out of nowhere, others have taken months to catch on, and all of them could become ubiquitous in the blink of a TikTok clip. This week: An early great of the Billboard charts threatens her first new hit in many decades, a staple turn-of-the-millennium band connects with Gen Z and two new artists score viral breakout hits. Connie Francis was one of the reigning queens of the Billboard Hot 100 in its early days. The late-'50s and early-'60s pop star scored a whopping 15 top 10 hits on the chart, including three No. 1s: 'Everybody's Somebody's Fool,' 'My Heart Has a Mind of Its Own' (both 1960) and 'Don't Break the Heart That Loves You' (1962). And over six decades after her commercial peak, Francis is once again having a big pop culture moment – but it's not with any of those charting singles. More from Billboard Andy Bell Confirms His Place in Reunited Oasis Lineup Snoop Dogg Drops 'Iz It a Crime' Album Featuring Sexyy Red, Wiz Khalifa & Pharrell: Stream It Now The Lemonheads Preview First Original Album in 19 Years With New Single, 'Deep End' 'Pretty Little Baby,' a non-single from Francis' 1962 album Connie Francis Sings Second Hand Love, has caught fire on TikTok in the past month. Users have been lip synching along to the 'You can ask the flowers/ I sit for hours/ Telling all the bluebirds/ The bill and coo birds/ Pretty little baby, I'm so in love with you' verse of the song, often while wearing cute retro outfits and/or singing to actual babies, with over a million videos being created to the song (though the official sound's page currently appears to be unavailable). Regardless, the song has already begun to cross over from TikTok to streaming in massive numbers. As recently as the tracking week ending April 10, the song was earning just over 17,000 official on-demand U.S. streams a week – but four weeks later, that number was up to 2.4 million, a gain of over 7,000%. And it's still rising at an incredible rate – even debuting on the Spotify Daily Top Songs USA and Global charts – meaning the song could soon be threatening a Hot 100 debut, a mere 63 years after its initial release. – ANDREW UNTERBERGER One of the greatest emotional rushes within Radiohead's sprawling discography is the final verse of 'Let Down,' on which Thom Yorke's quivering lilt soars higher and higher to achieve bracing, beautiful alt-rock catharsis. Even as 'Karma Police,' 'Paranoid Android' and 'No Surprises' remain the signature songs from the band's 1997 masterwork OK Computer, 'Let Down' has long been a favorite among Radiohead diehards — and now, the song is slowly crossing over to casual fans, too. TikTok has latched onto that euphoric final verse, particularly the line 'One day, I am gonna grow wings,' with users reacting to (and often bowled over by) the song's whooshing upward build. And those TikTok clips are starting to translate into real streaming momentum for 'Let Down,' which was earning 1.83 million U.S. on-demand weekly streams a month ago (during the chart week ending Apr. 10, according to Luminate), and is now earning 2.73 million streams (for the week ending May 8). That's a 49% increase in the song's weekly streams over a four-week period — and while Radiohead's entire streaming catalog isn't growing that rapidly, 'Let Down' is helping that total grow. Radiohead's catalog earned 35.4 million streams during the week ending May 8, up 10% from four weeks prior (32.1 million during the week ending Apr. 10). Pretty impressive for a band whose most recent album came out nine years ago, although Yorke is keeping busy: he just put out a new album with electronic producer Mark Pritchard, as the duo Tall Tales, just last week. – JASON LIPSHUTZ Nearly two months ago (March 30), BB Trickz released 'Super' as the lead single from her new 80z EP – and an interesting combination of social conversation has driven up the track's streams. Eagle-eyed music fans may recognize BB Trickz, a Spanish rapper who broke through in 2023 with sample drill tracks, from Charli XCX's 'Club Classics' remix. BB even appeared as a surprise guest on the second night of Charli's Barclays Center mini-residency on the Brat Arena Tour (May 1). About two weeks before her appearance onstage (April 22), BB said that she could learn a few things from Donald Trump and Hitler during an interview with Grimey TV, spurring understandably split reactions amongst fans and increasing her general notoriety as 'the most hated rapper in Spain.' That clip – which has since amassed over 57,000 views – came around the same time 'Super' became the go-to song for a TikTok love triangle to throw shade at one another. TikTok personalities @.willito, @orlenaodette, @wendolynortizz have each posted multiple videos with the official 'Super' sound (which currently boasts over 166,000 posts) that have millions of collective views. Independent of that love triangle, much of the social conversation around 'Super' is based around some people adoring the song and other people detesting it. Furthermore, on April 24, BB Trickz teamed up with TikTok personality @bachbuquen for a dance challenge set to 'Super.' That clip reached 9.4 million views on Back's account and over 23.5 million views on BB's account. According to Luminate, 'Super' has jumped over 776% in streams over the past four weeks. During the period of April 4-10, the track earned over 146,000 official on-demand U.S. streams. By the time her Trump comments started going viral and the dance trend kicked off, 'Super' pulled over 1.9 million streams during the week of May 2-8, growing over 50% week over week. Having already visited the Billboard charts with Charli — 'Club Classics' reached No. 8 on Hot Dance/Electronic Songs last year – BB Trickz could soon be poised for her first solo entry. – KYLE DENIS Just as Pluto & YKNiece's 'Whim Whammiee' begins its Hot 100 ascent, Atlanta has already spun out another delightfully ratchet female rap hit to kick off the summer. Released on April 16, 'Bunna Summa' arrived after a few short weeks of teasing from the artist herself. On April 4, Bunna B posted a snippet of the then-unreleased song to her official TikTok account (@therealbunnab). To date, that snippet has amassed over 584,000 views, while the accompanying official sound now plays in over 51,000 posts on the app. Most of the song's traction has come from the end of its opening verse: 'I drive the boat, these b–ches follow/ F–ked around and text my ex, oops, it was a typo/ Shake, shake, shake, booty shake like a maraca/ If you ain't throwin' ass, what the f–k you outside for?' In its first week of release (April 11-17), 'Bunna Summa' garnered 112,000 official on-demand U.S. streams, according to Luminate. That number jumped 425% in its first full tracking week (April 18-24) to over 592,000 streams. The following week, streams jumped a further 145% to over 1.4 million, and by May 2-8, the song started crossing over two million weekly streams. If her hit continues to rise along with the temperatures, we can officially crown the upcoming season a 'Bunna Summa.' – KD Best of Billboard Chart Rewind: In 1989, New Kids on the Block Were 'Hangin' Tough' at No. 1 Four Decades of 'Madonna': A Look Back at the Queen of Pop's Debut Album on the Charts Chart Rewind: In 1990, Madonna Was in 'Vogue' Atop the Hot 100
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Connie Francis Says ‘Pretty Little Baby' Going Viral ‘Gives Me a New Lease on Life'
If not for TikTok, Connie Francis' 1962 tinkly organ bop 'Pretty Little Baby' may have been forever obscure. It was never a hit, and Francis, reached by phone at her Parkland, Fla., home, barely remembers recording it. 'I had to listen to it to identify it,' admits the 87-year-old pop legend, who became the first woman to top the Billboard Hot 100 as a solo act in July 1960 with 'Everybody's Somebody's Fool,' one of her three Hot 100 No. 1s. 'Then, of course, I recognized the fact that I had done it in seven languages.' More from Billboard Here Are Connie Francis' Biggest Billboard Hits Saweetie Locks in Debut Australian Tour Dates French Police Recover Bust From Jim Morrison's Grave, 37 Years After It Was Stolen A friend recently informed Francis that 'Pretty Little Baby' had turned up on TikTok as a 'viral hit,' an upbeat soundtrack for people (including Kylie Jenner and Kim Kardashian) showing off babies, puppies, kittens and — befitting the lyric 'you can ask the flowers' — flowers. Francis responded: 'What's that?' In a sense, TikTok is just a technological update of American Bandstand in the '60s, when Dick Clark's TV countdown regularly drew 8 million viewers and automatically turned songs into hits. 'Without Dick Clark, there would have been no Connie Francis,' Francis says. 'Pretty Little Baby' was one of 40 songs Francis recorded during several recording sessions over four days in August 1961, according to her 2017 autobiography Among My Souvenirs: The Real Story Vol. 1. The track landed on her Connie Francis Sings Second Hand Love & Other Hits album. On April 10, 'Pretty Little Baby' was streaming 17,000 times per week in the U.S.; a month later, it was streaming 2.4 million times, an increase of more than 7,000%. The track has 10 billion TikTok views, hitting No. 1 on the app's Viral 50 and Top 50 charts, and recently crossed over to streaming success, with 14 million global streams, landing at No. 67 on Spotify's Global Top 100. Francis' label, Universal Music, recently reissued the versions Francis had sung in Swedish, Japanese and other languages in 1962, when her label, MGM, hoped to score hits in regions outside the U.S. Francis, who told Facebook followers in March she is awaiting stem cell therapy to treat a 'troublesome painful hip,' discussed 'Pretty Little Baby,' 'Who's Sorry Now,' Just In Time (the hit Broadway musical about her late onetime boyfriend Bobby Darin) and the domineering nature of her late Svengali father, George Franconero Sr. Of her newfound virality, she tells Billboard: 'I'm getting calls from everywhere: 'You're a TikTok phenomenon.'' Did the memory of recording 'Pretty Little Baby' come back to you when you recently listened to the song? Yes. I remembered after I heard it. It's just a blessing to know that kindergarten kids know me and my music now. It's really thrilling. That song was on . Phil Spector co-wrote the title track. Yes, it was Phil Spector's first top 10 record. What do you remember about working with him? I didn't work with him on it. He wasn't even at the session. Since you posted 'What's that?' on Facebook, have you learned about viral hits and TikTok? Yes. [Laughs.] Now I know. Have you seen in which Gracie Lawrence plays you on stage? I'm planning on going to see it. Lawrence told an that the most difficult song of yours to sing is 'Who's Sorry Now,' from 1958. She said: 'The balance of singing emotionally, going through the heartbreak she experiences every night, while also wanting to deliver a pitch-perfect performance is a really challenging task. It's one I assume Connie herself was navigating while performing the song as well at the pinnacle of her career, and she's just been put through the ringer emotionally behind the scenes. I think about that a lot.' Does that resonate with you? Yes. It does resonate with me. How did you get through that emotion when recording it? I didn't want to record the song. My father insisted that I record 'Who's Sorry Now.' I did three other songs at the session first, in the hopes of not being able to get to 'Who's Sorry Now' in the four-hour time allotted to me. I had 16 minutes left in the session and I said, 'That's a wrap, fellas, there's no time for 'Who's Sorry Now.'' My father said, 'If I have to nail you to that microphone, you're going to do at least one take of 'Who's Sorry Now.'' So that's what I did — one take of 'Who's Sorry Now.' And I didn't try to imitate anybody else, as I always had on my recordings. By the time I was 14, I did demonstration records, and a publisher would say, 'Connie, give us some of that great Patti Page sound, give me some of that great Kay Starr sound, give me some of that great Teresa Brewer sound.' I didn't have a style of my own yet. But on 'Who's Sorry Now,' I was so turned off on the song that I didn't try to imitate anybody else. I just sounded like myself for the first time. And it was a hit. So not only was that a breakthrough on the charts, it was a breakthrough for you creatively. Yes, it was. You described in your book the 'arduous work' to drive between radio stations and record hops in different cities, 'from one dreary, depressing $3 or $4 a day hotel room to the next.' When did that dreary, depressing part of your career come to an end? It came to an end with 'Who's Sorry Now.' I didn't have to worry about staying in $4-a-night hotels. You wrote in your book: 'Bobby wasn't merely a person, he was an experience.' If an actor and actress were to reach out for suggestions on how to play both you and Mr. Darin, what advice would you give them? Well, Bobby was very cool. And I was very naive. When he said, 'I dig,' I said, 'You do? For what sort of company? Oil?' What plans do you have to promote 'Pretty Little Baby'? Interviews? Appearances? I don't feel like going on the road. TV shows? Yes, I'll do TV. What do you miss about the music business? I miss the stage. Is there ever an opportunity for you to perform again? Those days are over. That ship has sailed. For health reasons? Or too difficult logistically? For a variety of reasons. It's too much work. Anything else you want to say to your new 'Pretty Little Baby' fans? I want to thank everybody. It gives me a new lease on life. Best of Billboard Chart Rewind: In 1989, New Kids on the Block Were 'Hangin' Tough' at No. 1 Janet Jackson's Biggest Billboard Hot 100 Hits H.E.R. & Chris Brown 'Come Through' to No. 1 on Adult R&B Airplay Chart
Hindustan Times
19-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Hindustan Times
Pretty Little Baby singer Connie Francis overwhelmed with viral fame 60 years after song's release: ‘Oh so unexpected!'
More than six decades after it was first recorded, Connie Francis's Pretty Little Baby is suddenly everywhere, lighting up TikTok and Instagram with a wave of retro charm. Originally featured on her 1962 album Connie Francis Sings Second Hand Love, the song was never released as a single and remained a deep cut in her vast discography. But now, in a surprising twist, the track has become a viral sensation, with millions of users creating reels and videos set to its dreamy, heartfelt chorus: 'You can ask the flowers / I sit for hours / Telling all the bluebirds / The bill and coo birds / Pretty little baby, I'm so in love with you.' A post shared by Addie McCracken (@addie_mccracken123) From creators donning vintage outfits to parents singing to their babies, the trend has breathed new life into the classic tune, making it one of the top trending sounds globally. Although the official sound page appears to be temporarily unavailable, that hasn't slowed down its popularity across platforms. This kind of revival isn't entirely new. The rise of social media has led to a wave of retro songs making unexpected comebacks, as younger generations discover and fall in love with music from the past. But for Connie Francis, one of the defining voices of the early Billboard Hot 100 era, the moment feels both surreal and special. Francis, who enjoyed a string of hits in the late '50s and early '60s — including chart-toppers Everybody's Somebody's Fool and My Heart Has a Mind of Its Own in 1960, and Don't Break the Heart That Loves You in 1962 — shared her heartfelt reaction on social media upon learning that Pretty Little Baby had become a viral hit: 'Thank you Ron for posting this link. My thanks to TikTok and its members for the wonderful, and oh so unexpected, reception given to my 1961 recording 'Pretty Little Baby'. The first I learned of it was when Ron called to advise me that I had 'a viral hit'. Clearly out of touch with present day music statistics terminology, my initial response was to ask: 'What's that?' Thank you everyone!' Her candid response has only added to the charm of the moment, as longtime fans and new listeners alike celebrate a timeless voice finding fresh resonance in today's fast-moving digital world. It's a testament to the enduring power of music, and proof that even after 60 years, a pretty little song can still capture hearts all over again.
