Connie Francis, the pioneering pop singer who became the first woman to reach No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and sold over 200 million records worldwide, died Wednesday night, July 16, at age 87. Ron Roberts, her close friend and president of her record label Concetta Records, confirmed the news on Facebook early Thursday morning, July 17.
Roberts wrote that it was “with a heavy heart and extreme sadness” that he informed the public of Francis’ passing. He indicated that Francis would approve of her fans being among the first to learn of the sad news. The announcement came two weeks after Francis had been hospitalized due to what she described as “extreme pain” in a July 2 Facebook post.
Roberts told reporters that Francis had been experiencing trouble with her hip and that medical professionals were unable to locate the exact source of her pain. He noted that Francis began to deteriorate after leaving the hospital earlier this month and was unconscious for at least two days before her death. Francis had posted on July 4 that she was feeling much better after a good night, marking her final social media update.
Born Concetta Maria Franconero on December 12, 1937, in Newark, New Jersey, Francis began her musical journey at age three when she started taking accordion lessons. Her father George, a roofer who became the architect of her career, encouraged her participation in talent contests and pageants from age four. She appeared on television shows including NBC’s Startime Kids and later Arthur Godfrey’s Talent Scouts, where the host suggested she change her name from Franconero to Francis for easier pronunciation.
Francis signed with MGM Records in 1955, but her initial releases failed commercially. After 18 unsuccessful singles, the label was prepared to drop her contract. Her father convinced her to record a version of the 1923 song “Who’s Sorry Now?” as a final attempt. Francis initially resisted, believing the outdated song would not appeal to younger audiences.
The track gained no traction until Dick Clark played it on American Bandstand in January 1958 and invited Francis to perform on The Saturday Night Beechnut Show. The performance launched her career, with “Who’s Sorry Now?” reaching No. 4 in the United States and No. 1 in the United Kingdom. MGM promptly renewed her contract, leading to a string of hits including “Stupid Cupid,” “My Happiness,” “Lipstick on Your Collar,” and “Among My Souvenirs.”
In June 1960, Francis achieved a historic milestone when “Everybody’s Somebody’s Fool” became the first song by a solo female artist to reach No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, which had launched in 1958. She reached the top spot again three months later with “My Heart Has a Mind of Its Own” and secured a third chart-topper with “Don’t Break the Heart That Loves You” in March 1962. Francis became one of the first recording artists to regularly record albums in multiple languages, including Italian, German, French, Spanish, Japanese, and Yiddish.
Francis also pursued acting, starring in four MGM musical films during the 1960s. Her debut came in “Where the Boys Are” (1960), where she portrayed Angie and sang the title song, which reached No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100. She followed with “Follow the Boys” (1963), “Looking for Love” (1964), and “When the Boys Meet the Girls” (1965). Despite her film success, Francis later expressed that acting was never her primary interest.
Francis’ life took a devastating turn in 1974 when she was raped at knifepoint in a Long Island motel room following a performance at the Westbury Music Fair. The traumatic incident led to years of depression and multiple involuntary commitments to psychiatric hospitals. She later won a $2.5 million settlement against the Howard Johnson’s motel chain for inadequate security. In 1977, botched nasal surgery temporarily cost her singing voice, and in 1981, her brother George was murdered by the mafia.
Francis documented her struggles in her 1984 memoir “Who’s Sorry Now?” and became an advocate for crime victims and rape survivors. She partnered with Ronald Reagan’s presidential administration on a task force on violent crime and worked with organizations including Women Against Rape. After being misdiagnosed with various conditions, she was eventually correctly diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.
In an unexpected late-career resurgence, Francis gained newfound popularity in 2024 when her 1962 B-side “Pretty Little Baby” went viral on TikTok. The song was featured in over two million TikTok videos and garnered nearly 85 million streams on Spotify. High-profile users including Kim Kardashian and Kylie Jenner lip-synced to the ballad, introducing Francis to a new generation of fans more than 60 years after the song’s original recording.
Francis expressed amazement at the song’s unexpected success, telling reporters that she had initially forgotten the track existed and needed to listen to it again to remember. She joined TikTok to thank her newfound fans, describing herself as “flabbergasted and excited” by the song’s popularity decades after its creation. Francis officially retired from performing in 2018 and is survived by her adopted son, Joey Garzilli.
