Connie Francis was a giant of 1950s and ’60s sugary-sweet pop, notching up more than a dozen hits.
In the months leading to her death, which was announced on Thursday, she experienced one more in “Pretty Little Baby”, which has become a viral hit on TikTok six decades after its release.
As of Thursday, more than 22.5 million TikTok videos have been created using the song, often pairing videos of baby animals, toddlers, make-up tutorials and retro fashions.
According to TikTok, those videos have amassed more than 45.5 billion views globally. Celebrities such as Kylie Jenner, Kim Kardashian and North West have used it too, with West lip-synching along to the track.
Hooky, feel-good pop songs tend to do well on TikTok, and 1962’s “Pretty Little Baby” is an exemplar of that phenomenon.