{"id":2862,"date":"2025-07-17T13:22:07","date_gmt":"2025-07-17T13:22:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/2862\/"},"modified":"2025-07-17T13:22:07","modified_gmt":"2025-07-17T13:22:07","slug":"pretty-little-baby-stupid-cupid-singer-was-87","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/2862\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Pretty Little Baby,’ ‘Stupid Cupid’ Singer Was 87"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tConnie Francis<\/a>, the chart-topping pop singer of \u201950s and \u201960s classics like \u201cStupid Cupid,\u201d \u201cWhere the Boys Are\u201d and the recently TikTok viral \u201cPretty Little Baby,\u201d has died, according to the New York Times<\/a>. She was 87.<\/p>\n

\n\tFrancis\u2019 longtime friend and president of Concetta Records Ron Roberts announced the news in a Facebook post<\/a> on Wednesday night, which Francis\u2019 official account reposted. \u201cIt is with a heavy heart and extreme sadness that I inform you of the passing of my dear friend Connie Francis last night,\u201d he wrote. \u201cI know that Connie would approve that her fans are among the first to learn of this sad news. More details will follow later.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tShe had recently been hospitalized for \u201cextreme pain,\u201d but had posted on Facebook July 4 that she was \u201cfeeling much better after a good night.\u201d <\/p>\n

\n\tFrancis became one of the defining female singers of the \u201950s and \u201960s, topping the charts on multiple occasions and selling over 200 million records worldwide with hits like \u201cStupid Cupid,\u201d \u201cWho\u2019s Sorry Now\u201d and \u201cFrankie.\u201d In 1960, she became the first woman to reach No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with \u201cEverybody\u2019s Somebody\u2019s Fool,\u201d and later became the first woman to have three songs hit No. 1. <\/p>\n

\n\tShe recently experienced a resurgence when B-side \u201cPretty Little Baby\u201d went viral on TikTok, resulting in over 30 million new streams of the song and its entry into Spotify\u2019s global and U.S. charts as well as reaching the top five of iTunes\u2019 U.S. pop songs chart. Francis then joined TikTok, where she thanked her newfound fans in a video, saying she was \u201cflabbergasted and excited\u201d by the song\u2019s popularity over 60 years later.<\/p>\n

\n\tBorn Connie Franconero in Newark, N.J. on Dec. 12, 1937, Francis regularly performed at talent contests and pageants in the neighborhood and was eventually advised, before an appearance on variety show \u201cArthur Godfrey\u2019s Talent Scouts,\u201d to change her last name to Francis for easier pronunciation. She had a rocky start in the music industry, with her first eight singles failing commercially after she signed to MGM Records in 1955. Though she had her first taste of success in 1957 with the Marvin Rainwater duet \u201cThe Majesty of Love,\u201d which broke into the Billboard Hot 100, her recording contract with MGM came to an end. <\/p>\n

\n\tFrancis considered pursuing a career in medicine and was accepted into New York University, but at what was meant to be her final session, she recorded a cover of the 1923 song \u201cWho\u2019s Sorry Now.\u201d Though the song had a slow start, Dick Clark played it on his \u201cAmerican Bandstand\u201d in January 1958 and invited her to perform it on \u201cThe Saturday Night Beechnut Show\u201d (which would later become \u201cThe Dick Clark Show\u201d). The performance launched her career, and \u201cWho\u2019s Sorry Now\u201d reached No. 1 on the U.K. Singles Chart and No. 4 in the U.S., resulting in MGM Records renewing her contract.<\/p>\n

\n\tAfter teaming up with the songwriting duo Neil Sedaka and Howard Greenfield, Francis had a slew of charting hits comprising both original and cover songs like \u201cStupid Cupid,\u201d \u201cMy Happiness,\u201d \u201cAmong My Souvenirs,\u201d \u201cLipstick on Your Collar\u201d and \u201cFrankie.\u201d She followed that with an album of Italian songs, \u201cConnie Francis Sings Italian Favorites,\u201d which released in late 1959 and broadened her reach to a more adult audience. But her success with pop continued into the early 1960s, earning more hits that reached the top 10: \u201cBreakin\u2019 in a Brand New Heart,\u201d \u201cWhen the Boy in Your Arms (Is the Boy in Your Heart),\u201d \u201cSecond Hand Love\u201d and \u201cWhere the Boys Are.\u201d <\/p>\n

\n\tFrancis became one of the first recording artists to regularly make albums sung entirely in other languages, including in Italian, Yiddish, German, Romanian, Spanish and Irish. Her 1960 German-language song \u201cDie Liebe ist ein seltsames Spiel\u201d reached No. 1 in West Germany and led to her becoming a hugely popular artist in Europe, representing the epitome of a female American pop singer to the global masses. Even during the Cold War, her songs were played and well received in the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia. <\/p>\n

\n\tIn the mid-1960s, Francis\u2019 grip on the U.S. charts began to weaken as the Beatles and Rolling Stones took over. However, she remained a successful live performer and consistently sold out concerts in the U.S. and around the world. In 1969, her contract with MGM expired. <\/p>\n

\n\tThe \u201970s brought a difficult period for Francis as she alleged she had been raped at a motel while appearing at the Westbury Music Fair in New York. Though the assailant was never found, she sued the motel chain for inadequate security and won a a $2.5 million settlement. However, the incident plummeted Francis into depression and she only recorded one album, \u201cWho\u2019s Happy Now?,\u201d in 1978. She later underwent nasal surgery and lost her voice, rendering her unable to perform until 1981. That same year, her brother was killed by the mafia and Francis once again retreated from the spotlight. In 1984, she wrote about her struggles in the memoir \u201cWho\u2019s Sorry Now?,\u201d which became a bestseller.<\/p>\n

\n\tDuring her later career, Francis continued to record music and perform live, headlining several shows in Las Vegas. She released another autobiography, \u201cAmong My Souvenirs,\u201d in 2017 and officially retired in 2018.<\/p>\n

\n\tFrancis was married four times and was also in a relationship with singer Bobby Darin. During her third marriage to restaurateur Joseph Garzilli, she adopted a son named Joey. She was in a relationship with Tony Ferretti from 2003 until his death in 2022. <\/p>\n

\n\tShe is survived by her son, Joey Garzilli. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Connie Francis, the chart-topping pop singer of \u201950s and \u201960s classics like \u201cStupid Cupid,\u201d \u201cWhere the Boys Are\u201d…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2863,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[3738,43,44,41,39,42,40],"class_list":{"0":"post-2862","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-connie-francis","9":"tag-headlines","10":"tag-news","11":"tag-top-news","12":"tag-top-stories","13":"tag-topnews","14":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2862","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2862"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2862\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2863"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2862"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2862"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2862"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}