Connie Francis RIP

Francis’ sweet pop vocals and girl-next-door beauty made her an iconic star of the 1950s and early ‘60s as both a singer and actress.

Photo credit: Getty Images

By “Huckabee” pop culture guru Pat Reeder (http://www.hollywoodhifi.com)

I am sad to have to report that Ron Roberts, the head of Connie Francis’ record label, posted on her Facebook page that the singer died Wednesday night at 87. He said Francis would have approved of her fans being the first to know. She had been hospitalized earlier this month with “extreme pain,” but her last Facebook post on July 4^th said she was “feeling much better.” However, Roberts said her health began deteriorating after she left the hospital, and she’d been unconscious for two days and “slipped away peacefully.”

https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/connie-francis-pretty-little-baby-singer-dead-87

Francis’ sweet pop vocals and girl-next-door beauty made her an iconic star of the 1950s and early ‘60s as both a singer and actress. She recorded pop, rock, jazz and country songs, and was the first woman to reach #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with 1960’s “Everybody’s Somebody’s Fool,” and the first woman to score three #1 hits. She sold 200 million records and had 53 hits over her career, including “Stupid Cupid,” her breakthrough “Who’s Sorry Now” and her signature song, “Where the Boys Are,” the theme to the 1960 movie in which she co-starred.

Despite her vast success, Francis survived many terrible life experiences, including rape, 17 involuntary commitments to mental institutions due to misdiagnosed PTSD, four brief failed marriages, surgery that took away her voice for several years, and the murder of her brother George by the mafia. Thankfully, she later recovered her health; staged a successful recording and performing comeback; wrote an autobiography (“Among My Souvenirs”); became an advocate for UNICEF, the USO, the mentally ill and crime victims; and had a happy 18-year relationship with Tony Ferretti until his death in 2022.

Fun Facts: Francis said singer Bobby Darin was the love of her life and her biggest mistake was not marrying him. Her strict Italian father ran Darin off at gunpoint after learning he had suggested they elope.

Her dad is also largely responsible for her massive success. After a string of flops, she was about to be dropped from her label. Her dad had bugged her to record “Who’s Sorry Now” for over a year. She refused, thinking it was a “square” song from the 1920s and the kids on “American Bandstand” would laugh at her. But he said adults knew it and teenagers would dance to it. At what was to have been her final recording session, her dad told her that he would nail her to the microphone if he had to, and if she didn’t record that song, the only way she’d ever be on “American Bandstand” is if she sat on the TV set. She did, and finished it with just seconds left on the tape.

She recalled that it went nowhere for three months, then to her shock, Dick Clark heard it, loved it, and played it on “American Bandstand.” It quickly sold a million copies and made her a worldwide star.

Her real name was Concetta Rosa Maria Franconero. Again, it was her dad who suggested she cut an album in Italian called “Connie Francis Sings Italian Favorites.” Surprisingly, it became her biggest seller and inspired her to record songs in 15 languages. We guess it was hard to stay mad at her dad, even if he did run Bobby Darin off.

RIP Connie…