1960s pop star Connie Francis has died. The first female singer to chart a number-one single on the Billboard Hot 100, she sold over 40 million records before the age of 25.
Pop singer Connie Francis has died at 87. The first female singer to reach number one on the Billboard Hot 100, she was known for her hit single „Who’s Sorry Now?“ and for singing the theme song and appearing in the 1961 film, Where the Boys Are.
Her publicist, Ron Roberts, announced her death in a Facebook post.
Born Concetta Franconero in Newark, New Jersey, she changed her name at age 13 when television host Arthur Godfrey suggested that „Connie Francis“ would be easier to pronounce. Her big breakthrough came in 1957, when she covered an old 1923 tune called „Who’s Sorry Now?“
Francis hated the song, but it waseventually reaching number four on the Billboard Hot 100. It stayed on the charts for months. „Who’s Sorry Now?“ would become one of her signature songs, and the eventual title of her autobiography.
Connie Francis sold over 40 million records before she was 25. Sixteen of them went gold. Her number one hit, „Everybody’s Somebody’s Fool“, came out in 1960. Her acting career was brief — she appeared in a short string of undistinguished romantic comedies, and within a few years, her life became touched more by tragedy than success.
In 1967, one of her closest friends was strangled to death in her home. That same year, Francis underwent a cosmetic procedure meant to narrow her nose.
