Connie Francis Artistfacts

Connie Francis song list

Connie Francis Artistfacts

December 12, 1938 - July 16, 2025
Pop singer Connie Francis was born Concetta Rosa Maria Franconero in Newark, New Jersey. By age 4, she was performing around the neighborhood as a singer and accordion player.
She was a fledgling artist at MGM Records and released nine failed albums and a string of disappointing singles before she landed her first hit with a 1957 duet with Marvin Rainwater: "Majesty of Love."
She became a teen sensation in 1958 after her father convinced her to record the 1923 Tin Pan Alley number "Who's Sorry Now," which Dick Clark introduced to millions of eager teenagers on American Bandstand. Francis had been styling her singing after established stars like Patti Page, but on "Sorry" she just sang it her own way because she hated the song and didn't care. That's when she discovered her own style was her best bet.
Her love affair with fellow singer Bobby Darin was cut short when her strict father learned they planned to elope and threatened Darin with a shotgun. Francis only saw Darin twice more before his untimely death in 1973. In her 1984 autobiography, Who's Sorry Now, she wrote that not marrying him was the biggest mistake of her life. Francis would marry four times, the longest being her first marriage to restauranteur Joseph Garzilli, which lasted five years.
She successfully sued the Howard Johnson motel chain for $2.5 million when she was raped in her room and her assailant left her trapped under a heavy mattress following her appearance at the 1977 Westbury Music Fair in New York. The suit led to a reform in hotel security, and the attack inspired Francis to become an advocate for rape victims. Her own attacker was never found.
Her brother, George Franconero Jr., was murdered by Mafia hitmen in 1981.
With 56 charted singles, 35 Top 40 hits, and 16 Top 10 hits, Francis was one of the top singers of the late '50s and early '60s.
She became a national spokesperson for Mental Health America's trauma campaign after being involuntarily committed to mental institutions throughout the '80s for what she says was a misdiagnosis of manic-depressive disorder. She says her real issue is post-traumatic stress disorder stemming from a string of traumatic events in her life, such as her rape and her brother's murder.
Connie Francis sued her record label, Universal Music Group, for $45 million on March 11, 2002. As well as demanding back royalties, the singer also sought compensation for their allowing her songs to be used over explicit sex scenes in the movies Jawbreaker and Postcards From America. The lawsuit was dismissed.
Her song "Pretty Little Baby," a little-heard B-side from 1962, caught fire on TikTok in 2025 when it became a fashionably retro choice for lip-synched videos. Francis, 87 at the the time, was bemused by the surprise popularity of her song and joined TikTok (which her publicist told her about) in June that year. Sadly, she died just a month later after suffering a number of health complications.
Connie Francis was approached multiple times about a biopic, and she and Gloria Estefan co-wrote a screenplay titled Who's Sorry Now?, with Estefan intending to play her in the lead role. That project was abandoned around 2009 when they couldn't agree on a screenwriter.

According to Francis, Dolly Parton called when her autobiography was published in 1984. "She wanted to portray me," Francis said. "I turned her down. I felt she needed a breast reduction!"

Comments: 1

Constanza Friday from UsaI love Connie Francis.

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