Legendary singer Connie Francis has passed away at the age of 87. The news was confirmed early Thursday, July 17, by her longtime friend Ron Roberts, president of her label, Concetta Records. In a Facebook post, Roberts shared, “It is with a heavy heart and extreme sadness that I inform you of the passing of my dear friend Connie Francis last night.”
Her death comes two weeks after reports emerged that she had been hospitalized due to severe, ongoing pain.
Born Concetta Franconero in Newark, New Jersey, in 1937, Francis showed an early passion for music. By age four, she was participating in talent competitions, often performing with her accordion—encouraged by her father. As a child, she made regular appearances on television, including the NBC variety program Startime Kids, and eventually adopted the stage name Connie Francis.
She signed with MGM Records in 1955, but her first several singles failed to gain traction. Her future with the label was in jeopardy until her father persuaded her to record “Who’s Sorry Now?”, a song from 1923. Initially skeptical about how a decades-old track would appeal to young listeners, Francis eventually agreed. Though the song didn’t gain immediate attention, it took off after being played on American Bandstand in 1958. The breakout hit launched her into stardom in both the U.S. and U.K., and she maintained a lifelong friendship with host Dick Clark.
Francis rose to become one of the most prominent pop singers of the late 1950s and early 1960s. Her best-known hits include “My Heart Has a Mind of Its Own,” “Where the Boys Are,” and “Don’t Break the Heart That Loves You.” In 1960, she made history as the first woman to top the Billboard Hot 100 with her single “Everybody’s Somebody’s Fool.”
As musical trends evolved in the late 1960s, Francis’ commercial success began to fade. Compounding that were several devastating personal hardships. In 1974, she was raped in a Long Island motel. A botched nasal surgery in 1977 caused her to temporarily lose her singing voice. In 1981, her brother George was killed in a mafia-related incident.
Though she attempted a comeback in the 1980s, her career was disrupted by ongoing mental health struggles. At her father’s urging, she was repeatedly institutionalized, and in 1984, she survived a suicide attempt. That same year, she published her memoir Who’s Sorry Now?. Reflecting on her mental health journey in a 2011 interview with The Village Voice, she revealed that she had been misdiagnosed multiple times and involuntarily committed 17 times across five states. Later, she was accurately diagnosed with PTSD stemming from the traumatic events she endured.
Francis later became an advocate for mental health and victims of violent crime. She worked with President Ronald Reagan’s administration on a crime task force and collaborated with Mental Health America beginning in 2010 to promote awareness and treatment of trauma-related disorders.
Connie Francis is survived by her son.
