Iconic singer Marianne Faithfull dead at 78
Iconic singer Marianne Faithfull has died aged 78. The news has been confirmed in a statement issued by her spokesperson.
“It is with deep sadness that we announce the death of the singer, songwriter and actress Marianne Faithfull,” a statement said. “Marianne passed away peacefully in London today, in the company of her loving family. She will be dearly missed.”
The singer suffered from various health conditions throughout the later years of her life, announcing a breast cancer diagnosis in 2006, which she made a complete recovery from. However, in 2020, Faithfull was hospitalised after contracting pneumonia after catching Covid-19.
Following her recovery, she revealed that the illness had affected her ability to sing, as well as causing breathing and memory issues. A cause of death has not yet been revealed.
Faithfull was a major figure in the British Invasion, releasing her self-titled debut album in 1965 before swiftly following it with her sophomore effort, Come My Way. Her first single, ‘As Tears Go By’, was penned by her manager Andrew Loog Oldham, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, and reached number nine in the UK Singles Chart.
The musician began a relationship with Jagger in 1966, inspiring songs by the Rolling Stones like ‘You Can’t Always Get What You Want’. She also co-wrote the song ‘Sister Morphine’, performing her own version before the band recorded their own take for Sticky Fingers.
Her relationship with Jagger was frequently reported in the media, as was Faithfull’s struggles with drug abuse. Following her split from Jagger in 1970, Faithfull found herself addicted to heroin, living on the streets, and dealing with anorexia.
Yet, Faithfull eventually found solace in music, releasing Dreamin’ My Dreams in 1976, her first record in nine years. It was her 1979 album, Broken English, however, that garnered her significant acclaim, re-launching her music career. From there, she steadily released 14 more albums, with her final record being 2021’s She Walks in Beauty, a collaboration between Faithfull and Warren Ellis.
Alongside a successful music career, Faithfull appeared in various films, making her first on-screen appearance singing ‘As Tears Go By’ in Jean-Luc Godard’s Made in USA. In 1967, she starred alongside cinematic giants Orson Welles and Oliver Reed in one of her first proper films, I’ll Never Forget What’s’isname, before appearing opposite Alain Delon in the classic erotic drama The Girl on the Motorcycle the following year.
Faithfull also dedicated some of her career to theatre, acting in productions like Early Morning and The Three Sisters. Later in her career, she appeared in several episodes of Absolutely Fabulous, starred as Empress Maria Theresa in Sofia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette, landed a leading role in Irina Palm, and lent her voice to 2021’s Dune.
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