Connie Francis, First Female Singer to Top US Billboard Chart, Dies at 87

Connie Francis, the American pop singer who was the first woman in history to reach No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, and who joined TikTok just last month after her hit "Pretty Little Baby" went viral, died on Wednesday, July 16th. She was 87.

Francis’ death was confirmed Thursday by Ron Roberts, her friend and president of her Concetta Records.

“It is with a heavy heart and extreme sadness that I inform you of the passing of my dear friend Connie Francis last night,” Roberts wrote on social media in a message that was reposted on Francis’ own Facebook account. “I know that Connie would approve that her fans are among the first to learn of this sad news.”

While no cause of death was provided, Francis revealed earlier this month that she had been hospitalised due to “extreme pain,” which forced her to miss a Fourth of July radio spot.

Born Concetta Franconero, the late singer's Francis’ career began in the mid-'50s with a series of unsuccessful singles for MGM Records, per Rolling Stone.

Things looked up when she was tapped to provide the singing voices for actresses Tuesday Weld and Jayne Mansfield in 1956’s Rock, Rock, Rock and 1958’s The Sheriff of Fractured Jaw, respectively.

After MGM Records dropped her, Francis was encouraged to re-record Bert Kalmar and Harry Ruby’s 1920s song “Who’s Sorry Now?,” which in 1958 would become the singer’s first big hit, peaking at No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Francis' music and film career took off, as she became the best-selling female singer of the era and the first female artist to top the US singles tally, with her 1960 number "Everybody’s Somebody’s Fool".

https://open.spotify.com/artist/3EY5DxGdy7x4GelivOjS2Q?si=PLr8QYReQM2S8v_y_2q1Zg