Legendary singer Connie Francis, whose career spanned multiple decades and saw a recent resurgence through social media, died July 16, 2025, at age 87. Ron Roberts, president of her label Concetta Records and a close friend, announced her passing on Facebook on July 17.

Roberts indicated that Francis had passed away the previous night, expressing that he believed she would want her fans to be among the first to learn of the news. The announcement came approximately two weeks after Francis was hospitalized due to what she described as extreme pain.

Born Concetta Rosa Maria Franconero on December 12, 1937, in Newark, New Jersey, Francis became one of the most commercially successful female singers in history. She sold an estimated 200 million records worldwide during her career and achieved the historic distinction of becoming the first woman to reach number one on the Billboard Hot 100 with “Everybody’s Somebody’s Fool” in June 1960.

Francis rose to prominence in 1958 with her rendition of “Who’s Sorry Now?,” a 1923 song originally written by Bert Kalmar and Harry Ruby. The recording gained traction after Dick Clark featured it on his “American Bandstand” program. She later credited Clark as instrumental to her success, stating that without his support, there would have been no Connie Francis.

Throughout the late 1950s and 1960s, Francis accumulated numerous chart-topping hits, including “Stupid Cupid,” “My Heart Has a Mind of Its Own,” “Don’t Break the Heart That Loves You,” “Mama,” “Lipstick on Your Collar,” and “Where the Boys Are.” She reached number one three times on the Hot 100 and had more than a dozen top 20 hits during her peak years from 1957 to 1964.

Francis expanded her appeal internationally by recording her songs in multiple languages, including Italian, Spanish, French, German, Japanese, Swedish, Greek, and Yiddish. This multilingual approach helped her achieve number one status in 19 countries with “Where the Boys Are” alone.

Her entertainment career extended beyond music into film, where she starred in several MGM movies during the 1960s. These included “Where the Boys Are” (1960), “Follow the Boys” (1963), “Looking for Love” (1964), and “When the Boys Meet the Girls” (1965). However, Francis later expressed that she never wanted to be an actress and was pleased when her film career ended.

Francis experienced a remarkable career revival in 2025 when her 1962 recording “Pretty Little Baby” went viral on TikTok. The song, which she recorded at age 24, accumulated over 15 million creates on the platform and garnered nearly 85 million streams on Spotify. Within one week in May, the track was streamed over 14 million times and entered both Billboard’s Global 20 and Spotify’s Daily Top Songs USA.

In a June TikTok video, Francis expressed her amazement at the song’s unexpected success. “I am flabbergasted and excited about the huge buzz my 1962 recording of ‘Pretty Little Baby’ is making all over the world,” she stated. She described the phenomenon as a dream come true and expressed gratitude for introducing her music to new generations.

Francis’ personal life was marked by significant challenges and tragedies. Her father, George Franconero, managed her career and reportedly interfered with her romantic relationship with singer Bobby Darin, whom she considered her one true love. In 1974, she was raped at knifepoint in a Long Island motel room, an assault that led to a landmark legal case resulting in a $2.5 million jury award and widespread changes to hotel security protocols.

Additional personal hardships included her brother’s murder in 1981, multiple miscarriages, and four unsuccessful marriages. She was diagnosed with manic depression and was involuntarily institutionalized 17 times. Francis also underwent nasal surgery that temporarily affected her singing voice for several years.

Despite these challenges, Francis continued performing and became an advocate for mental health awareness and victim rights. She worked with President Ronald Reagan’s administration on a task force addressing violent crime and served as an advocate for rape victims. Francis adopted a son, Joseph Garzilli Jr., in 1974, during her three-year marriage to Joseph Garzilli Sr. Her son survives her.

Francis’ hospitalization began in early July when she experienced severe pain and underwent extensive testing. On July 2, she informed fans via Facebook that she was undergoing tests to determine the cause of her extreme pain and had to cancel an appearance on Cousin Brucie’s Independence Day radio show. She was initially placed in intensive care before being transferred to a private room.

Francis retired from the music industry in 2018 but remained connected with her fans through social media.