Movies

Connie Francis, legendary singer of ‘Who’s Sorry Now?’ and ‘Where the Boys Are,’ dies at 87

BBG News

The beloved singer Connie Francis, known for her heavenly voice, passed away at the age of 87. She was a prominent figure in the music industry during the late 1950s and early 1960s.

On Thursday, as reported by the Associated Press, Ron Roberts – her friend and spokesperson – confirmed the singer’s passing.

One month before her passing, Francis was admitted to the hospital in June 2025 due to severe pain caused by a pelvic fracture. This well-known singer often shared health updates with her followers on social media. In her later years, she relied on a wheelchair and openly discussed living with a problematic hip that caused discomfort.

Francis made her debut during the time when rock ‘n’ roll began to enchant America. Her initial successes – a soft rendition of the classic “Who’s Sorry Now?”, the bubbly “Stupid Cupid”, and the lively “Lipstick on Your Collar” – perfectly aligned with the genre’s lighter aspects. She initially catered to teenage listeners with songs like the iconic “Where the Boys Are“, but eventually shifted her focus, delivering soft, refined pop tunes for adult audiences instead.

During the five-year span from Elvis Presley’s entry into the U.S. Army to the Beatles’ arrival in America, Francis emerged as one of the most prominent musicians, achieving three No.1 hits: “Everybody’s Somebody’s Fool,” “My Heart Has a Mind of Its Own,” and “Don’t Break the Heart That Loves You.” During this period, her singles primarily catered to teenage audiences, while her albums were tailored for distinct demographics. In the early ’60s, she produced records for various genres such as “Italian Favorites,” “Rock ‘n’ Roll Million Sellers,” “Country & Western,” “Fun Songs for Children,” “Jewish Favorites,” and “Spanish and Latin American Favorites.” She even recorded versions of her hits in Italian, German, Spanish, and Japanese.

In the mid-’60s when her pop hits stopped being popular, her ability to adapt proved very valuable. Francis remained a well-attended concert performer throughout the 1960s, with her live performances keeping her relevant as she transitioned into adult contemporary music. Unfortunately, several personal hardships halted her career in the ’70s, but by the ’90s, her life improved enough for her to come back on stage, performing at venues like those in Las Vegas, Atlantic City, and elsewhere until her retirement in the 2010s.

Connie Francis was originally named Concetta Maria Franconero, born on December 12, 1938, in Newark, NJ. When she was just three years old, her father bought her an accordion, igniting a childhood passion for learning Italian folk tunes. At the age of ten, her parents entered her into local talent competitions. Her father tried to book her on the television show “Startime,” but producer George Scheck only agreed due to Francis’s ability to play the accordion; he was already inundated with singers. Connie Francis remained a regular on “Startime” throughout her teenage years, with Scheck managing her during this period, and she also made appearances on Arthur Godfrey’s “Talent Scouts.” Godfrey struggled with her Italian name, suggesting she simplify it to something more “easy and Irish,” thus giving rise to her stage name.

In 1955, Scheck successfully arranged for Francis to sign a significant recording contract with MGM. As she began to lend her voice to film actresses, such as Tuesday Weld in “Rock, Rock, Rock” (1956) and Freda Holloway in “Jamboree” (1957), MGM continuously tried to transition her from pop music to rock. However, it wasn’t until Francis recorded “Who’s Sorry Now?” as a gesture for her father that the tune became a romantic hit, giving a new lease of life to this 1923 classic.

The tune “Who’s Sorry Now?” garnered attention from Dick Clark, who frequently played it on his popular show “American Bandstand,” which was now reaching a national audience. Clark’s support played a significant role in making “Who’s Sorry Now?” a hit, propelling it into the Billboard Top 10. MGM hoped to replicate this success by having Francis update classic songs, but it didn’t work out. The singer wouldn’t have another hit until she recorded “Stupid Cupid,” a song penned by Neil Sedaka and Howie Greenfield, two young songwriters at the Brill Building, who were finding their footing between Broadway-bound pop and rock ‘n’ roll.

Cupid Dumb Dumb” was the initial success she would achieve alongside numerous other hits penned by composers, such as the sultry ‘Fallin” and the ballad “Frankie.” Later on, she remarked, “Neil and Howie never missed delivering a hit for me. It was a wonderful partnership. We shared similar thoughts.” Sedaka and Greenfield weren’t the only songwriters from Brill Building to captivate her: She had a romantic entanglement with a pre-stardom Bobby Darin, who was driven off by her father.

For approximately the following years, Connie Francis began recording a mix of established songs by Sedaka and Greenfield, as well as fresh compositions from up-and-coming songwriters like George Goehring and Edna Lewis (who penned the lively “Lipstick on Your Collar”). Within just under two years, her fame grew so much that MGM produced five separate Connie Francis LPs for Christmas 1959: an album of holiday tracks, a compilation of her biggest hits, one focusing on country music, another on rock ‘n’ roll, and a collection of Italian songs, featuring some tunes in their original language.

In the 1960s, Connie Francis reached her peak of fame and made her first appearance in films with the teen comedy “Where the Boys Are.” This movie also had a theme song by Sedaka and Greenfield. After appearing in three movies that could be considered sequels, ending with “When the Boys Meet the Girls” in 1965, Connie Francis never felt entirely at ease on screen. She preferred performing live instead. In 1962, her single “Vacation” became one of her Top 10 hits, and that same year, she published a book for teenagers titled “For Every Young Heart: Connie Francis Speaks to Teenagers.” Since she was too young to be considered an oldies act, Connie Francis spent the rest of the 1960s trying to keep up with various trends. For instance, in 1968, she released “Connie & Clyde — Hit Songs of the ’30s,” a quick release aimed at capitalizing on the popularity of Arthur Penn’s controversial film “Bonnie and Clyde.” During this time, Connie Francis was involved in various aspects of show business, including Vegas performances, television variety shows, and singing for troops in Vietnam.

In the early 1970s, an effort to make a comeback faced an abrupt halt due to unfortunate events. After performing at Long Island’s Westbury Music Fair on Nov. 8, 1974, she was subjected to a sexual assault in her Howard Johnson’s hotel room; the perpetrator was never identified. Subsequently, she filed a lawsuit against the hotel chain and eventually won a $2.5-million settlement that significantly impacted security measures within the hospitality industry. As she struggled to recover from the assault, she underwent a nasal surgery that went awry, causing her to lose her voice for several years; it wasn’t until three subsequent surgeries that she regained her singing abilities. For most of the 1970s, she grappled with deep depression, but as her voice returned, she occasionally recorded new songs, such as a disco rendition of “Where the Boys Are” in 1978.

In the pulsating rhythm of the ’80s, I, a fervent cinephile, found myself once again under the spotlight. Initially, I stood up for victims’ rights, lending my voice to those who needed it most. Later, I took the stage as a live performer. However, my re-emergence was overshadowed by yet another wave of heartache – the brutal murder of my brother George, a lawyer who courageously testified against bank fraud, only to fall victim to the dark underworld of organized crime.

After his demise, Francis persisted with her work, performing concerts and penning her 1984 autobiography titled “Who’s Sorry Now?” However, she faced continuous personal hardships. She revealed to Michael Musto of the Village Voice, “During the ’80s, I was admitted against my will to mental health facilities 17 times in nine years across five different states. I was erroneously labeled as bipolar, ADD, ADHD, and several other conditions that the scientific community hadn’t even recognized.” Following a diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder, Francis resumed her live performances in the 90s; one of these shows was captured on “The Return Concert Live at Trump’s Castle,” a 1996 album marking her last major-label release. When asked by the Las Vegas Sun in 2004 if life still presented challenges, she replied, “Not for the past 12 years.

In the 2000s, Francis frequently performed at casinos and theaters, working on a biopic of her life alongside Gloria Estefan, who intended to portray the ex-teen sensation. However, the movie was never made. In 2010, Francis took on the role of national ambassador for Mental Health America’s trauma awareness campaign. Towards the end of the 2010s, she chose to retire in Parkland, Florida, and released her second memoir, titled “Among My Souvenirs: The Real Story, Vol. 1,” in 2017.

Connie Francis has been married four times. Her initial union, with Dick Kanellis in 1964, only lasted for three months; her second marriage, to Izzy Marion, spanned from 1971 to 1972. She adopted a child during her third marriage, which took place between 1973 and 1978 with Joseph Garzilli. Her fourth husband, Bob Parkinson, was married to her until their separation in 1986, after just one year of marriage.

Read More

2025-07-17 15:31

Previous post France’s Sizzling Bitcoin Plan 🤑
Next post The XRP Golden Cross Everyone Missed Could Mean a 630% Rally