The first woman to land a No.1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100, Connie Francis has died, aged 87.
The American music magazine reported the death of the 1950s and 60s pop star, who claimed the top spot in 1960 with Everybody’s Somebody’s Fool, had been confirmed by publicist Ron Roberts.
Billboard contributor Gil Kaufman said Mr Roberts, in a Facebook post wrote: “It is with a heavy heart and extreme sadness that I inform you of the passing of my dear friend Connie Francis last night. I know that Connie would approve that her fans are among the first to learn of this sad news.”
Mr Kaufman said it had not yet been revealed where Francis died or the cause of her death, which came two weeks after the singer told fans that she’d been rushed to the intensive care unit at a hospital in Florida suffering from what she described as “extreme pain”.
“In March of this year Francis told fans that she was in a wheelchair due to a ‘troublesome, painful’ hip and was undergoing stem cell therapy to deal with the issue,” he said.
Mr Kaufman said Francis retired from the music industry in 2018 after a career that included a chart hot streak in the late 1950s and early 1960s with pop tunes as Pretty Little Baby and Stupid Cupid as well as ballads including Where the Boys Are, Who’s Sorry Now and Don’t Break the Heart That Loves You.
“Her chart dominance began to wane, however, by the mid-1960s as popular taste shifted to more up-tempo rock from the likes of The Beatles.”
He said the singer, born Concetta Franconero, sold more than 40 million records and was one of the most popular female singers in the U.S., scoring 35 top 40 hits, including 16 top 10s and three No. 1s.
