Marianne Faithfull, Rock Icon, Dies at 78

Marianne Faithfull, the singer-songwriter who blew into international fame during the era of the British Invasion with her single "As Tears Go By," died Thursday in London. She was 78.

A statement received by the BBC read, "It is with deep sadness that we announce the death of the singer, songwriter and actress Marianne Faithfull. Marianne passed away peacefully in London today, in the company of her loving family. She will be dearly missed."

Faithfull's life and career were the stuff of legend, including inspiring the Rolling Stones tracks "Wild Horses" and "You Can't Always Get What You Want" after dating frontman Mick Jagger, singing on the Beatles' "Yellow Submarine," battling heroin addiction and a string of health issues, a suicide attempt, and staging a comeback for the ages in the late '70s after having been written off as a has-been.

Her latest comeback arrived in 2021 when, one year after doctors thought she would die of COVID, she not only survived but released her 21st studio album, "She Walks in Beauty."

Faithfull was born December 29, 1946, in London. At 16, she was discovered at a Stones party and allowed to record the first song Jagger and bandmate Keith Richards ever wrote, "As Tears Go By." A Top 10 in the U.K. and a no. 22 hit in the U.S., the song and her flower-child beauty captured the imaginations of a generation of music lovers.

She had the talent to back up the hype, but her position in the spotlight frequently focused on affairs and her Swinging '60s lifestyle, which caught up with her and affected her future health.

By 1970, divorced from her first husband and having endured a stillbirth while addicted to cocaine, she left Jagger and wound up homeless, fighting drugs and anorexia.

Though she continued to record, it was her 1979 album "Broken English" that restored her as a musical innovator, becoming her most critically acclaimed work. It renewed her passion for creating, leading to a steady stream of albums throughout the rest of her life.

Along with singing, Faithfull found time for acting on the stage, on TV, and in film from 1966 on. She made her film debut in Jean-Luc Godard's "Made in USA" (1966), and was in the films "The Girl on a Motorcycle" (1968), "Hamlet" (1969), "Ghost Story" (1974), "Shopping" (1994), Sofia Coppola's "Marie Antoinette" (2006), and "Irina Palm" (2007), the latter of which bringing her a European Film Awards nomination for Best Actress.

Most recently, her distinctively raspy voice was used as a Bene Gesserit Ancestor in "Dune: Part One" (2021).

She was a presence on TV as well, memorably hilarious as God on three episodes of the British sitcom "Absolutely Fabulous" (1996-2001), including an appearance opposite her old friend Anita Pallenberg as the Devil.

Married and divorced three times, she is survived by her son, author and journalist Nicholas Dunbar.