Connie Francis, 'Who's Sorry Now' Singer Who Went Viral with 'Pretty Little Baby,' Dies at 87

Connie Francis, one of the most successful female solo singers of all time, whose life and career held nearly as much tragedy as triumph, died Wednesday, Concetta Music president Ron Roberts confirmed on Facebook.

She was 87.

Early Thursday, he 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. More details will follow later."

Francis, iconic for hits including her signature "Where the Boys Are" and "Who's Sorry Now," had recently gone viral with her tune "Pretty Little Baby," which was not a big hit when it was released in 1962.

As the song became a sensation on social media, Francis appeared in a TikTok video with vocalist Peter Lemongello Jr. crooning the song to her and handing her flowers.

Retired since 2018, Francis joined TikTok in June, sharing, "I'm flabbergasted and excited about the huge buzz my 1962 recording of 'Pretty Little Baby' is making all over the world. To think that a song I recorded 63 years ago is captivating new generations of audiences is truly overwhelming for me. Thank you, TikTok."

In her final TikTok on June 26, Francis thanked some of the famous names who participated in the "Pretty Little Baby" trend, specifically shouting out Kylie Jenner, Timothée Chalamet, Kim Kardashian and her daughter North, Kris Jenner, Agnetha Fältskog of ABBA (of whom she said she is a big fan), Ariana Grande, Taylor Swift, Shaq, Jimmy Fallon and Billie Eilish, reserving special thanks for Gracie Lawrence, who is currently playing her in the Broadway hit "Just in Time."

The surprising success of the obscure catalogue song came just in time for Francis, at the very end of a career that was one of the most spectacular in music history.

She was born Concetta Rosa Maria Franconero on December 12, 1937, in Newark. Raised in an Italian-American family, she was also surrounded by Jewish culture, reflected in her later groundbreaking releases in Yiddish and Hebrew.

Singing and playing the accordion from childhood, she appeared on "Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts" in 1950, where the legendary host advised her to go with "Connie Francis" professionally. He also said she should lose the squeezebox, which the petite performer was only too happy to do.

She also appeared on the series "Startime Kids" (1953-1955), and had an unspectacular start on MGM Records with several flop singles and only some movie ghost-singing to show for her hard work.

Even when she succeeded — her song "The Majesty of Love" with Marvin Rainwater nicked Billboard's Hot 100 in 1957 — she failed, as MGM had had enough, deciding not to renew her deal.

Bereft, Francis considered taking a scholarship to New York University to study medicine, but submitted to one last recording session with MGM. At the behest of her dad, she covered a 1920s song called "Who's Sorry Now." She did not like it, and was shocked when, on January 1, 1958, Dick Clark featured it on "American Bandstand," proclaiming it a surefire hit.

The song hit no. 4., and MGM changed its mind.

Working with Neil Sedaka and Howard Greenfield after a couple of inconsequential follow-ups, she enjoyed her second smash with their "Stupid Cupid," which cemented her status as a newcomer to be reckoned with.

She was also, at that time, experiencing the thrill of love with fellow crooner Bobby Darin, telling Fox News in 2018 their bumpy working relationship quickly blossomed into passion.

"He was an amazing human being,” Francis recalled. "The most interesting human being I’ve ever met in my life. He had a drive that I hadn’t seen in anyone before. He said, ‘I have to be a legend by the time I’m 25. Because that’s when doctors said I’m supposed to die. That’s how long they gave me.’ And he sincerely believed that.”

Darin, who was nearly shot by Francis's disapproving father, died of a lifelong heart ailment at just 37, years after the young lovers had decided to call it quits.

Throughout the late '50s and into the '60s, Francis became one of the voices of her generation, the most successful female singer (a title she held for many years), and one of the biggest-selling acts, period, behind the Beatles and Elvis Presley.

Among her dozens of singles, Francis initially soared with "My Happiness" (1958), "Lipstick on Your Collar" b/w "Frankie" (1959), "Among My Souvenirs" (1959), "Mama" (1960), and in 1960 became the first woman to achieve pole position on the Billboard Hot 100, with "Everybody's Somebody's Fool."

Her other Top 10 hits: "My Heart Has a Mind of Its Own" (1960), "Many Tears Ago" (1960), "Where the Boys Are" (1961), "Breakin' in a Brand New Broken Heart" (1961), "Together" (1961), "When the Boy in Your Arms (Is the Boy in Your Heart)" (1961), "Don't Break the Heart That Loves You" (1962), "Second Hand Love" (1962), and "Vacation" (1962).

Her last Top 40 hit was 1964's "Be Anything (but Be Mine)," and her final Hot 100 entry was "The Wedding Cake," at the tail end of the 1960s.

By then, Francis was on her way to selling 100 million albums, many of them in her ethnic-themed "Favorites" series, including her biggest success, "Connie Francis Sings Italian Favorites" (1959).

She also acted, carrying the frothy teen-romance films "Where the Boys Are" (1960), "Follow the Boys" (1963), "Looking for Love" (1964), and "When the Boys Meet the Girls" (1965).

Even as her style waned on the charts, Francis remained a touring juggernaut, working relentlessly.

When Francis was appearing at Westbury Music Fair in New York in 1974, she was brutally raped at knifepoint in her hotel room, nearly dying. The tragedy led to a precedent-setting lawsuit, in which she won $2.5 million from Howard Johnson's for its failure to prevent the crime. It was a landmark decision, and led to changes in security at all hotels.

Her rapist was never apprehended.

Reeling from the assault, she stopped touring and recorded only the album "Who's Happy Now?" (1978) featuring a disco version of "Where the Boys Are." The return was brief, as nasal surgery robbed her of her singing voice for several years.

Not long after, her beloved brother George Franconero Jr. was murdered in a Mob hit.

Though attempting to return to performing, Francis first had to come to grips with a debilitating mental health battle. She was wrongly diagnosed with manic depression and later said she was overmedicated, leading to several stays in mental health facilities and a suicide attempt in 1984.

At last, she was correctly diagnosed with PTSD stemming from her rape and regained control of her life, triumphing with the best-selling memoir "Who's Sorry Now?" (1984). She followed it up with "Among My Souvenirs: The Real Story" in 2017, which had been the first of a proposed three-volume autobiography.

From 1989 until her retirement in 2018, Francis successfully returned to touring and recording, including headlining in Las Vegas again.

Francis was married and divorced four times, and was preceded in death in 2022 by her longtime love Tony Ferretti.

She is survived by her son Joey Garzilli, whom she adopted during her third marriage.