{"id":4973,"date":"2025-07-18T08:46:35","date_gmt":"2025-07-18T08:46:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shavuatov.co.uk\/?p=4973"},"modified":"2026-01-07T15:42:31","modified_gmt":"2026-01-07T15:42:31","slug":"barbra-paskins-letter-from-hollywood-11","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shavuatov.co.uk\/?p=4973","title":{"rendered":"Barbra's thoughts on the passing of Connie Francis"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A Bittersweet Goodbye to a Timeless Voice: Remembering Connie Francis<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

HOLLYWOOD, California---It was with much sorrow that the world woke up Thursday morning to the sad news: Connie Francis, 87, beloved pop icon and trailblazer of the late 1950s and early 1960s, had died the night before. Two weeks earlier, she had been admitted to hospital in excruciating pain, the result of a fractured hip she had suffered earlier this year. But after contracting pneumonia and, despite her fierce resilience, the singer who had given so much joy to generations slipped away quietly, leaving behind a musical legacy that is once again resonating with new fans across the globe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Only days before her hospitalisation, Connie had called me to say she was enduring intense pain from her hip which she had thought was getting better. She had already been confined to a wheelchair for some months in an effort to avoid putting pressure on her hip while she awaited therapy. To her great disappointment, this had meant canceling some long-anticipated public appearances, including a special Fourth of July celebration that she had been excited about for months. In spite of her limitations, Connie remained in touch with her fans. She regularly updated her Facebook page, posting cheerful photos and upbeat messages whenever possible. On July 2nd, she shared that she was in hospital undergoing tests to determine the cause of her pain. By the end of that day, she announced she'd been moved from the ICU to a private room and was feeling optimistic. Two days later, on Independence Day she wished her fans a happy Fourth of July, adding, \"Today I am feeling much better after a good night.\" It was the last message she wrote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last month, as readers of this column will recall, a bubbly and upbeat Connie chatted to me on the phone from her Florida home where recently she\u2019d been enjoying an unexpected new and phenomenal popularity. It\u2019s impossible not to be moved by the sheer coincidence of Connie\u2019s recent resurgence in the final months of her life.  After decades away from the spotlight, she was suddenly back \u2014 not just back, but more visible than she had been in years, thanks to an unexpected viral happening on TikTok. It all began in May, when her 1962 song Pretty Little Baby<\/em> resurfaced in a video on the platform and the track \u2014 a forgotten B-side, no less \u2014 captured the imagination of millions of users.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Connie Francis<\/strong> -photo by TNS<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Ron Roberts, close friend and president of her record label, called to tell her the song had gone viral, Connie had no idea what he was talking about. \u201cI thought he meant I had a virus in my computer!\u201d, she told me laughingly. Her ability to find humor even in her own unfamiliarity with technology was part of what made her so endearing. Yet, within days of learning about TikTok, she had created her own official page to personally thank her new fans. In true Connie fashion, she threw herself into the experience with gusto. Her debut post garnered 16.3 million views; her second, an astonishing 31 million. Within weeks, she had uploaded s few charming videos, including one of her cuddling her dog as she lip-synched along to the same song that was now enchanting a whole new generation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The renaissance of Pretty Little Baby<\/em> is one of those rare, beautiful cultural phenomena that feels both accidental and entirely deserved. A song that had never been intended as a major hit, a forgotten B-side recorded 63 years ago, was now soundtracking pet videos, baby compilations, retro fashion hauls, and makeup tutorials from users around the world. It climbed TikTok music charts, and one particular video amassed more than 158 million views on its own. As of this week, more than 22.5 million TikTok videos have been created using the track, and those videos have collectively received over 45.5 billion views globally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Connie, the renewed attention was a deeply touching experience. \u201cTo think that a song I recorded 63 years ago is captivating new generations of audiences is truly overwhelming for me,\u201d she said, her voice full of gratitude. There was a quiet poetry to it all \u2014 as though the world was reaching back in time to hold her hand one more time, to thank her before it was too late.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Connie Francis was, without question, one of the defining voices of American pop music. Her rise to fame in the 1950s was meteoric, and her impact on the industry has been profound. A contemporary of Elvis Presley and Brenda Lee, she was one of the most popular singers of the \u201850s and early \u201860s. Born Concetta Rosa Maria Franconero in Newark, New Jersey, she burst onto the scene with a voice that was at once powerful and tender \u2014 sweet enough to melt hearts, yet strong enough to cut through the noise of a rapidly changing musical era. In 1958, she scored her breakout hit with Who\u2019s Sorry Now<\/em>, a song that became a global success and turned her into a household name.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She quickly followed it up with a string of hits that defined a generation. Where the Boys Are, My Heart Has A Mind Of Its Own, Among My Souvenirs, Don\u2019t Break The Heart That Loves You<\/em> and Lipstick on Your Collar<\/em> were just a few of the songs that dominated the charts and helped shape the musical landscape of the time. She recorded a multitude of albums, was one of the first artists to record in different languages and her 1959 album Connie Francis Sings Italian Favorites<\/em> became her best-selling LP.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1960, she made history as the first woman to reach No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with her song Everybody\u2019s Somebody\u2019s Fool.<\/em> By the early \u201860s, she had sold over 200 million records worldwide. She went on to become the first female artist to have three No. 1 hits, solidifying her place in music history and setting a precedent for future generations of female performers. Connie Francis wasn\u2019t just a singer \u2014 she was a trailblazer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She was also a survivor. Connie\u2019s life was marked by both dazzling success and heartbreaking tragedy. Over the years, she battled numerous personal challenges, including a highly publicised assault, the murder of her brother, and multiple health setbacks. Yet she never let adversity define her. Time and again she returned \u2014 sometimes quietly, sometimes with fanfare \u2014 but always with grace, humor, and a fighting spirit. Her ability to weather life's storms made her a symbol of resilience to many.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The story of Connie Francis is more than just a story about music. It\u2019s a story about longevity, about the enduring power of art, and about the human spirit\u2019s capacity to connect across generations. She was an artist who could sing heartbreak like she had lived it \u2014 because she had. She sang about longing, love, joy and sorrow in a way that felt immediate and personal, no matter how many years had passed. And now, thanks to a short-form video app she barely understood at first, her music has found its way into the hearts of millions more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s hard not to feel that the timing of this TikTok resurgence was something special \u2014 almost cosmic. At a point when she was feeling physically limited and battling health struggles, here was this unexpected wave of love and celebration from a generation she had never even met. Just as her body was beginning to decline, her voice \u2014 always her most powerful instrument \u2014 was ringing louder than ever, all around the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even in her final weeks, she remained engaged, grateful, and full of the same wit and warmth that had defined her career. Her last Facebook messages reveal a woman who was determined to stay connected, who found joy in her fans and who genuinely felt moved by their attention. Connie Francis died knowing that she mattered, that her music mattered \u2014 and perhaps more importantly, that it still does.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As we say goodbye to one of the great voices of American pop music, we remember not just the songs, but the woman behind them \u2014 her courage, her resilience, her laughter, and her boundless generosity of spirit. Connie Francis didn\u2019t just sing about love; she inspired it. And today, as tributes pour in from fans old and new, it\u2019s clear that her legacy is not only intact \u2014 it\u2019s thriving.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thank you, Connie. For the memories. For the music. For reminding us all that even a B-side can become a treasure, and that it\u2019s never too late to be heard.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Bittersweet Goodbye to a Timeless Voice: Remembering Connie Francis HOLLYWOOD, California---It was with much sorrow that the world woke up Thursday morning to the sad news: Connie Francis, 87, beloved pop icon and trailblazer of the late 1950s and early 1960s, had died the night before. Two weeks earlier, she had been admitted to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4973","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-letters-from-hollywood"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shavuatov.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4973","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shavuatov.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shavuatov.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shavuatov.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shavuatov.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4973"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.shavuatov.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4973\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5496,"href":"https:\/\/www.shavuatov.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4973\/revisions\/5496"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shavuatov.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4973"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shavuatov.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4973"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shavuatov.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4973"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}