Marianne Faithfull, the British pop icon behind hits like “As Tears Go By” and “This Little Bird,” has died. She was 78.
“It is with deep sadness that we announce the death of the singer, songwriter and actress Marianne Faithfull,” a statement released by her representatives shared with the BBC read. “Marianne passed away peacefully in London today, in the company of her loving family. She will be dearly missed.”
Born in London in 1946, Faithfull got her break when she caught the eye of Rolling Stones manager Andrew Loog Oldham at a party in 1964.
“He asked me, ‘Can you sing?’ And I said, ‘Mm-mm, I can,” she told NPR in 2005.
Oldham had Faithfull record the Keith Richards and Mick Jagger-written “Tears,” which became a hit in the U.K. and U.S. Faithfull found the wistful track and the sad-eyed persona it required to be an ill fit. She called the song “a marketable portrait of me and “a commercial fantasy” in her 1994 memoir.
That initial single wouldn’t be her last collaboration with the Rolling Stones. Faithfull dated frontman Mick Jagger on and off for years and inspired several of the band’s biggest hits. Faithfull loaned Jagger the copy of “The Master and Margarita” that prompted him to write “Sympathy for the Devil.” The chorus of “Wild Horses” was reportedly uttered by Faithfull after she awoke from a coma brought on by a barbiturate overdose.
Across her decades-long career, the pop singer whose early songs beamed Swinging Sixties London across the airwaves and into the American Top 40 became a symbol of resurrection and resilience. After a string of successful pop hits in her teens and twenties, Faithfull fell on hard times, largely due to brutal battles with drug addiction. The one-time actress who starred alongside glamorous European film icons like Alain Delon lived on the streets of London for several years as she grappled with heroin addiction.
She emerged from the experience battle-scarred and world-weary in 1979 and used her worn-down voice to great effect in a blast of future-forward new wave music called “Broken English.” Faithfull hadn’t released an album in over a decade at that point, but her critically lauded career resurgence was stymied by further fights with addiction.
She re-emerged in the late ’80s with yet another persona, taking on the role of a cabaret artist and releasing slabs of show tunes and standards. In her later years, she settled back into an inspirational role, collaborating with a new wave of artists who had been inspired by her chameleonic career.
Mick Jagger and Ronnie Wood both shared tributes to Faithfull on Instagram, with the former saying “She will always be remembered.” Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich lauded his former collaborator in another social media post.
“The biggest Thank You and F**k Yeah for your incredible and unique contribution to our music, and for always being so willing to join us in performing it … and partake in the ensuing shenanigans! Rest in Peace,” he wrote.
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