Connie Francis, 1st Woman With a No. 1 Hit on Billboard Hot 100, Has Died

• Connie Francis has died at age 87. She is the first woman to have a No.1 on the Billboard Hot 100. Connie Francis (born Concetta Rosa Maria Franconero (December 12, 1937 – July 16, 2025) was an American pop singer, actress, and top-charting female vocalist of the late 1950s and early 1960s. She is estimated to have sold more than 200 million records worldwide.

Recently, her 1962 song, Pretty Little Baby, has become popular with young people on TikTok. She was happy about that because it represented a more innocent time.

In 1960, Francis was recognized as the most successful female artist in Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom, Italy, Australia, and the United States. She was the first woman in history to reach No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 when “Everybody’s Somebody’s Fool” topped the chart in 1960, she was also the first woman to have 3 No. 1 hits on the chart, just three of her 53 career hits.

While appearing at the Westbury Music Fair in New York, on November 8, 1974, Francis was raped at the Jericho Turnpike Howard Johnson’s Lodge in Jericho, New York, and nearly suffocated under the weight of a heavy mattress the culprit had thrown upon her. She subsequently sued the motel chain for failing to provide adequate security and reportedly won a $2.5 million judgment, one of the largest such judgments in history, leading to a reform in hotel security.

Howard Johnson went out of the hotel business after that.

In 1978, Francis returned to the recording studio to cut an album titled Who’s Happy Now? She underwent nasal surgery and couldn’t sing again until 1981.

In 1981, further tragedy struck Francis when her brother, George Franconero, Jr., with whom she was very close, was murdered by Mafia hitmen.

Francis returned again to the studio in 1981 to cut “Comme ci, comme ça”, and “I’m Me Again”, the latter of which became the title track of an album which featured the new songs. “I’m Me Again” became Francis’ last single to chart on the AC charts.

She suffered from depression and was finally diagnosed with post traumatic stress syndrome from the rape.

Francis enjoyed a career abroad until she retired in 2018. In 2025, she was in a wheelchair. She had hoped to make a comeback appearance at an event hosted by Cousin Brucie in July 2025 but was unable to do so due to severe pain and a related hospitalization. She died a few days later at the age of 87.

She was in love with Bobby Darin but her father continually kept them apart. When he found out they were secretly engage, her father tried to kill him. They spoke little after that. Eventually he married Sandra Dee. Dee said she didn’t like him. The marriage lasted seven years and they had one son.

Connie Francis said not marrying Bobby Darin was the worst mistake of her life. She went on to marry four times and during one marriage, she adopted a boy she called Joey who died in his sleep at age 46 in 2021. Her longest relationship was with Tony Feretti from 2003 until he died in 2022.

Bobby Darin kept her love letters until his death at age 37 after heart surgery.

In 2001, “Who’s Sorry Now?” was named one of the Songs of the Century.

“Who’s Sorry Now” by Connie Francis https://t.co/460sX9Oue4 pic.twitter.com/tDWtB5MYGs

— Connie Francis Updates (@conniecharts) May 25, 2025

Connie Francis has passed away at the age of 87 pic.twitter.com/JS5Mq31CQo

— Rock History (@historyrock_) July 17, 2025

‘Pretty Little Baby’ singer Connie Francis has passed away aged 87.

The pop star who became popular in the ’50s and ’60s was the first woman to have a No. 1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 as a solo artist.

Her 1962 hit ‘Pretty Little Baby’ has become a viral hit on Tiktok over… pic.twitter.com/o5cjWYvZee

— Oli London (@OliLondonTV) July 17, 2025