[Ammi]

Singer and actress Marianne Faithfull has died at the age of 78, a spokesperson has said.

Faithfull’s hits included As Tears Go By, which was written by The Rolling Stones’ Sir Mick Jagger and Keith Richards.

In addition to her music career, Faithfull also acted in films including The Girl On A Motorcycle with French actor Alain Delon, as well as theatre productions.

A statement said: “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 began her singing career in 1964 after being discovered by Rolling Stones manager Andrew Loog Oldham.

She released her self-titled debut album in 1965, which featured top 10 hits As Tears Go By and Come And Stay With Me, at the same time as follow-up LP Come My Way, which was largely made up of folk covers.

From 1966 to 1970, Faithfull was in a highly publicised relationship with Sir Mick following his split from model and actress Chrissie Shrimpton.

Her first hit, As Tears Go By, was written by Sir Mick and Richards and charted at number nine, and was followed by a series of successful singles, including Come And Stay With Me, This Little Bird and Summer Nights.

Faithfull co-wrote Sister Morphine with Sir Mick and Richards from the Rolling Stones’ 1971 album Sticky Fingers, releasing her own version in 1969 featuring guitarist Ry Cooder and Jack Nitzsche on piano.

She was credited as a writer on the initial Decca release of her own version, but omitted from later releases prompting a legal dispute which eventually saw her credited on both the Stones and her own reissues.

She was famously found wearing nothing but a rug at a drugs bust at Redlands, the country house of Rolling Stones guitarist Richards in 1967.

Following her split with Sir Mick, Faithfull spent two years on the streets of Soho while addicted to heroin before living in a squat.

It has also been claimed that Faithfull inspired Stones songs including You Can’t Always Get What You Want and Dear Doctor, while it has also been reported that The Beatles’ And Your Bird Can Sing was inspired by her and Sir Mick’s relationship.

She returned to release the new wave-influenced album Broken English in 1979, which is now regarded as a classic.

Faithfull re-invented herself in 1987 as a jazz and blues singer with the critically acclaimed Strange Weather, and in the same decade went into rehab.

Her final album was an experimental collaboration with Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds’ Australian multi-instrumentalist Warren Ellis, called She Walks In Beauty (2021).

Recently she has enjoyed a resurgence and is said to be admired by the likes of Kate Moss and Courtney Love.

In 2006, it was announced that she had made a full recovery from breast cancer.

Doctors in France had diagnosed the disease in September, forcing the star to postpone her world tour.

But the cancer was found in its “earliest stages” and following surgery, she announced she would resume her tour the next year.

She was quoted as saying at the time: “It has been an extraordinary experience and, in many ways, extremely positive.

“I didn’t realise how many true friends I had. I feel so lucky and loved and thank everybody for all their good thoughts.”

The breast cancer came two years after Faithfull, a former smoker, was forced to cancel her European tour after collapsing backstage at a gig.

The singer was diagnosed with exhaustion and ordered to rest for three months.

In 2005, filmmaker Duncan Roy announced that Faithfull had stepped down from his screen version of The Picture Of Dorian Gray because she had suffered a heart attack, which she denied.

In April 2020, it was announced that the singer had been admitted to hospital after contracting Covid, she was released from hospital three weeks later.

The daughter of a British military officer and an Austro-Hungarian Jewish baroness, Faithfull recently appeared in Sofia Coppola’s film Marie Antoinette.

She made a guest appearance as God in the TV sitcom Absolutely Fabulous, with actress Anita Pallenberg, the former girlfriend of Stones members Brian Jones and Keith Richards, playing the devil.

One of her earliest films was I’ll Never Forget What’s ‘Is Name (1967), alongside Orson Welles, and she recently provided the voice of Bene Gesserit Ancestor in Dune (2021).

[Ammi]

[joeysteele]

I rarely make threads but was just about to do so when I saw this one.
Thank you Ammi, yours is far superior to what I was going to do.

I am a mad fan of sixties music and there's many singers and groups who stand out for me from that era.
However I really love my CDs of Marianne Faithfull.
There's was something so special about her voice and a list of songs that are superb.
As Tears Go By.
Come and Stay With Me
Summer Nights.
This Little Bird
Yesterday.
Go Away From My World.
Counting.
Is This What I Get For Loving You Baby.
Just to list some.

Despite her like sweetness she lived a wild life it seems.

I am sad to read of her death today.
I think there was something special about Marianne.
I love listening to the songs she recorded.
R.I.P.

[arista]

Another Great Singer
has left us.

[Beso]

Originally Posted by arista

Another Great Singer
has left us.

Shes not to bad at hiding fruit as well.

RIP Marianne.

[LaLaLand]

Proper British 60’s icon - would love to have been a fly on the wall during those days of her parties with Jagger and other famous names of the time. What a life lived.

RIP Marianne.

[bots]

She and Jagger shared a fondness for chocolate confectionary

[UserSince2005]

She was a dirty gal

[rusticgal]

An icon…I love these stars of the 60’s…the best music imo.

[Alf]

Mick and Keith wrote this classic and gave it to her. Basically made her famous. That and being one of Mick's many conquests.

Youtube video

Obviously the Stones version is better. But still, rest un peace Marianne.

Youtube video

[LaLaLand]

One of my favourite celebrity candid snaps ever:

[arista]

[joeysteele]

Originally Posted by rusticgal

An icon…I love these stars of the 60’s…the best music imo.

I agree

I'd have loved to have lived in that decade even just for the music.

Marianne Faithfull certainly made her mark in that decade too.

[Livia]

I am genuinely sorry to hear this. She was the epitome of a 60s girl and was always on my list for my fantasy dinner party. It's a shame that all some people remember of her is the Mars bar story, which was made up to discredit her.

She was arrested when the Rolling Stones were busted and she and Mick Jagger were jailed. All the police had found was a couple of pills in Jaggers pocket but at that time they thought that the Stones would bring down society and wanted them busted. It was William Rees Mogg - Jacob's Dad - who got them out. Marianne Faithfull's career was over, she ended up homeless for a year before making a comeback. The Stones were on stage the following day. It's amazing, and a testament to who she was, that she got past that awful time. She ended up playing God in Absolutely Fabulous, a role which I think sat really well on her.

[arista]

Originally Posted by Livia

I am genuinely sorry to hear this. She was the epitome of a 60s girl and was always on my list for my fantasy dinner party. It's a shame that all some people remember of her is the Mars bar story, which was made up to discredit her.

She was arrested when the Rolling Stones were busted and she and Mick Jagger were jailed. All the police had found was a couple of pills in Jaggers pocket but at that time they thought that the Stones would bring down society and wanted them busted. It was William Rees Mogg - Jacob's Dad - who got them out. Marianne Faithfull's career was over, she ended up homeless for a year before making a comeback. The Stones were on stage the following day. It's amazing, and a testament to who she was, that she got past that awful time. She ended up playing God in Absolutely Fabulous, a role which I think sat really well on her.

Yes, nice to get them out of jail.

And sad she became homeless

[joeysteele]

Originally Posted by Livia

I am genuinely sorry to hear this. She was the epitome of a 60s girl and was always on my list for my fantasy dinner party. It's a shame that all some people remember of her is the Mars bar story, which was made up to discredit her.

She was arrested when the Rolling Stones were busted and she and Mick Jagger were jailed. All the police had found was a couple of pills in Jaggers pocket but at that time they thought that the Stones would bring down society and wanted them busted. It was William Rees Mogg - Jacob's Dad - who got them out. Marianne Faithfull's career was over, she ended up homeless for a year before making a comeback. The Stones were on stage the following day. It's amazing, and a testament to who she was, that she got past that awful time. She ended up playing God in Absolutely Fabulous, a role which I think sat really well on her.

That's a fascinating and also sad read there.
Thank you for it Livia.

I actually liked the change in her voice on her like comeback period with the song Lucy Jordan.
I've two albums of her from the late 70s and early 80s, which one of my family had.
Broken English and Dangerous Acquaintances.
Really good albums.

Marianne also did a rather reasonable recording of my all time favourite song, DOWNTOWN.
Your post above, just reinforces my own opinion that Marianne was someone special to the world of show business over her lifetime.
Bless her.