Latest news with #Who'sSorryNow?
Malaysian Reserve
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Malaysian Reserve
Italian American Legend Connie Francis Belongs in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame
The Conference of Presidents of Major Italian American Organizations (COPOMIAO) launches advocacy campaign on behalf of Francis, whose chart-topping ballads once ruled the airwaves — and now trend across TikTok by the billions. CLEVELAND, July 19, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — As the nation remembers Connie Francis, one question, amplified by disbelief, grows louder: Where the girls are? Everywhere but the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, it seems. 'The Rock Hall has faced ongoing criticism for under-representing early female pop vocalists and girl groups — many of whom, like Connie Francis, laid the foundation for pop and rock in the 1950s and '60s,' said COPOMIAO President Basil Russo. 'There's a strong case to be made that she deserves induction for her cultural influence and pioneering success as one of the first female pop superstars. Madonna — a successor to Francis in both Italian American heritage and chart dominance — was inducted in 2008. Francis's exclusion today appears indefensible.' Consider her legacy: 200+ million records sold worldwide First woman to top the Billboard Hot 100 Top-selling female artist of the 1960s 27 billion TikTok views featuring her music (and counting) 53 Billboard Hot 100 chart hits The voice of a generation, Francis broke through at a time when women were expected to sing, not lead. Born Concetta Rosa Maria Franconero in Newark, N.J., to Italian immigrant parents, she grew up speaking Italian and performing at local events by age 4. After years of grinding out talent contests and TV appearances, she exploded onto the scene in 1958 with 'Who's Sorry Now?' COPOMIAO is rallying the public to contact the Rock Hall and advocate for the recognition Connie Francis deserves. From there, she became a trailblazer: the first woman to reach No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with 'Everybody's Somebody's Fool,' and the first to headline major tours across Europe, Asia and the Middle East. She recorded in over a dozen languages, starred in Hollywood musicals, and even opened for the Queen of England. By the mid-1960s, Francis had become not only a household name but also a symbol of Italian American pride. ABOUT COPOMIAO Formed in NYC in 1975, the Conference of Presidents of Major Italian American Organizations (COPOMIAO) is a national coalition of 74 cultural, educational, fraternal and anti-defamation groups that advocate for the Italian American culture.
Yahoo
18-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Connie Francis, ‘Where the Boys Are' Singer and Actress, Dies at 87
Connie Francis, the actress and beloved pop vocalist who had hits with 'Who's Sorry Now?,' 'Everybody's Somebody's Fool,' 'Stupid Cupid' and 'Where the Boys Are' before her life took several turbulent turns, has died. She was 87. Ron Roberts, her friend and the president of her label, Concetta Records, shared the news Thursday on Facebook. More from The Hollywood Reporter Simon Cowell Will Look for a New Boy Band in Netflix Series Bruce Springsteen, Penélope Cruz, Bowen Yang and Walter Salles to be Honored at 2025 Academy Museum Gala Joanna Bacon, British Actress Known for 'Love Actually' and 'Breeders,' Dies at 72 'It is with a heavy heart and extreme sadness that i inform you of the passing of my dear friend Connie Francis last night,' he wrote in a note that was reposted by the official Francis account on Facebook. 'I know that Connie would approve that her fans are among the first to learn of this sad news.' The news comes after the star was hospitalized this month. 'I am back in the hospital where I have been undergoing tests and checks to determine the cause(s) of the extreme pain I have been experiencing,' she wrote July 2 on Facebook. Francis had recently seen an unexpected streaming surge as her 1962 tune 'Pretty Little Baby' had become one of the biggest songs on TikTok this year. As of July, it has been featured in more than 2 million TikTok videos and has nearly 85 million streams on Spotify. A New Jersey native, Francis set the tone for the likes of Madonna and Lady Gaga and 'had a powerful voice that could sound like a sob while staying on key,' San Francisco critic Neva Chonin once noted. One of the most commercially successful female singers of all time, she sold 42 million records by the time she was 26 and, according to her website, 200 million-plus records around the world during her career. On the heels of her newfound celebrity, famed MGM producer Joe Pasternak tapped Francis to portray the romantically challenged Angie, one of four co-eds on spring break in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and sing the title song for Where the Boys Are (1960). The coming-of-age film, also starring Paula Prentiss, Dolores Hart and Yvette Mimieux, was a box office hit, and her tune reached No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1961. Francis also sang it in Italian, Spanish, French, German and Japanese during the same New York City recording session in November 1960, and it would soar to No. 1 in 19 countries. As Francis churned out one top 10 hit after another, she starred in three more MGM movies, all musicals: Follow the Boys (1963), shot on location on the French and Italian Riviera and also featuring Prentiss; Looking for Love (1964), with Jim Hutton and Johnny Carson; and When the Boys Meet the Girls (1965), featuring Herman's Hermits. Francis never wanted to be an actress, she told Nick Thomas in 2017. 'I asked the studio why they couldn't come up with a title without the word 'boys' in it!' she said. 'People knew [When the Boys Meet the Girls] was another lame Connie Francis movie and they stayed home. I was so pleased it was my last one.' (In 1984, she declined an offer from producer Allan Carr to appear in his remake of Where the Boys Are.) In 1958, Francis shot to stardom with her rendition of 'Who's Sorry Now?,' a 1923 tune written by Bert Kalmar and Harry Ruby that had been recorded by Bing Crosby and performed in French by Lisette Verea in the Marx Brothers' A Night in Casablanca (1946). With 'Everybody's Somebody's Fool' in June 1960, Francis became the first woman to have a No. 1 song on the Hot 100 (the chart was almost two years old at the time). She reached the pinnacle again three months later with 'My Heart Has a Mind of Its Own' and had a third chart-topper with 'Don't Break the Heart That Loves You' in March 1962. Francis accumulated many other top 10 hits, including 'My Happiness,' 'Lipstick on Your Collar,' 'Frankie' and 'Among My Souvenirs,' all released in 1959; 'Mama' — she said that was her personal favorite — and 'Many Tears Ago' from 1960; 'Together' and 'Breakin' in a Brand New Broken Heart' from 1961; and 'When the Boy in Your Arms (Is the Boy In Your Heart),' 'Second Hand Love' and 'Vacation' from 1962. Her personal life, however, was filled with tragedy. Her self-described one true love, singer Bobby Darin, was chased away by her strict father before they could elope, and she had four unhappy marriages, two miscarriages and a son that lived for only 10 days; was raped at knifepoint in a Long Island motel; her brother was murdered, gangland style; botched nasal surgery took away her singing voice for years; and she was diagnosed with manic depression and involuntarily institutionalized 17 times. 'I would like to be remembered, not so much for the heights I have reached, but for the depths from which I have come,' she often said. Concetta Maria Franconero was born on Dec. 12, 1937, in Newark, the daughter of Ida and George, a roofer who would become the dominating architect of her career. She began taking accordion lessons when she was 3, but her talents as a singer quickly became obvious. At 14, she was making demonstration records for publishers to pitch unreleased songs to popular singers — they'd say, 'C'mon Connie, give it a Rosemary Clooney sound. Give it that great Patti Page or Jo Stafford sound' — when she appeared on the CBS program Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts. During rehearsals, the host had trouble pronouncing her name and suggested she go by Connie Francis. While getting stellar grades at Arts High School and Belleville High School, she appeared from 1953-55 on NBC's Startime Kids. George Scheck, a producer on that variety show, became her manager and shopped her around to record companies; after being turned down by Mitch Miller at Columbia Records and many others, she got a 20-side, two-year deal from Harry Meyerson at MGM Records. She sang for Tuesday Weld in Rock, Rock, Rock (1956) and for Freda Holloway in Jamboree (1957), but her singles were not doing well, with 'The Majesty of Love,' at No. 93, her only one to chart. With her MGM contract about to expire, she was going to accept a scholarship to study medicine at NYU when, hounded by her father, she reluctantly recorded 'Who's Sorry Now?' with 16 minutes left on her final studio session. She thought the song was 'square.' Championed by American Bandstand's Dick Clark — 'without Dick Clark, there would be no Connie Francis,' she said — 'Who's Sorry Now?' sold more than 1 million copies and spent 22 weeks on the Hot 100 in 1958. Suddenly, she was headlining the Copacabana in New York City and the Sahara in Las Vegas, starring on her own ABC special and getting 5,000 fan letters a week. Francis had further success in 1958 with the rock 'n' roll hit 'Stupid Cupid,' written by Neil Sedaka and Howie Greenfield. And when Pasternak advised her that he had commissioned the Oscar-winning songwriting team of Sammy Cahn and Jimmy Van Heusen to pen 'Where the Boys Are,' she pushed for Sedaka and Greenfield to be considered, and it was their song that she performed. In 1960, Francis was named Miss Coca-Cola and made four appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show. She would be showcased on the program more than two dozen times. Her 1963 song 'In the Summer of His Years,' written as a tribute to John F. Kennedy, was an early charity record, with proceeds going to dependents of the policemen injured during the assassination. In 1964, she was given a special Golden Globe for her 'international contribution to the recording world.' Later, she performed for the U.S. troops in Vietnam. For all her success, she said she passed on opportunities to record such songs as 'Strangers in the Night,' 'Somewhere My Love,' 'Danke Shoen,' 'Angel in the Morning' and tunes written by Hal David and Burt Bacharach. 'I think more songs I turned down than songs I recorded were hits,' she told Ira David Sternberg in a 2018 interview. Her father also rejected a lucrative offer from Frank Sinatra that would have had her record and make movies and TV specials for his Reprise Records. Her last song to chart came in 1969. After three years of inactivity that resulted in part from her miscarriage, Francis began a nationwide tour in November 1974 at the Westbury Music Fair on Long Island. On the fourth night of her engagement, she was raped in her room at a Howard Johnson Motel Lodge. She didn't appreciate that the news generated headlines around the world. 'I didn't want to be thought of as a 'professional victim,'' she said in 1984. Francis was depressed and couldn't get out of bed for months, and in July 1976, a jury awarded her $2.6 million, finding the Howard Johnson chain responsible for her unsafe room. Surgery to widen her nasal passages in 1977 left her unable to sing for four years, and it would take three subsequent operations to restore her singing ability. 'When I lost my voice, I lost myself. It's as simple as that,' she said on her website. 'My voice was the thing that had always defined me — it was who I was. Singing was the one and only thing I was born to do. I felt like a surgeon whose hands had been amputated.' In March 1981, her younger brother, Georgie, 40, who had pleaded guilty to bank fraud charges and had given law enforcement officials information concerning alleged organized-crime activities, was shot to death in front of his New Jersey home. Her eight-year run of stays in psychiatric hospitals ended in 1991 when she said she was properly diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. In 2018, the first of her planned three-part memoir, Among My Souvenirs (The Real Story), was published. After 'dating the swingers of the world but never doing the horizontal cha-cha-cha with any of them,' Francis married publicist Dick Kanellis in August 1964 but filed for divorce five months later, citing mental cruelty. She wed beauty salon owner Izzy Marion, owner of beauty salons in Las Vegas and Lake Tahoe, in January 1971; they divorced 10 months later. She also was married to restaurateur and travel agent Joseph Garzilli from 1973-77 and to TV producer Bob Parkinson in 1985. Both of those unions ended in divorce, too. (Her romance with Darin has been revisited on Broadway in the jukebox musical Just in Time, with Jonathan Groff and Gracie Lawrence portraying the singers.) On Thursday, Lawrence appeared with her Just in Time castmates in New York's Bryant Park and performed 'Who's Sorry Now.' 'I'm going to sing a Connie song now. I implore you to listen to the real thing after [this performance],' she said. 'You'll hear resilience, character, personality, humor, tenderness and strength. You can hear all of that in her voice … which she knew. I would also say that because we're not in a Broadway theater right now, we have the unique opportunity to all sing along, which I know also would've meant a lot to her because her relationship with her fans was everything to her. So, if you know this song, 'Who's Sorry Now,' please sing along. I believe it would mean a lot to her.' Survivors include her adopted son, Joey. 'There are a lot of people who have had my success in this business,' she told Gary James in an interview conducted in the late '90s. 'There were exhilarating highs and abysmal lows. But, it was fighting to get out of those lows that I feel most proud of. 'It was a struggle to reconcile all of the tragedies that had occurred in my life, and I'd like to be known for my music. I'm always honored and privileged when people remember, and it brings back happy memories for a lot of people, and that makes me happy.' Best of The Hollywood Reporter From 'Party in the U.S.A.' to 'Born in the U.S.A.': 20 of America's Most Patriotic (and Un-Patriotic) Musical Offerings Most Anticipated Concert Tours of 2025: Beyoncé, Billie Eilish, Kendrick Lamar & SZA, Sabrina Carpenter and More Hollywood's Most Notable Deaths of 2025 Solve the daily Crossword
Indian Express
18-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Indian Express
Golden Era singer, who rejected Frank Sinatra, was forbidden from marrying the love of her life; he died at 37, none of her 4 marriages lasted
The world of music suffered a great loss on 17 July, as the nightingale of the 50s and 60s, Connie Francis, tragically passed away at the age of 87. An artiste who saw her music resurrected through the power of the internet just months before taking her final exit. She helped shape an entire generation's idea of love and companionship, but in reality, Connie Francis, the woman who left Frank Sinatra waiting at a table, could never find true love for herself, at least not the kind that stayed. However, there was once a time when Connie could picture someone while singing her ballads, for there was a man that she loved but ultimately couldn't be with. Connie grew up in an Italian/Jewish neighbourhood, and right from her childhood, her father pushed her to be a performer. She has talked about her difficult relationship with him in her memoir 'Among My Souvenirs' and admitted that even though he was always supportive of her career, he sometimes did too much in the quest of making her successful. While coming up the ranks, Connie met Bobby Darin, a young chap, who, according to what she told Closer, 'was the smartest man she had ever met.' What bloomed into the greatest love affair of her life started off on shaky ground. ALSO READ: Coldplay's Chris Martin teases couple on kiss-cam after outing Astronomer's CEO, asks 'Are you legitimate?' Connie and Bobby started writing music together, and one day he came to her with a new song. Francis in turn gave some notes and made some changes to the lyrics, which made Bobby furious. Even though he left angry, he would soon return after accepting the changes, and that was the foundation of their relationship. The two penniless lovers were both trying to make it in the cut-throat business, but Darin had a clock constantly ticking over his head. When he was a child, multiple infections and rheumatic fever rendered his heart weak. The doctors told Bobby that he wouldn't live long, and that is why, according to Connie, he wanted to be a star before he was 25. The clock might be the reason why Bobby even proposed marriage early in their relationship, but Connie refused because she wanted them to be successful before leaping into matrimony. Both of them would soon start finding work, as Bobby became a regular in several famous nightclubs and Connie became an overnight sensation with her song 'Who's Sorry Now?' As more fame and success started falling into their laps, the love grew, but it wasn't meant to last. Connie's father had the final say in all the decisions she made regarding her career and her life, and he did not approve of Bobby. Her father would even go on to pull a gun on Bobby and tell him to leave the studio where she was rehearsing. Connie admitted that she was afraid for Bobby and thought that her father's actions could affect his already weak heart. She decided to listen to her father and keep her distance, but the two still kept in touch through letters. However, Connie's father made it impossible for the two to maintain this relationship, and they would soon part ways. Bobby went on to write several chart-breaking songs, win two Grammys and even get an Oscar nomination. His condition caught up with him though, and he ultimately passed away at the age of 37. Connie would go on to reject many suitors, including the famous crooner Frank Sinatra, who she reportedly left alone at a table after he used some foul language in front of her. She got married four times, and her longest was with Joseph Garzilli, which lasted for 5 years. It is quite possible that Bobby would have passed away around the same time, even if he married Connie like he wanted to, but she would definitely have had a much smoother life with the love of her life, considering all the horrors that she faced, including her father's death, her brother's murder, and the ghastly motel incident. Ironically, the woman who inspired the people of her generation to love and introduced her kind of old-school affection to this generation never found love for herself. But she will be remembered dearly, and all her fans, new and old, will hope that she is once again united with the one that got away.
Irish Examiner
18-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Examiner
Pretty Little Baby singer Connie Francis dies aged 87
Connie Francis, the wholesome pop star of the 1950s and 1960s whose hits include Pretty Little Baby, has died at the age of 87. Her death was announced on Thursday by her friend and publicist, Ron Roberts, who did not immediately provide additional details. Francis was a top performer of the pre-Beatles era, rarely off the charts from 1957-64. Able to appeal to both young people and adults, she had more than a dozen top 20 hits, starting with Who's Sorry Now? and including the Number one songs Don't Break The Heart That Loves You and The Heart Has A Mind Of Its Own. Like other teen favourites of her time, she also starred in several films, including Where The Boys Are and Follow The Boys. Dick Clark with Connie Francis (Reed Saxon/AP) The dark-haired singer was just 17 when she signed a contract with MGM Records following appearances on several TV variety shows. Her earliest recordings attracted little attention, but then she released her version of Who's Sorry Now? an old ballad by Ted Snyder, Bert Kalmar and Harry Ruby. It, too, had little success initially until Dick Clark played it on his American Bandstand show in 1958. Francis followed with such teen hits as Stupid Cupid, Everybody's Somebody's Fool, and Lipstick On Your Collar. Her records became hits worldwide as she re-recorded versions of her original songs in Italian and Spanish among other languages. Her concerts around the country quickly sold out. Meanwhile, a romance bloomed with fellow teen idol Bobby Darin, who had volunteered to write songs for her. But when her father heard rumours that the pair were planning a wedding he stormed into a rehearsal and pulled a gun on Darin, ending their relationship and seeming to set Francis on a pained and traumatic path. She chronicled some of it in her autobiography, Who's Sorry Now? 'My personal life is a regret from A to Z,' she told The Associated Press in 1984, the year the book came out. 'I realised I had allowed my father to exert too much influence over me.' Her father, George Franconero, was a roofing contractor from New Jersey who played the accordion, and he had his daughter learn the instrument as soon as she began to show an aptitude for music. When she was four, he began booking singing dates for her, going on to become her manager. Although her acting career had faded by the mid-1960s, Francis was still popular on the concert circuit when she appeared at the Westbury Music Centre in Westbury, New York, in 1974. She had returned to her hotel room and was asleep when a man broke in and raped her at knifepoint. He was never captured. Francis sued the hotel, alleging its security was faulty, and a jury awarded her $2.5 million in 1976. The two sides then settled out of court for $1,475,000 as an appeal was pending. She said the attack destroyed her marriage and put her through years of emotional turmoil. She suffered tragedy in 1981 when her brother George was shot dead as he was leaving his New Jersey home. Later in the decade, her father had her committed to a psychiatric hospital, where she was diagnosed as manic-depressive. At one point she attempted suicide by swallowing dozens of sleeping tablets. After three days in a coma, she recovered. She was married four times and would say that only her third husband, Joseph Garzilli, was worth the trouble. The other marriages each lasted less than a year. Concetta Rosemarie Franconero was born on December 12, 1937, in Newark, New Jersey. At age nine, she began appearing on television programmes, including Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts and The Perry Como Show. It was Godfrey who suggested she shorten her last name. Clark featured her repeatedly on American Bandstand, and she said in later years that without his support she would have abandoned her music career.
Yomiuri Shimbun
18-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yomiuri Shimbun
Connie Francis, Whose Hit Songs Included ‘Who's Sorry Now?' and ‘Pretty Little Baby,' Dies at 87
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Connie Francis, the wholesome pop star of the 1950s and '60s whose hits included 'Pretty Little Baby' and 'Who's Sorry Now?' — the latter would serve as an ironic title for a personal life filled with heartbreak and tragedy — has died at age 87. Radio DJ Bruce 'Cousin Brucie' Morrow, a longtime friend, told The Associated Press that she died Wednesday at a hospital in Florida, the state where she had lived for years. Morrow did not cite a specific cause of death, but Francis had posted on social media earlier this month that she had been hospitalized with 'extreme pain.' Francis had gained renewed attention in recent months after 'Pretty Little Baby' became a sensation on TikTok, with Kim Kardashian and Kylie Jenner among the many celebrities citing it. 'I'm flabbergasted and excited about the huge buzz my 1962 recording of 'Pretty Little Baby' is making all over the world,' she said in a video on TikTok, which she had joined in response to the song's unexpected revival. 'To think that a song I recorded 63 years ago is captivating new generations of audiences is truly overwhelming for me.' Francis was a top performer of the pre-Beatles era, rarely out of the charts from 1957-64. Able to appeal to both young people and adults, she had more than a dozen Top 20 hits, starting with 'Who's Sorry Now?' and including the No. 1 songs 'Don't Break the Heart That Loves You' and 'The Heart Has a Mind of Its Own.' Like other teen favorites of her time, she also starred in several films, including 'Where the Boys Are' and 'Follow the Boys.' The dark-haired singer was just 17 when she signed a contract with MGM Records following appearances on several TV variety shows. Her earliest recordings attracted little attention, but then she released her version of 'Who's Sorry Now?' an old ballad by Ted Snyder, Bert Kalmar and Harry Ruby. It, too, had little success initially until Dick Clark played it on his 'American Bandstand' show in 1958. Clark featured her repeatedly on 'American Bandstand,' and she said in later years that without his support, she would have abandoned her music career. Francis followed with such teen hits as 'Stupid Cupid,' 'Everybody's Somebody's Fool' and 'Lipstick on Your Collar.' Her records became hits worldwide as she re-recorded versions of her original songs in Italian and Spanish, among other languages. Her concerts around the country quickly sold out. Meanwhile, a romance bloomed with fellow teen idol Bobby Darin, who had volunteered to write songs for her. But when her father heard rumors that the pair was planning a wedding, he stormed into a rehearsal and pulled a gun on Darin, ending their relationship and seeming to set Francis on a pained and traumatic path. She chronicled some of it in her autobiography, 'Who's Sorry Now?' 'My personal life is a regret from A to Z,' she told The Associated Press in 1984, the year the book came out. 'I realized I had allowed my father to exert too much influence over me.' Her father, George Franconero, was a roofing contractor from New Jersey who played the accordion. She was just 3 when her father presented her with a child-size accordion, as soon as she began to show an aptitude for music. When she was 4, he began booking singing dates for her, going on to become her manager. Although her acting career had faded by the mid-1960s, Francis was still popular on the concert circuit when she appeared at the Westbury Music Fair in Westbury, New York, in 1974. She had returned to her hotel room and was asleep when a man broke in and raped her at knifepoint. He was never captured. Francis sued the hotel, alleging its security was faulty, and a jury awarded her $2.5 million in 1976. The two sides then settled out of court for $1,475,000 as an appeal was pending. She said the attack destroyed her marriage and put her through years of emotional turmoil. She suffered tragedy in 1981 when her brother George was shot to death as he was leaving his New Jersey home. Later that decade, her father had her committed to a psychiatric hospital, where she was diagnosed as manic-depressive. At one point, she tried to kill herself by swallowing dozens of sleeping tablets. After three days in a coma, she recovered. Around that time, she wrote to President Ronald Reagan and volunteered to help others, calling herself ″America's most famous crime victim.″ Reagan appointed her to a task force on violent crime. ″I don't want people to feel sorry for me,″ she told The New York Times in 1981. ″I have my voice, a gift from God I took for granted before. He gave it back to me.″ She was married four times and would say that only her third husband, Joseph Garzilli, was worth the trouble. The other marriages each lasted less than a year. Concetta Rosemarie Franconero was born on Dec. 12, 1937, in Newark, New Jersey. At age 9 she began appearing on television programs, including 'Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts' and 'The Perry Como Show.' It was Godfrey who suggested she shorten her last name.
