(CelebrityAccess) — Singer and actress Marianne Faithfull, a British recording artist who rose to fame during the British Invasion, passed away in London on January 30th at the age of 78.
Her death was announced by a spokesperson who told the BBC, “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,” the statement added.
A cause of death was not provided, but Faithfull had suffered from myriad health problems, including bulimia, breast cancer, and emphysema caused by years of cigarette smoking. In 2020, she contracted a serious bout of COVID-19 and was hospitalized for 22 days, according to the BBC.
Born in Hampstead, London, in 1946, Faithfull began performing in and around the London folk scene in the early 1960s. She was subsequently discovered by Rolling Stones manager Andrew Loog Oldham in 1964 and went on to release a string of successful singles, including “This Little Bird”, “Summer Nights”, and “Come and Stay with Me”, all of which broke into the top 10 in the UK.
Faithfull also launched a successful sideline as an actor during the 1960s, appearing in films such as the 1967 comedy-drama I’ll Never Forget What’s’isname and the 1968 erotic-drama The Girl on a Motorcycle.
During the 1960s, she was romantically linked to Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger and reportedly served as the inspiration for some of the band’s music of the era, including “Wild Horses” and “I Got the Blues”, songs which Faithfull was reputed to have inspired.
In the 1970s, a series of personal troubles and a battle with addiction derailed her career, leading to years spent in the throes of a heroin addiction and homelessness on the streets of London.
“I was in agony and I healed myself as best I could. One of the ways was with drugs, because they are painkillers,” Faithfull told the BBC during a 2002 interview.
However, in 1979, she released her seventh studio album, “Broken English”, and returned to the limelight with a post-punk sound and a new lower-pitched “whiskey-soaked” singing voice after years of drug use and bouts of laryngitis.
The album went on to reach the top ten in multiple European territories and became her first album to chart in the U.S.
She continued to release more than a dozen albums, including 1981’s “Dangerous Acquaintances”, which achieved gold status in multiple territories and earned her a Grammy nomination for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance.
More recently, Faithfull battled numerous health challenges and was forced to cancel tours after being diagnosed with breast cancer and hepatitis C.
Her final album, “She Walks in Beauty”, was a collaboration with Australian multi-instrumentalist Warren Ellis.
