1960s rock icon Marianne Faithfull has died at the age of 78, according to her spokesperson.
“It is with deep sadness that we announce the death of the singer, songwriter and actress Marianne Faithfull,” a statement said.
It continued, “Marianne passed away peacefully in London today, in the company of her loving family. She will be dearly missed.”
Faithfull used to suffer from bulimia, breast cancer and emphysema caused by decades of smoking.
She was born in Hampstead in December 1946, releasing a whopping 21 albums in her career. She was famously known as the girlfriend of Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger in the 1960s, being the muse for songs such as “Wild Horses” and “You Can’t Always Get What You Want”.
She was first tasked with covering “As Tears Go By” at age 16. It became an international hit, where listeners revelled in her folk-pop style.
Her self-titled debut album and 1966’s North Country Maid contributed to the “British Invasion” of the US pop charts.
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1979’s New Wave-influenced Broken English was nominated for a Grammy Award.
In 2020, she contracted Covid-19 and was hospitalised for 22 days. Her latest album She Walks in Beauty was released a year after, surprising doctors with her survival and comeback.
She worked with a range of artists and genres, including David Bowie, Lou Reed, Jarvis Cocker, Damon Albarn, Emmylou Harris and Metallica. In the modern age, she collaborated with PJ Harvey and Nick Cave, who long admired her.
At the same time as her music career, she was also an actress. She performed with Glenda Jackson in Chekhov’s Three Sisters and played Ophelia in Hamlet, where she disclosed that her onstage insanity was influenced by drugs.
Faithfull was given the World Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2009 Women’s World Awards. For the recognition of significant contributions to the arts and literature, she was made a commandeur of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French government.
Her son, Nicholas Dunbar, lives on.
