Singer Marianne Faithfull dies at the age of 78 | Ents & Arts News

Singer and actress Marianne Faithfull has died at the age of 78.

A spokesperson 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.”

She was best known for her 60s hit As Tears Go By, written by The Rolling Stones’ Jagger and Keith Richards.

Faithfull also starred in films including The Girl on a Motorcycle and Irina Palm, for which she was nominated for a European Film Award for Best Actress.

In recent years, she provided voice work for the 2021 remake of Dune and 2023’s Wild Summon.

Born in 1946, Faithfull started her singing career in 1964 after being discovered by the Stones’ manager Andrew Loog Oldham.

Her self-titled debut album was released a year later, with As Tears Go By reaching number nine on the UK singles chart.

She went on to have a string of successful singles with Come And Stay with Me, This Little Bird, and Summer Nights, and famously dated Sir Mick from 1966 to 1970.

Faithfull was prolific throughout the 60s, releasing six albums – some only in the UK and some for the US – as well as contributing backing vocals to the Beatles’ Yellow Submarine and inspiring the Stones’ Sympathy For The Devil.

That decade also saw her star in films like 1967’s I’ll Never Forget What’s’isname – where she became the first person to say f*** in a mainstream studio film – 1968’s The Girl on a Motorcycle, and Tony Richardson’s 1969 adaptation of Hamlet.

But her relationship with Sir Mick was notorious, with the couple being arrested in 1968 for possession of cannabis. She was also infamously found by police wearing only a bear skin rug when they arrived for a drugs raid at his home in 1967.

After breaking up with Sir Mick, Faithfull spent two years homeless in Soho while suffering from anorexia and heroin addiction, before she started living in a squat.

She wrote in her 1994 autobiography: “For me, being a junkie was an admirable life. It was total anonymity, something I hadn’t known since I was 17.

“As a street addict in London, I finally found it. I had no telephone, no address.”

In 1979, following success in Ireland with the country-themed Dreamin’ My Dreams, Faithfull released the Grammy-nominated Broken English – widely considered her best album.

She later went on to achieve critical acclaim as a jazz and blues singer with 1987’s Strange Weather, and went to rehab that same decade.

Faithfull released a total of 21 solo albums throughout her career. Her most recent was the spoken word album She Walks in Beauty from 2021, which saw her work with frequent Nick Cave collaborator Warren Ellis.

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