Marianne Faithfull, British singer dies at 78

A spokesperson confirmed that Marianne Faithfull, a singer and actress known for hits like "As Tears Go By," died Thursday. She was 78.

"It is with deep sadness that we announce the death of the singer, songwriter and actress Marianne Faithfull," a statement provided to USA TODAY read. "Marianne passed away peacefully in London today in the company of her loving family. She will be dearly missed."

A cause of death was not provided.

Faithfull's music rose to popularity in the 1960s, and helped helm the female wing of the British invasion, a term for U.K. artists becoming popular in the U.S. commonly associated with The Beatles.

Marianne Faithfull performs at the Paris Bataclan concert hall on November 25, 2016.
Her musical career a prolific and scandal-ridden five decades marked by confessional lyrics, and albums across several genres ran parallel to growing success on the screen.


With films like "Hamlet," "The Girl on a Motorcycle" and, much later, Sofia Coppola's "Marie Antoinette," Faithfull proved her talent for storytelling was not limited to her own life.

Both a household name and a victim of her circumstances, Faithfull's story was punctuated by a bouts of tragedy. Her experiences with homelessness and drug addiction made the longevity of her career a true phoenix story.

Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones and his then-girlfriend Marianne Faithfull arrive at the opening night of a ballet in 1967.
Faithfull met Rolling Stones manager Andrew Loog Oldham in her teens, according to The Guardian, kicking off a fruitful and fraught period of collaboration with the band in particular, frontman Mick Jagger.

Oldham asked Jagger and guitarist Keith Richards to pen Faithfull's debut single "As Tears Go By" in 1964, which went on to become one of her most famous tracks.

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