From her solo success with 'As Tears Go By' to starring in films like 'The Girl On A Motorcycle' and inspiring the songs of the Rolling Stones, Marianne Faithfull’s unconventional approach to music and film made her a standout figure of the 1960s.
Born in London in 1946 to a British military officer and an Austro-Hungarian Jewish baroness, Faithfull kick-started her singing career in 1964 after being discovered by Rolling Stones manager Andrew Loog Oldham, with the single 'As Tears Go By', penned by the band’s Sir Mick Jagger and Keith Richards.
Her self-titled debut album was released in 1965, featuring top 10 hits 'As Tears Go By' and 'Come And Stay With Me', alongside her follow-up LP 'Come My Way', which was largely composed of folk covers. In 1966, Marianne - who died aged 78 this week - embarked on a highly publicised relationship with Sir Mick, following his split from model and actress Chrissie Shrimpton.
She was famously found wearing nothing but a rug during a drug bust at Redlands, the country house of Rolling Stones guitarist Richards in 1967. During her time with Sir Mick, Faithfull co-wrote 'Sister Morphine' with him and Richards, which featured on the Rolling Stones’ 1971 album 'Sticky Fingers'.
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PA Wire/PA Images)She released her own version in 1969 featuring guitarist Ry Cooder and Jack Nitzsche on piano. Initially credited as a writer on the Decca release of her own version, she was omitted from later releases, sparking a legal dispute that eventually saw her credited on both the Stones and her own reissues.
Claims have also been made that Faithfull was the muse behind Stones songs including 'You Can’t Always Get What You Want' from Let It Bleed and 'Dear Doctor' from 1968’s Beggars Banquet. Reports suggest that The Beatles’ 'And Your Bird Can Sing' was inspired by her relationship with Sir Mick.
Faithfull featured in the withheld concert film 'The Rolling Stones Rock And Roll Circus', filmed in 1968 for the BBC but not released until 1996, where she performed 'Something Better'. In 1968, she tragically miscarried her and Sir Mick’s child, the first of three miscarriages she would experience.
After parting ways with Sir Mick in 1970, Faithfull spent two years on Soho's streets battling a heroin addiction before living in a squat. She made a triumphant return to music with the new wave-influenced album 'Broken English' in 1979, which earned a Grammy nomination and is now considered a classic.
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AFP via Getty Images)In 1987, Faithfull reinvented herself as a jazz and blues singer with the critically acclaimed 'Strange Weather', and entered rehab during the same decade. Her final album, 'She Walks In Beauty' (2021), was an experimental collaboration with Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds’ Australian multi-instrumentalist Warren Ellis.
This followed a resurgence in her popularity, with stars like Kate Moss and Courtney Love reportedly admiring her. In addition to her illustrious music career, Marianne Faithfull took a dive into acting with roles in films such as the trippy erotic thriller 'The Girl On A Motorcycle' alongside French heartthrob Alain Delon and graced theatre stages with her presence. Her filmography includes one of her early appearances in 'I’ll Never Forget What’s ‘Is Name' (1967) opposite the legendary Orson Welles, and she lent her voice as Bene Gesserit Ancestor in the recent sci-fi epic 'Dune' (2021).
Faithfull even played God in an episode of the hit TV sitcom 'Absolutely Fabulous' with Anita Pallenberg, ex-girlfriend of Rolling Stones legends Brian Jones and Keith Richards, portraying the devil. Health challenges marked Faithfull's later years.
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Getty Images)In 2006, she bravely announced a triumphant recovery from breast cancer after doctors in France, who discovered the illness in September, forced her to delay her world tour. Thankfully, detected in its "earliest stages", the cancer was treated with surgery and she declared that she'd be back on the road the following year.
At the time, she expressed her profound sense of gratitude: "It has been an extraordinary experience and, in many ways, extremely positive. I didn’t realise how many true friends I had. I feel so lucky and loved and thank everybody for all their good thoughts." This health scare followed a tough period two years prior when Faithfull, once a smoker, had to scrap her European tour after collapsing backstage at a concert due to exhaustion and was advised a three-month recovery period.
In 2005, filmmaker Duncan Roy revealed that Faithfull had withdrawn from his film adaptation of The Picture Of Dorian Gray due to a heart attack, a claim she refuted. In April 2020, it was reported that the singer had been hospitalised after contracting Covid, but was discharged three weeks later.
Faithfull published her self-titled autobiography in 1994 and subsequently worked on two more books about her life. In 2011, she received the Commandeur Of The Ordre Des Arts Et Des Lettres, one of France’s most prestigious cultural awards.
Following her death, Sir Mick Jagger paid tribute to his ex-partner. He wrote: "“ am so saddened to hear of the death of Marianne Faithfull. She was so much part of my life for so long. She was a wonderful friend, a beautiful singer and a great actress. She will always be remembered.”
Keith Richards wrote: "My heartfelt condolences to Marianne’s family! Im so sad and will miss her!! Love, Keith," along with a picture of the duo together. Meanwhile, Ronnie Wood added: "Farewell dear Marianne." Tim Burgess, frontman of The Charlatans, posted: “Farewell Marianne Faithfull. I first heard Broken English on a school trip in 1980 and it blew my mind. She was such a free spirit and true talent. We met in Amsterdam in 1994 and spent an afternoon chatting and in between interviews - going to listen to “Why D’Ya Do it”, right now.”
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