'Pretty Little Baby' hitmaker Connie Francis passes away at 87
American singer-actress Connie Francis, known for her songs Pretty Little Baby and Stupid Cupid, has passed away. She was 87.
Her friend and copyright manager, Ron Roberts, announced her passing in a Facebook post on Thursday, July 17.
"It is with a heavy heart and extreme sadness that I inform you of the passing of my dear friend Connie Francis last night," Roberts wrote. "I know that Connie would approve that her fans are among the first to learn of this sad news," he continued. More details have yet to be unveiled.
Her death came a few weeks after she was hospitalized. At the time, she underwent tests and checks to determine the cause of "extreme pain [she has] been experiencing."
Francis had settled in South Florida since her retirement. She revealed to PEOPLE last May that she had a hip injury that prompted her to use a wheelchair temporarily.
Francis, whose real name is Concetta Franconero, is a top-charting female singer of the late 1950s and early 1960s. She became the first woman to have a No. 1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 with her track Everybody's Somebody's Fool.
Her voice recently went viral after her song, Pretty Little Baby, resurfaced and became a huge hit on TikTok, 63 years after its release.
"To tell you the truth, I didn't even remember the song!” she previously told PEOPLE. “I had to listen to it to remember. To think that a song I recorded 63 years ago is touching the hearts of millions of people is truly awesome. It is an amazing feeling.”
"I think it's innocent and pure, and this is a time when everything is in such chaos," she shares, talking about why the song was a hit in the new generation.
Her other hits include Who's Sorry Now, Stupid Cupid, and Where The Boys Are, among others.
