Connie Francis Hopes Her Legacy Won't Just Be About The 'Heights' But Also The 'Depths' Of What She Overcame In Her Tragic Life

Oct 03, 2024

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Connie Francis has been living a wonderful life after working in the music industry for decades. Being a female musician in her prime years was not easy, but she was able to break boundaries and records, thanks to her undeniable talent.

Dubbed the “First Lady of Rock & Roll,” the famed songstress made history after becoming the first woman to have a No. 1 song on the Billboard Hot 100 charts. Despite her immense popularity in the mid-20th century, Francis appeared to have stepped out of the limelight during the 21st century, which led countless fans to wonder what had happened to her.

Born Concetta Rosa Maria Franconero on Dec. 12, 1937, the musician grew up in Newark, New Jersey. Her childhood was steeped in Italian-American culture, and the area where she was brought up was composed of Italian-Jewish residents.

According to her autobiography "Who's Sorry Now?" published in 1985, Francis opened up about how her father was a big influence on her background in performing. He encouraged her to join pageants and talent shows as a little girl. During the early days of her career in the 1950s, the musician started as a singer on demo records. After working on her first job, Francis finally struck a recording contract with MGM Records. 

Francis, who turned 87 in 2024, has experienced a rollercoaster of experiences in her life. From her successful music and film career to the unfortunate happenings she had encountered, Francis has remained mighty amidst all of it and stronghearted in the face of tragedy. Keep reading to learn more about Francis and her remarkable life. 

After the release of her iconic song, “Who’s Sorry Now?” Francis was catapulted into fame and glory. She then released more songs like “Everybody’s Somebody’s Fool,” “Lipstick on Your Collar,” and “Heartaches by the Number,” making her a bonafide hitmaker at the time. 

Francis’s life was filled with misfortunes, tragedy, and heartbreak. Despite the negativity surrounding her, the singer didn’t give up and still found joy in the smallest things.

“I tried to see humor in everything, even when I was in a mental institution. But I have to say the support of the public has also been incredibly uplifting. They saw me through the best and worst of times and never stopped writing from around the world to encourage me,” she told The Oklahoman.

In the 1960s, Francis was in a relationship with teen idol Bobby Darin, her songwriter for some songs. Darin became a Golden Globe Award winner for his first film, “Come September.” Their relationship blossomed into a deep and meaningful one.

“Bobby came to my office one day in 1956 to show me a song,” she said. “He was writing jingles for a furniture store in New Jersey. He played me this song and I made a couple of changes to it. Let’s just say he wasn’t happy. He said, ‘Me and this lady don’t dance to the same tune. I’m outta here.’ So he took his song and started to leave! But he came back with the changes I made. But it was an instant dislike that turned into love,” she recalled to Fox News Digital. 

Francis once claimed that Darin was her “first and last love," but her authoritative father held Darin at gunpoint to force her out of Francis’s life. 

“My father had such a dislike for him,” Francis explained to Fox News Digital. “He even tried to shoot him. He came with a gun in his pocket. And Bobby had a bad heart.”

Sadly, after a medical complication that arose after a visit to the dentist in 1973, Darin developed sepsis, which impacted his heart valves. Later that year, he underwent rigorous open-heart surgery that further weakened his heart. After a six-hour surgery, Darin died in the recovery room at 37 years old after failing to regain consciousness, The New York Times reported.

“He was an amazing human being,” Francis told Fox News Digital about Darin. “The most interesting human being I’ve ever met in my life. He had a drive that I hadn’t seen in anyone before. He said, ‘I have to be a legend by the time I’m 25. Because that’s when doctors said I’m supposed to die. That’s how long they gave me.’ And he sincerely believed that.”

Even before Darin passed, Francis had been focusing on her career, delving into acting. She starred in various films like “Where the Boys Are,” “Follow the Boys,” “Looking for Love,” and “When the Boys Meet the Girls.” 

However, in a conversation with The Oklahoman, Francis confessed that she “didn’t feel comfortable,” as though she “didn’t belong there.” She even revealed that she was “so pleased” that her 1965 film “When The Boys Meet the Girls” was her “last one.” 

As the years went by, Francis experienced unfortunate events in her life, one after the other. According to The Oklahoman, mob hitmen killed Francis’s brother, she was sexually assaulted, suffered a miscarriage, and endured four failed marriages. In addition, she was also diagnosed with manic depression. 

Francis has remained stronghearted despite all the tragedy she has experienced. In 2017, she received the Palm Beach International Film Festival's Lifetime Achievement Award.

“It’s truly an honor to be recognized by my peers,” she told People magazine then. “After all of these years, I still love to sing!”

In her speech, Francis reflected on her life and the legacy she had created. In retrospect, the singer-actress recounted how her previous experiences and her love for Darin had brought her to where she is today. 

According to Francis, she wanted to be remembered “not so much for the heights” she had ”reached, but for the depths” from which she had come. Additionally, she said that she would like her tombstone to read: “I hope I did okay.”

Francis is living her golden years out, enjoying the fruits of her labor. She frequently updates her fans via her Facebook page, interacting with them and sharing what she’s been up to lately. The singing legend has shared various posts alongside photos to mark occasions during which she frequented different restaurants, met up with a few famous friends or even enjoyed a joyful day in her gorgeous home.

Are you a fan of Connie Francis? What can you say about her life? Isn’t she amazing? Let us know, and pass this on to your family, friends, and other Connie Francis fans out there!