Marianne Faithfull, who rose to fame in the 1960s via her music and her relationship with Mick Jagger of The Rolling Stones, died yesterday. She was 78 years old.
Her family issued a statement that said, "Marianne passed away peacefully in London today, in the company of her loving family. She will be dearly missed."
Faithfull began her music career in 1964 as a folk singer. She was at Rolling Stones party where she was discovered by the band's manager Andrew Loog Oldham. Mick Jagger and Keith Richards wrote "As Tears Go By" for her, which propelled her to stardom. Faithfull married John Dunbar in May 1965 and gave birth to their son Nicholas in December 1965. In early 1966 she took Nicholas to stay with Brian Jones and Anita Pallenberg in London and started a relationship with Jagger.
During their four year relationship Faithful kept recording and acted in a few films. She also became addicted to cocaine and miscarried the couple's daughter in 1968. Faithfull also had an impact on the Stones recording career, as she introduced Jagger to The Master and Margarita, a book that influenced "Sympathy for the Devil." "You Can't Always Get What You Want," was written about Faithfull as were "Wild Horses" and "I Got the Blues" on Sticky Fingers. (Faithfull was also the original inspiration for The Hollies song that became "Carrie Anne.") Faithfull co-wrote "Sister Morphine" from Sticky Fingers and had a legal battle with Jagger and Richards over her credit that she eventually won.
Faithfull and Jagger split in May 1970 and she lost custody of her son later that year, which led to a suicide attempt. Faithfull eventually become homeless with a heroin addiction. Her drug abuse throughout the '70s permanently altered her voice, leaving it very raspy. That new vocal style was front and center on her 1979 comeback album Broken English, which brought her a Grammy for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance.
Faithfull continued battling drug problems in the 1980s and eventually cleaned up in 1985. In 1987 she teamed up with producer Hal Willner for Strange Weather, where she remade "As Tears Go By" as a bluesy number.
Faithfull was once again in the spotlight in 1997 as she was the guest vocalist on Metallica's "The Memory Remains," the first single from their album Reload. Drummer Lars Ulrich issued a statement saying, "Thank you, Marianne… For the good times. For your kindness. For the great stories. For your fearlessness. …And the biggest Thank You and [Hell] Yeah for your incredible and unique contribution to our music, and for always being so willing to join us in performing it…and partake in the ensuing shenanigans! Rest in Peace."
Faithfull went on to record 10 studio albums from 1995 to 2018 and wrote three three books about her life from 1994 to 2014. During that era she also survived breast cancer in 2006 and in 2007 revealed that she'd been battling hepatitis C for over a decade.
On April 4th, 2020 Faithfull's management revealed she was in London hospital receiving treatment for pneumonia after having tested positive for COVID-19. But she recovered to release her 21st and final album, She Walks in Beauty, in 2021.
Jagger issued a statement saying, "I 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."