Marianne Faithfull, whose voice carried the weight of a thousand lifetimes, has passed away
Marianne Faithfull—the smoky-voiced enigma who went from Swinging Sixties ingénue to rock ‘n’ roll survivor—has died at 78.
Her spokesperson confirmed: “Marianne passed away peacefully in London today, in the company of her loving family. She will be dearly missed.”
Born in Hampstead to a Viennese baroness and an MI6 agent, Faithfull’s life was one of stark contrasts: aristocracy and anarchy, glamour and squalor, fame and exile.
She was just 17 when she was plucked from obscurity and introduced to Mick Jagger at London’s Indica Gallery—her then-husband, artist John Dunbar, made the introductions.
Within months, she was the poster girl for the British Invasion, delivering ‘As Tears Go By’—a song Jagger and Keith Richards originally thought too soft for the Stones—and scoring a UK Top 10 hit.
Then came the scandals. In 1967, Faithfull was caught up in the now-infamous drugs bust at Keith Richards’ Redlands estate, reportedly found wearing only a fur rug.
“They hurt my feelings, all those busts and harassment,” she later said. She endured a miscarriage, a split from Jagger, and a period of heavy addiction that saw her living on the streets of Soho. But she wasn’t done yet.
Reinvention was in her DNA. 1979’s Broken English reintroduced Faithfull as a gravel-voiced prophet of punk despair, snarling through tracks like ‘Why D’Ya Do It?’ with a rawness few of her peers dared match.
The album earned her a Grammy nomination and cemented her status as an artist in constant evolution.
Beyond music, she left her mark on cinema and theatre, appearing in The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus (shelved until 1996) and various stage productions. She battled health issues in later years, including a near-fatal bout of COVID-19 in 2020, but remained a fearless creative force.
Mick Jagger led tributes: “She was a wonderful friend, a beautiful singer, and a great actress. She will always be remembered.”
Faithfull leaves behind a legacy of rebellion and reinvention, her voice forever etched into the annals of rock history.
