Marianne Faithfull, an actress and singer who worked with artists ranging from Jean-Luc Goddard to Metallica and was famously romantically involved with Mick Jagger in the late 1960s, passed away. Her age was 78.
Faithfull’s most well-known performance is her cover of the Rolling Stones’ 1964 top 10 song in the United Kingdom, “As Tears Go By.”
According to the BBC and the Guardian, a spokeswoman said in a statement, “We regret to inform you of the passing of singer, songwriter, and actress Marianne Faithfull.” Today, Marianne died quietly in London, surrounded by her devoted family. We will miss her terribly.
There was no cause of death stated.
Faithfull was born in London in 1946. Her great-uncle, Leopold von Sacher-Masoch, was an Austrian nobleman and the author of the sensual book Venus in Furs.
She had a number of other songs in the 1960s besides As Tears Go By, such as Come and Stay With Me, This Little Bird, and Summer Nights.
Considered a member of London’s swinging 60s culture, she was also well-known at the time for dating Mick Jagger, the lead singer of the Rolling Stones, and was said to have served as the inspiration for a number of the band’s songs, such as You Can’t Always Get What You Want and Wild Horses.
When she was discovered naked and draped in a fur rug (having just gotten out of the shower) alongside Jagger, Richards, and a number of other men during a police raid on guitarist Keith Richards’ house in 1967, she also came to represent the excesses of the time.
Faithful separated from Jagger in the early 1970s, fell into drug abuse, and even experienced homelessness for a while.
After a while, she changed her ways and released the album Dreamin My Dreams in 1976. In 1979, she released the critically praised album Broken English, for which she received a Grammy Award nomination.
She later collaborated with such musical greats as Nick Cave, Damon Albarn, Emmylou Harris, and Beck, and gained recognition for her earthy, scratchy voice that alluded to a difficult life. In the end, she would put out 21 albums.
Along with performing music, Faithfull acted in a number of films, TV series, and stage plays. Her most well-known role was perhaps that of God in the British sitcom Absolutely Fabulous.
According to People, she experienced several health setbacks over the years, including hepatitis C, breast cancer, and a COVID-19 episode in 2020 that left her with long-term negative effects.
Nicholas Dunbar, her son, is her surviving child.
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Chris Mautner