Singer and actor Marianne Faithfull dies, aged 78

30 January 2025, 20:58

Performer Marianne Faithfull has died at the age of 78, her spokesperson has said.

"It is with deep sadness that we announce the death of the singer, songwriter and actress Marianne Faithfull," a statement said.

"Marianne passed away peacefully in London today, in the company of her loving family. She will be dearly missed."

The singer had previously battled multiple health issues, including bulimia, breast cancer and emphysema caused by many years of smoking.

In 2020, she fell ill with Covid-19 and was hospitalised for 22 days. Doctors were not expecting her to survive - but she recovered and even released her 21st album, She Walks in Beauty, a year later.

Marianne Faithfull was a pivotal figure in British music and culture who transcended her initial image as a 1960s pop ingénue to become one of rock music's great survivors and a commanding artistic presence across six decades.

Born Marianne Evelyn Gabriel Faithfull on December 29th, 1946, in Hampstead, London, she emerged from an aristocratic background - her mother was a descendant of the Habsburg dynasty, and her father was a British intelligence officer and professor. This sophisticated heritage would later inform her artistic sensibilities, though it stood in stark contrast to the raw, uncompromising nature of her later work.

Faithfull's entry into the music scene came in 1964 when she attended a Rolling Stones launch party and caught the attention of Andrew Loog Oldham, the band's manager. Her first single, 'As Tears Go By', written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, launched her as the archetypal English rose of the swinging sixties. Her crystalline soprano voice and angelic presence made her an instant star.

Her relationship with Mick Jagger defined her public image during the latter half of the 1960s, but it also began her descent into what would become a nearly decade-long struggle with drug addiction. The infamous 1967 drug raid at Keith Richards' Redlands estate, where she was found wearing only a fur rug, marked the beginning of her fall from grace in the public eye.

Marianne Faithfull - As Tears Go By (Official Lyric Video)

The 1970s saw Faithfull living on the streets of Soho, battling heroin addiction and anorexia. Yet it was this period of darkness that would ultimately forge her artistic rebirth. When she emerged in 1979 with the album Broken English, gone was the ethereal folk singer of the sixties. In her place stood a woman with a voice transformed - deep, raw, and ravaged by experience. The album, with its fusion of rock and new wave, stood as a testament to survival and reinvention.

Throughout the 1980s and beyond, Faithfull continued to evolve as an artist. Her interpretative skills as a singer grew ever more sophisticated, whether taking on Kurt Weill's cabaret songs, traditional Irish ballads, or collaborating with contemporary artists.

Albums like Strange Weather (1987) and Blazing Away (1990) showcased her ability to inhabit songs completely, bringing them the weight of her own extraordinary life experience.

As an actress, Faithfull appeared in numerous films and theatrical productions, including Sofia Coppola's Marie Antoinette and Irina Palm, for which she received critical acclaim. Her 1994 autobiography, Faithfull, became a bestseller, documenting her journey through addiction, recovery, and artistic triumph with unflinching honesty.

In her later years, Faithfull continued to create vital work. Her 2018 album Negative Capability dealt fearlessly with themes of mortality and loss, while maintaining the fierce intelligence and artistic integrity that had become her hallmark.

Throughout her career, Faithfull collaborated with an impressive array of artists, from Tom Waits and Nick Cave to PJ Harvey and Blur's Damon Albarn. She was a living link between the British Invasion, punk rock, and contemporary alternative music, respected as both an interpreter and an originator.

Her influence extended far beyond music. As a style icon, she embodied both the mod fashion of the 1960s and the punk aesthetic of the late 1970s. Her personal style - elegant, eccentric, and entirely her own - influenced designers and fashion photographers throughout her life.

Marianne Faithfull's legacy is one of resilience, artistic integrity, and continuous reinvention. She transformed herself from a pop princess into a formidable artist whose work encompassed multiple genres and forms.

Her life story - from aristocratic beginnings through stardom, addiction, and ultimate redemption - reads like a novel, but it was her unwavering commitment to artistic truth that made her an enduring figure in popular culture.

She is survived by her son Nicholas, from her first marriage to John Dunbar, and several grandchildren.