Chart-topping singer Connie Francis passes away at 87

Francis was 17 when she signed up with MGM. PIC/GETTY IMAGES

Connie Francis - the pop star of the 1950s and 1960s whose hits include ‘Pretty Little Baby' - has died at age 87. Her death was announced on Thursday by friend and publicist Ron Roberts.

Concetta Rosemarie Franconero was born on December 12, 1937, in Newark, New Jersey. She was just 3 when her father presented her with a child-size accordion. The next year she began singing and playing the instrument at public events. At age 9, she began appearing on television programmes, including ‘Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts' and ‘The Perry Como Show'. It was Godfrey who suggested she shorten her name.

Francis was just 17 when she signed a contract with MGM Records. Her earliest recordings attracted little attention, but then she released her version of ‘Who's Sorry Now?' - an old ballad by Ted Snyder, Bert Kalmar and Harry Ruby. She was rarely off the charts between 1957-64. She has over a dozen top 20 hits, including ‘Who's Sorry Now?', 'Don't Break the Heart That Loves You', ‘The Heart Has a Mind of Its Own', ‘Stupid Cupid', ‘Everybody's Somebody's Fool', and ‘Lipstick on Your Collar'.

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