ABOUT
Connie Francis (b. 1937) is a highly acclaimed and versatile pop singer with clear mezzo-soprano vocals who became famous during the late 1950s and early 1960s as one of the most popular female singers of that era. Her long string of hits, covering traditional pop as well as rock & roll, country pop, and jazz, includes such lovelorn classics as "Who's Sorry Now" (1958), "My Happiness" (1958), "Everybody's Somebody's Fool" (1960), "My Heart Has A Mind Of Its Own" (1960), and "Don't Break The Heart That Loves You" (1962), the latter three of which topped the charts. She also starred and performed in "Where The Boys Are" (1960) and several other movie comedies.
Born Concetta Rosa Maria Franconero in Newark, New Jersey to an Italian-American family, she began at age four performing in public as a singer and accordion player at various local events and was appearing regularly on TV by her early teens. During rehearsals for her appearance on Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts, he advised her to shorten her name to Connie Francis and lose the accordion. While still in her teens, she worked as a singer on demo records and in 1955, graduated as salutatorian from Belleville High School. Her career breakthrough came in 1958 with "Who's Sorry Now," a remake of an older pop standard dating back to the 1920s that became her first Top 5 smash in a long string of hits lasting through 1973.
Connie Francis continued to perform and record actively up to her retirement in 2018 despite a number of personal setbacks along the way that included being raped in 1974 and temporarily suffering the loss of her singing voice after a botched nasal surgery in 1977. She amassed a huge following in Australia, Germany, Italy, Japan, the U.K., and many other countries worldwide and recorded in 15 languages.
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SONGS
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Connie Francis
- Baby's First Christmas 1961
- Be Anything (But Be Mine) 1964
(This song also became a hit for Gloria Lynne (1964).) - Blue Winter 1964
- Breakin' In A Brand New Broken Heart 1961
- Don't Break The Heart That Loves You 1962
(This song topped both the Adult Contemporary and Pop/Rock charts. A spoken passage can be heard about midway through the song.) - (He's My) Dreamboat 1961
- Drownin' My Sorrows 1963
- Everybody's Somebody's Fool 1960
(This upbeat song, which topped the charts, is in the style of a polka with an organ introduction.) - Follow The Boys 1963
- I Was Such A Fool (To Fall In Love With You) 1962
(This song was previously a hit for the Flamingos (1960).) - If My Pillow Could Talk 1963
- Jealous Of You (Tango Della Gelosia) 1960
- Mama 1960
- Many Tears Ago 1960
- My Heart Has A Mind Of Its Own 1960
(This song topped the charts.) - No One 1961
(This song later also became a hit for Ray Charles (1963) and Brenda Lee (1965).) - Second Hand Love 1962
- Teddy 1960
- Together 1961
- Vacation 1962
- When The Boy In Your Arms (Is The Boy In Your Heart) 1961
- Where The Boys Are 1961
(The Neil Sedaka-penned "Where The Boys Are" was the title song from the 1960 movie starring George Hamilton.) - Your Other Love 1963
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