Connie Francis was the first woman to have a No. 1 song on the Billboard 100. Her most famous hits were “Everybody’s Somebody’s Fool,” “My Heart Has A Mind Of Its Own,” “My Happiness,” and “Pretty Little Baby,” which experienced a resurgence on social media in 2025.




Connie Francis was born Concetta Maria Franconero, on December 12, 1937, in Newark, New Jersey. Her parents were Ida and George Franconcero, who was a dockworker and a roofer before becoming Connie’s manager. The couple went on to have a son, Connie’s younger brother, who was also named George. The Italian-American family lived in Newark’s working-class Italian neighborhood. Music surrounded Connie throughout the area and at home. Her father played concertina and put Connie in accordion lessons at age 3. The next year, she sang “Anchors Aweigh” at a New Jersey amusement park. It was her first performance of many.

Connie continued performing throughout her childhood and eventually booked a recurring gig on a local TV variety show. That led to appearances on national broadcasts, such as Ted Mack’s Original Amateur Hour and Arthur Godfrey’s Talent Scouts , where she won first prize at age 12. Godfrey convinced her to adopt a new last name after he had difficulty pronouncing Franconero. As the newly minted Connie Francis, she performed on another variety show Startime for four years. By the time she finished high school in Belleville, New Jersey, Connie was ready to pursue singing full-time.

She started working with songwriters Neil Sedaka and Howie Greenfield, as well as others, and recorded a string of hits, including “Stupid Cupid,” “My Happiness,” “Lipstick on Your Collar,” and “Where The Boys Are.” Her music became a blend of pop, rock ’n’ roll, country, and classic standards. Francis also spent time recording classic songs from various countries. She sang in Italian, German, Hebrew, Japanese, and other languages, a move that propelled her to international fame.

Despite her notable start, she struggled to get a record deal as an adult and nearly left music altogether to study pre-med at New York University on scholarship when her father convinced her to record the decades-old tune “Who’s Sorry Now” with a mere 16 minutes left in her final studio session. Dick Clark introduced the song on American Bandstand in January 1958, and it became an immediate hit, selling 1 million copies in six months to seal her success. As Francis once said , according to The Hollywood Reporter , “Without Dick Clark, there would be no Connie Francis.”

She remained popular around the world into the mid-1960s. During her heyday, Francis sold tens of millions of records and notched 35 songs in the Top 40. More than a dozen cracked the Top 10. Her popularity put her on par with the likes of Elvis Presley and Bobby Darin . In 1964, she received a Golden Globe Award for special achievement on account of her global musical impact. But as music tastes changed, Francis’ star began to tarnish for all but her dedicated fans. Francis faced several setbacks—including the loss of her voice, a turbulent love life, and a brutal sexual assault—that contributed to a lengthy performance hiatus. She returned to the stage in 1981 and continued to sing into her later years. She died July 16, 2025.