Marianne Faithfull has died at the age of 78.
The news was confirmed in a statement by her spokesperson, who said, "It is with deep sadness that we announce the death of the singer, songwriter and actress Marianne Faithfull. Marianne passed away peacefully in London today, in the company of her loving family. She will be dearly missed."
Faithfull was born in London in 1946, and launched a singing career after being discovered by Rolling Stones manager Andrew Loog-Oldham at a party in 1964. Her debut single – the Jagger/Richards composition As Time Goes By – made her an immediate star.
She became one of the symbols of swinging London, developing a highly public romantic relationship with Mick Jagger and appearing as Rebecca, the lead role in the iconic 60s movie The Girl on a Motorcycle.
She was also a tabloid favourite and gained a degree of notoriety after Keith Richards' home at West Wittering, Sussex, was famously raided by police following a tip-off by the News Of The World. Various "substances of a suspicious nature" were found and a young lady – later revealed to be Faithfull – was discovered clad only in a rug.
"They [the Rolling Stones] emerged with their reputations amplified as dangerous, glamorous outlaws," Faithfull told The Guardian. "I was destroyed by the very things that enhanced them.”
Faithfull continued her involvement with the Stones, reportedly inspiring or influencing songs like You Can't Always Get What You Want, Wild Horses and I Got the Blues and co-writing Sister Morphine. She also duetted with David Bowie, dressed as a nun for a cover of Sonny & Cher's I Got You Babe on The 1980 Floor Show, an American TV special filmed over three nights at London's Marquee Club.
Faithfull eventually succumbed to the lifestyle, developing an addiction to heroin and becoming homeless. Several attempts to revive her singing career failed, but in 1979 she returned with the Grammy-nominated Broken English, a genuine masterpiece that confirmed her status as one of the few ‘famous for being famous’ stars whose work actually thrived on its own merits.
Faithfull continued to release critically acclaimed albums. Her most recent was 2021's She Walks in Beauty, recorded with regular Nick Cave collaborator Warren Ellis, and frequently worked with other musicians, from Roger Waters – who cast her as Pink's mother in his 1990 Berlin staging of The Wall – to Rufus Wainwright, Antony Hegarty, Jarvis Cocker, Cat Power and Metallica, who asked her to sing on their 1997 single The Memory Remains.
"I was in Ireland, living in my little house, when I got the call saying: 'This is Lars from Metallica. We want you to do a song,'" Faithfull told Classic Rock. "I knew who Metallica were; I never thought they’d want me to do something with them.
"At first I didn’t believe it, but they were really serious. James and Lars came over in a private aeroplane to Dublin. I met them in a car and we went to the studio. And I thought The Memory Remains was a lovely song.
"I could understand immediately what they wanted me to do – I think they wanted the ‘wounded woman’. Of course, I was never really as wounded as everybody thought, so they had to get over that. But they took it all in their stride. I remember one night we went to a restaurant and I took Anita [Pallenberg] and we entertained them with stories all night. They loved it. They were great, I really like them."
Faithfull also continued her film work, from UK comedy Absolutely Fabulous to the Tom Waits musical The Black Rider, while her most recent project was narrating 2023's Oscar-nominated short film Wild Summon. She also worked on the stage and wrote three memoirs.
"I'm glad to say my father never felt ashamed of me but my mother probably did," Faithfull told The Scotsman in 2009. "I think she was angry that I had so many wonderful gifts and, in her mind, it seemed I'd thrown them all away. But I only got over the drugs because of a mother's love."
"I'm a Capricorn," she added, "and they flower late."
