{"id":72365,"date":"2025-07-18T10:15:12","date_gmt":"2025-07-18T10:15:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/72365\/"},"modified":"2025-07-18T10:15:12","modified_gmt":"2025-07-18T10:15:12","slug":"whos-sorry-now-singer-was-87","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/72365\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Who’s Sorry Now?’ Singer Was 87"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tConnie Francis<\/a>, the immensely popular mid-century pop singer known for teary ballads exemplified by \u201cWho\u2019s Sorry Now?\u201d and jaunty, infectious near-novelty records \u201cStupid Cupid\u201d and \u201cVacation,\u201d died Wednesday. She was 87. <\/p>\n

\n\tHer statement was announced on Facebook<\/a> by her publicist and longtime friend Ron Roberts. A cause was not disclosed, but Francis was recently hospitalized in Florida where she reported \u201cextreme pain\u201d<\/a> after suffering a fractured hip.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn today\u2019s post, Roberts writes: \u201cIt is with a heavy heart and extreme sadness that i inform you of the passing of my dear friend Connie Francis last night. I know that Connie would approve that her fans are among the first to learn of this sad news. More details will follow later.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tFrancis\u2019 heyday was the late 1950s to the mid-1960s, when she scored 35 Top 40 and 16 Top 10 hits, placing three in the top spot: \u201cEverybody\u2019s Somebody\u2019s Fool,\u201d \u201cMy Heart Has a Mind of Its Own\u201d and \u201cDon\u2019t Break the Heart That Loves You.\u201d From 1960-65 she appeared in four lighthearted comedy films beginning with the Spring Break classic Where the Boys Are, named after her Top 5 1961 hit.<\/p>\n

\n\tAmong her other best-known songs are \u201cLipstick on Your Collar\u201d and its B-side \u201cFrankie,\u201d \u201cMy Happiness,\u201d \u201cMama,\u201d Breakin\u2019 in a Brand New Broken Heart,\u201d \u201cSecond Hand Love,\u201d \u201cNever on Sunday\u201d and \u201cVacation.\u201d Francis never scored a Grammy nomination, but she performed on the ceremony during her early-\u201960s heyday.<\/p>\n

\n\tShe also had a pair of Top 10 LPs in 1960 with Italian Favorites and More Italian Favorites. Never on Sunday peaked at No. 11 the following year, and she also had a hit Christmas album in 1963. Her compilation disc from that year, The Very Best of Connie Francis, is certified Gold. <\/p>\n

\n\tIn a surprising late-in-life turn, Francis recently enjoyed a revival of interest when her 1962 song \u201cPretty Little Baby\u201d went viral on TikTok, with the singer suddenly gaining a huge profile among a new generation of fans (watch a video for the song below). Francis even has a presence on one of Broadway\u2019s biggest new hits: Just in Time, starring Jonathan Groff as Bobby Darin, features Francis as a character (she and Darin had a relationship in the 1950s). Portrayed by the Tony-nominated Gracie Lawrence, the Francis character gets a fair share of moments in the spotlight including performances of her songs \u201cWho\u2019s Sorry Now\u201d and \u201cEverybody\u2019s Somebody\u2019s Fool.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tBorn Concetta Franconero to working-class parents in Newark on December 12, 1938, Francis was playing the accordion by age 3. She began performing for local churches and other gatherings shortly thereafter, and by 11 was appearing on local television shows and then the national Ted Mack\u2019s Original Amateur Hour and Arthur Godfrey\u2019s Talent Scouts.<\/p>\n

\n\tUnlike so many child stars of the age, Francis developed into a grown-up star with her adult heartbreak songs like \u201cWho\u2019s Sorry Now?\u201d and \u201cLipstick on Your Collar.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tTragedy struck in 1974 when Francis was attacked and raped by a stranger in her hotel room following a performance at the Westbury Music Fair in Westbury, NY. It happened just as the 1950s\/early \u201960s nostalgia wave revived the careers of so many of her contemporaries, but she largely withdrew from public view for years after. She detailed her ordeal in the 1984 autobiography, Who\u2019s Sorry Now? She eventually would return to performing live, often in Las Vegas. She officially retired in 2018.<\/p>\n

\n\tFrancis is survived by son, Joey Garzilli, whom she and then-husband Joseph Garzilli adopted.<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Connie Francis, the immensely popular mid-century pop singer known for teary ballads exemplified by \u201cWho\u2019s Sorry Now?\u201d and…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":72366,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[49279,171,31443,9455,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-72365","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-connie-francis","9":"tag-entertainment","10":"tag-novid","11":"tag-obituary","12":"tag-united-states","13":"tag-unitedstates","14":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114873718014971488","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72365","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=72365"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72365\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/72366"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=72365"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=72365"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=72365"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}