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In 2000 VH1 named me the female singer who had appeared on the Hot 100 chart the second-most times in history: Aretha Franklin had been on there 77 times, me with 75 and Dionne Warwick with 56 respectively.
By the end of the 1960's I had sold more than 35 million records and have sold a total of over 110 million to date.
Previously listed as the most succesful female recording artist in history.
A total of 16 top-ten singles, 4 of which were No. 1
Golden Globe Winner (International Contribution to the Recording World
1964)
Starred in 4 popular movies during the 60's (see "movies section") and have made appearances or voice-overs for several others.
Appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show 42 times, more than any other performer.
LeAnn Rimes played me on the hit TV show American Dreams in 2003.
Regular on American Bandstand and chosen "Most Popular Female Vocalist" in a 1958 viewer poll.
Charities: AIDS activist, The Heart Fund, diabetes, victims of violent crimes, and rape survivors.
Born Concetta Rosa Maria Franconero in the Italian Down Neck or Ironbound neighborhood of Newark, New Jersey, she is considered the most prolific and popular female rock 'n' roll hit-maker of the early rock era—the late 1950s to the early 1960s. After an appearance on Ford Startime, Francis was advised to change her name from Franconero to something more easily pronounceable—as well as to quit the accordion and focus on singing.
Francis' first single "Freddy" (1955) met with little success. Her next nine singles were also failures, and she began to consider a career in medicine. However, a cover version of the song "Who's Sorry Now?" (1923) by Bert Kalmar and Harry Ruby launched her into super-stardom worldwide. Francis recorded the song at what was to have been her final recording session for MGM—the label was about to drop her due to her previous singles doing poor business. She has said—paraphrased from The Billboard Book of Number One Singles by Fred Bronson—that she recorded it at the suggestion of her father, who convinced her it stood a chance of becoming a hit because it was a song adults already knew and that teenagers would dance to if it were released with a more contemporary arrangement.
The gamble paid off. In April 1958, "Who's Sorry Now" reached No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart (number four in the USA). In 2000, it was named one of the Songs of the Century. On January 1, 1958, she debuted it on Dick Clark's American Bandstand television show, and by mid-year over a million copies were sold. This was followed by many other hits over the next decade, as Connie Francis became one of the most popular vocalists in the world.
Francis specialized in downbeat ballads delivered in her trademark "sobbing" style—such as "My Happiness", "I'm Sorry I Made You Cry", "Among My Souvenirs", "Together", "Breakin' In a Brand New Broken Heart", and the Italian song "Mama"—many of which were remakes of old standards. However, she also had success with a handful of more upbeat, rock-and-roll-oriented compositions, such as "Stupid Cupid", "Lipstick On Your Collar", and "Vacation".
Among her other notable performances were "In the Summer of His Years" (a tribute to slain U.S. President John F. Kennedy) and Bert Kaempfert's "Strangers In The Night" (although the latter song is more identified with Frank Sinatra). Both "Everybody's Somebody's Fool" and "My Heart Has a Mind of Its Own" went to No. 1 on the Billboard music charts in 1960. In 1962, she had another No. 1 hit with "Don't Break the Heart That Loves You".
Francis recorded in thirteen languages during her career: English, German, Swedish, Dutch, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian (and its dialect Neapolitan), Hebrew, Yiddish, Japanese, Latin and Hawaiian. During a live concert in Brazov, Romania in March 1970 she also performed live in Romanian.
Francis remade many of her hits in foreign languages, including "Everybody's Somebody's Fool" and her signature song, "Where the Boys Are". In fact, her biggest hit album in the U.S. was 1959's Italian Favorites, and she followed it with several more albums of Italian songs over the years, as well as collections of Spanish-language and Jewish songs, among others.
"Where The Boys Are", one of many Neil Sedaka/Howard Greenfield compositions Francis recorded during her career (others included "Stupid Cupid" and "Fallin'"), gained wide exposure through its inclusion in the 1960 motion picture with the same title. Francis had a role in the film and sang the title song. During the first half of the 1960s she starred in three additional films—Follow the Boys (1963) (the title song of which became a No. 17 Billboard single for Francis), Looking for Love (1964) and When the Boys Meet the Girls (1965).
In 1960 Francis became the youngest headliner to sing in Las Vegas, where she played 28 days a year for nine years. In 1961 she was successful in starring in her own television special on ABC television sponsored by Brylcreem titled Kicking Sound Around, singing and acting along-side Tab Hunter, Eddie Foy Jr. and Art Carney. She appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show on July 1, 1962 with French singing star Johnny Hallyday in a show that was taped at the famous Moulin Rouge nightclub in Paris, France. On July 3, 1963 she played a Command performance before Queen Elizabeth II at the Alhambra Theatre in Glasgow, Scotland. By 1967, she had 35 U.S. Top 40 hits, and three number ones.
Connie Francis has always been a great fan of country music and recorded several albums of country standards during her pop career. In 1969 she had a modest country hit with "The Wedding Cake" and made the country charts again in 1982 with "There's Still a Few Good Love Songs Left in Me." Several country singers found chart success remaking Francis' pop hits for the country market, including Marie Osmond ("Who's Sorry Now" in 1975), Susan Raye ("My Heart Has a Mind of Its Own" in 1972), Margo Smith ("Don't Break The Heart That Loves You" in 1978), and Debby Boone.
During the height of the Vietnam War in 1967, Connie Francis performed for U.S. troops.
Francis ended her recording career in 1969. She returned in 1973 with "The Answer", a song written just for her, and soon began performing again. Her son Joey was born in 1974.
Francis' autobiography, Who's Sorry Now? was published in 1984.
Her latest CD The American Tour contains performances from recent shows. In late December 2004, Francis headlined in Las Vegas for the first time since 1989.
In March 2007, Francis performed to a sold-out crowd—composed of gay urbanites and conservative suburbanites—at the Castro Theater in San Francisco. The "little diva" belted out versions of her "woebegone ballads . . . in full force", according to the music critic of the San Francisco Chronicle, reviewing the Castro show. She booked a repeat appearance at the same venue one year later, for October 2007.
Some other websites of interest: Swingin' Chicks: Connie Francis, NIAF Milestones, The Connie Francis page, Amazon.com, IMDb.com, Radio Stations featuring me, and The Incomparable Me!
Note: This profile has been created for entertainment purposes only. Connie Francis has not actually created a profile.