Singer and actress Marianne Faithfull dies at 78 [BBC]

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cp8k931j423o

Born in Hampstead in December 1946, she was known for hits like As Tears Go By, which reached the UK top 10 in 1964, and for starring roles in films including 1968's The Girl On A Motorcycle.

She was also famously the girlfriend of Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger in the 1960s, inspiring songs such as Wild Horses and You Can't Always Get What You Want. After a period of heroin addiction in the 70s, she resurrected her career with the classic album Broken English.

Paying tribute, Jagger described Faithfull as "a wonderful friend, a beautiful singer and a great actress," saying he was "so saddened".

His bandmate Keith Richards posted that he was "so sad" following Faithfull's death, adding that he "will miss her".

Obituary: 1960s icon and rock star muse who carved her own path
Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood posted twice on Instagram. One an old picture of him, Faithfull and Richards in a recording studio with the caption "Farewell dear Marianne", and a more recent shot of the pair with the words "Marianne will be dearly missed. Bless her xx".

"Marianne passed away peacefully in London today, in the company of her loving family," a statement from her spokesperson said.

"She will be dearly missed."

She was a doe-eyed poster girl of the 1960s, plucked from obscurity by the Rolling Stones' manager at the age of 16 and given As Tears Go By, the first song ever written by Jagger and Keith Richards.

An international hit, her version was light and breathy, delivered in a folk-pop style that was to become her trademark during the swinging 60s.

She re-emerged tentatively with the 1976 album Dreamin' My Dreams but really hit her stride with 1979's New Wave-influenced Broken English, on which she showcased the ashen voice and hard-won wisdom that would define the second act of her career. The album was nominated for a Grammy Award.

She also played God in two episodes of the sitcom Absolutely Fabulous, and the devil in William Burroughs' and Tom Waits' musical, The Black Rider.

But music was where her heart lay. Her penultimate album, 2018's Negative Capabilty, was a meditation on ageing, loneliness and grief – inspired partly by the death of her old friend, and fellow Rolling Stones' paramour Anita Pallenberg; and partly by the terror attacks on the Bataclan nightclub in her adopted home of Paris.