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Connie Francis<\/a>, the pop singer known for hit singles like \u201cPretty Little Baby\u201d and \u201cEverybody\u2019s Somebody\u2019s Fool,\u201d died on Wednesday, July 16. Francis\u2019 publicist, Ron Roberts, announced the musician\u2019s death on Facebook<\/a>, sharing that she died in a hospital in Pompano Beach, Florida. A cause of death was not provided. Francis was 87 years old.<\/p>\n Francis was born Concetta Rosemarie Franconero in Newark, New Jersey, in 1937. Encouraged by her father, George Franconero, she began playing music as a toddler, and, as a child, she appeared on television programs like Arthur Godfrey\u2019s Talent Scouts<\/em>.<\/p>\n Francis signed a deal with MGM Records in 1955, but it took a few years before she gained popularity. Her cover of \u201cWho\u2019s Sorry Now?\u201d proved to be her first hit song, as it reached<\/a> No. 4 on the Billboard Top 100 in the spring of 1958. From there, the hits kept coming, with songs like \u201cStupid Cupid,\u201d \u201cMy Happiness,\u201d \u201cIf I Didn\u2019t Care,\u201d \u201cLipstick on Your Collar,\u201d and \u201cFrankie\u201d all performing well on the charts.<\/p>\n In June 1960, Francis made history as the first female artist<\/a> to summit the Billboard Hot 100, thanks to \u201cEverybody\u2019s Somebody\u2019s Fool.\u201d Francis went on to score two more No. 1 songs, \u201cMy Heart Has a Mind of Its Own\u201d and \u201cDon\u2019t Break the Heart That Loves You.\u201d Building on her success in music, Francis ventured into the world of cinema, starring in movies like 1960\u2019s Where the Boys Are<\/em> and 1963\u2019s Follow the Boys<\/em>.<\/p>\n Francis\u2019 brand of pop music grew less popular as the 1960s went on and teenagers flocked to British invasion bands like the Beatles and the Rolling Stones. And, as her recording career suffered, Francis experienced personal tragedy in 1974 when she was raped at knifepoint in her hotel room after performing at the Westbury Music Fair. She was eventually awarded<\/a> $2.5 million in damages, but went into seclusion.<\/p>\n Francis returned to the public eye in the late 1980s, and she performed live with some regularity. She published a memoir, Among My Souvenirs<\/em>, in 2017, and, earlier this year, \u201cPretty Little Baby\u201d became newly popular among a new generation of teenagers after going viral<\/a> on TikTok. \u201cMy thanks to TikTok and its members for the wonderful, and oh so unexpected, reception given to my 1961 recording \u2018Pretty Little Baby,\u2019\u201d Francis shared<\/a> online. \u201cThe first I learned of it was when Ron called to advise me that I had \u2018a viral hit\u2019. Clearly out of touch with present day music statistics terminology, my initial response was to ask: \u2018What\u2019s that?\u2019 Thank you everyone!\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n