The Overlooked Country Music Legacy of Connie Francis (RIP)

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Connie Francis was the voice of a generation, and a gifted singer revered worldwide for her songs that graced radio and jukeboxes, and found favor in the cinematic landscape, seeding a legacy that is still thriving to this day. Though crooners of her kind were much more common in the ’50s and ’60s when you had to be a skilled performer and couldn’t simply rely on Tik-Tok, Connie had a way of instilling emotion into her songs that made their effect and legacy long lasting.

It’s songs like “Who’s Sorry Now,” and the haunting “Where The Boys Are” that made Connie Francis a superstar in her day, and not just celebrated in the United States, but in the U.K., Germany, France, Sweden, Japan, and other nations, especially since Francis would sing her hits in multiple languages. But it was a new generation of listeners specifically on Tik-Tok that took many Connie Francis songs, and revitalized them.

Most recently, Connie’s song “Pretty Little Baby” originally released in 1962 spontaneously became a viral hit, with many sharing the song on Tik-Tok. A similar phenomenon has happened for her version of the song “Stupid Cupid” originally released in 1958. Both of these tracks have recently charted and racked up tens of millions of streams on Spotify as a new generation discovers them.

Born in Newark, New Jersey on December 12th, 1937, Connie was born and raised in the New York and New Jersey area. She would regularly perform at festivals and in talent competitions growing up, and performed on a program on NBC called Startime Kids before eventually signing to MGM Records—the same label Hank Williams was signed to.

Though most know Connie Francis for her major pop hits, it shouldn’t be surprising that she also found favor with country music in the way the music often centers around heartbreak. But much of this legacy has been glossed over, including in remembrances for the singing star who passed away on July 16th at the age of 87.

Connie Francis’s affinity for sad, sentimental, and depressing songs led her to singing and recording country songs on numerous occasions throughout her career. This passion led to her recording her first country album Country & Western – Golden Hits in 1959 with producer Ray Ellis. The album found Francis singing “Your Cheatin’ Heart” and “Cold Cold Heart” by Hank Williams, as well as “Tennessee Waltz” and “Bye Bye Love” by Felice and Boudleaux Bryant.


In 1962, Francis returned to the country genre with Country Music Connie Style that covered Patsy Cline’s “I Fall to Pieces,” Johnny Cash’s “I Walk The Line,” and Ray Price’s “Heartaches By The Number” among other tracks. Then in 1964, Francis teamed up with a young Hank Williams Jr. to record Connie Francis and Hank Williams Jr. sing Great Country Favorites, once again underscoring the Hank Williams connection to Connie both through inspiration, and through the MGM label.

However, these albums were mostly covers of country standards as opposed to more original works by Connie Francis, though her duets with Hank Williams Jr. were recorded in Nashville, and were definitely authentic and representative of country music at the time.

Then in 1969, Connie Francis recorded one of her final hits called “The Wedding Cake,” written by country artist Margaret Lewis along with Mira Ann Smith. As the counterculture revolution was in full swing and many of the songs of Connie Francis were falling out of favor, the song became a surprising hit, reaching the Top 20 on the easy listening chart, and #33 in country. Connie Francis now had a country song all her own. Connie Smith and Jennie C. Riley would hear the Connie Francis version, and record versions of their own.


In 1974, Connie Francis was raped in a high profile incident in New York, and subsequently suffered major depression and other mental health issues. She lost her voice in a 1982 nasal surgery, and it took years for her to get it back. Though her later career was tumultuous and full of tragedy, she would return to country music in concert performances upon occasion.

Many have brought their voices to country music over the years. Few brought the pain it takes to sing country music convincingly like Connie Francis did.

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