Connie Francis
On December 12, 1938 Concetta Rosa Maria Franconero was born in Newark, New Jersey.
Starting out as an accordion player, she soon switched to singing under the name of Connie Francis before reaching her 20th birthday and had her first million selling single with the old standard âWhoâs Sorry Nowâ after debuting it on American Bandstand.
It would the start of an international career that saw her rise to being one of the most popular vocalists in the world as she recorded many of her hits in nine different languages, including English, Italian, French, Spanish, German, and even Japanese.
In the late 1950âs and early 1960âs Connie Francis was the top female recording artist as her trademark âtearfulâ ballads âMy Happinessâ, âIf I Didnât Careâ, âAmong My Souvenirsâ, âMamaâ , âEverybodyâs Somebodyâs Foolâ, âMy Heart Has A Mind Of Its Ownâ, âMany Tears Agoâ, âWhere The Boys Areâ, âBreaking In A Brand New Broken Heartâ, âTogetherâ, âWhen The Boy In Your Armsâ, âDonât Break The Heart That Loves Youâ and âSecond Hand Loveâ were million sellers.
Rock hits âStupid Cupidâ, âLipstick On Your Collarâ and âVacationâ reached the top ten in the U.S. as Connieâs string of chart singles worldwide vaulted into the dozens.
With more than 50 albums on the best selling charts worldwide, Connie headlined in Las Vegas for several years.
In 1963 she played a Command performance before Queen Elizabeth II
in Glasgow, Scotland.
Almost fifty years after first becoming a star, Connie Francis continues to perform to sold-out audiences around the world with a voice as good as it was at the start of her career.
In 2007 Connie Francis was inducted into the Hit Parade Hall of Fame.