THE GUARDIAN: Singer and actor overcame drug addiction and homelessness to collaborate with everyone from the Rolling Stones and Metallica to Jean-Luc Godard
Marianne Faithfull, whose six-decade career marked her out as one of the UK’s most versatile and characterful singer-songwriters, has died aged 78.
A spokesperson said: “It is with deep sadness that we announce the death of the singer, songwriter and actress Marianne Faithfull.
“Marianne passed away peacefully in London today, in the company of her loving family. She will be dearly missed.”
With a discography that spanned classic 60s pop tunes to the prowling synthpop of Broken English and onto collaborations with Nick Cave, Warren Ellis, Lou Reed and more, Faithfull was idolised by fans and fellow musicians alike, and was also celebrated across the worlds of fashion and film.
Mick Jagger, with whom she had a four-year relationship, said: “I am so saddened to hear of the death of Marianne Faithfull. She was so much part of my life for so long. She was a wonderful friend, a beautiful singer and a great actress. She will always be remembered.”
Born in 1946 in London, Faithfull was descended from Austrian nobility on her mother’s side – her great-great-uncle Leopold von Sacher-Masoch wrote the erotic novel Venus in Furs – but grew up in relatively ordinary surroundings in a terraced house in Reading. » | Ben Beaumont-Thomas, Music editor | Thursday, 30 January 2025
Marianne Faithfull was a towering artist, not just the muse she was painted as: The late singer made her share of bad decisions – but someone this artistically adventurous and unafraid was never going to have an ordinary life »
Life in pictures »
LE FIGARO :
La chanteuse britannique Marianne Faithfull est décédée à l’âge de 78 ans : Ancienne égérie du swinging London, compagne de Mick Jagger, la chanteuse a commencé sa carrière très jeune. Mais elle a attendu la seconde partie de sa vie pour se métamorphoser en puissante interprète. »
