Marianne Faithfull has died at 78, leaving behind one of the most compelling, chaotic, and enduring legacies in music history.
She wasn’t just a singer, an actress, or Mick Jagger’s ex. She was a survivor in the truest sense, a woman who lived through the highest highs and the lowest lows. But despite it all, still managed to reinvent herself and stay afloat.
Faithfull passed away peacefully in London, surrounded by family. The news was met with an outpouring of tributes from across the industry, none more poignant than Jagger’s own words.
Born in Hampstead in 1946, Faithfull was plucked from obscurity at 16, when The Rolling Stones’ manager Andrew Loog Oldham spotted her at a party and handed her As Tears Go By, the first song Jagger and Richards ever wrote. By 17, she had a UK Top Ten hit, and before long, she was at the heart of the wildest, most hedonistic era in music history.
Her relationship with Jagger turned her into a tabloid obsession, but Faithfull was never content to be just another rock star’s girlfriend. She was an artist in her own right, though the world didn’t always see it that way.
Then came the fall. Addiction. Arrests. Overdoses. Homeless on the streets of Soho. The press, once fascinated by her, turned their backs. But she didn’t stay down for long.
In 1979, she roared back with Broken English, an album that redefined her sound and her career. Gone was the angelic folk singer of the ‘60s—Faithfull’s voice was now scarred, husky, and full of grit, the product of every mistake, every heartbreak, every moment of survival. You could hear it all inside of her.
She kept that fire alive for decades, collaborating with legends like PJ Harvey, Nick Cave, Lou Reed, and Metallica. She proved time and time again that she was never just a nostalgia act, or an afterthought. She was the rock n roll survivor.
Her final years weren’t easy. She battled cancer, emphysema, and COVID-19, surviving all of it just long enough to release her 21st and final album, She Walks in Beauty. Even in the face of death, she kept making art.
Marianne Faithfull was chaos and elegance in equal parts. A woman who lived too hard, lost everything, and still managed to come back stronger than before. She was never just part of the rock and roll story—she was the story.
