American pop singer Connie Francis, who has recently seen a resurgence of her 1962 hit ‘Pretty Little Baby’, has passed away at the age of 87.

No cause of death has been announced; however, her friend and publicist, Ron Roberts, announced the news on Facebook.

“It is with a heavy heart and extreme sadness that I inform you of the passing of my dear friend Connie Francis last night,” he penned.

“I know that Connie would approve that her fans are among the first to learn of this sad news.”

Concetta Rosa Maria Franconero was born December 12, 1937, in Newark, New Jersey, the eldest child of American-Italian parents George and Ida Franconero.

Her father encouraged her early talent, signing her up to talent shows and pageants, where she sang and danced as well as played the accordion.

Studio portrait of American singer Connie Francis wearing a lavender and white spaghetti-strap dress. (Photo by Archive Photos/Getty Images)

Changing her name to the more anglicised Connie Francis and appearing on several TV variety shows, at 17, she was signed by MGM with her debut single ‘Freddy’. According to lore, it was because the exec who signed her had a son with the same name and thought it would be a nice birthday gift for his boy.

The song itself was a flop, and she had no more success with the next several. However, she was retained by the studio to provide the singing vocals for a few of their less dulcet movie stars, including Tuesday Weld in the 1956 movie Rock, Rock, Rock!.

Discouraged, Connie considered giving up the idea of show business, enrolling to study medicine instead. But when her cover version of the 1923 tune ‘Who’s Sorry Now?’ was championed by Dick Clark, host of American Bandstand, she became the biggest-selling artist of the year.

Ironically, she’d later say, she’d resisted her father’s insistence that she record the song, saying “the kids on American Bandstand would laugh me right off the show” if she covered such an old-time track.

NEW YORK – JANUARY 3: (L-R) Bobby Darin, Connie Francis and Ed Sullivan appear on The Ed Sullivan Show on January 3, 1960. (Photo by CBS via Getty Images)

More hits, including ‘Stupid Cupid’, ‘Everybody’s Somebody’s Fool’, and ‘Lipstick on Your Collar’, followed, as did a romance with teen idol Bobby Darin, who volunteered to write songs for her.

When her father got wind the duo were planning to marry, he forced her to end the relationship, she later revealed.

“My personal life is a regret from A to Z,” she told the Associated Press in 1984, after penning her autobiography Who’s Sorry Now?. “I realised I had allowed my father to exert too much influence over me.”

While she found massive success internationally, by the mid-1960s her career faded as acts like The Beatles revolutionised the music scene.

Sadly, she next became more known for personal tragedies. In 1974, she was raped at knifepoint in a hotel – she would sue them for faulty security. In 1981, her brother George was shot to death, an event which devastated her.

A few years later, her father committed her to a psychiatric facility – one of several stints, she’d later state – where she was diagnosed as manic depressive. Connie also revealed that she also attempted suicide several times.

“I just felt that there was nothing for me to live for,” she said in 1989.

“I had this free-floating fear of life in general after the rape, and I just said, ‘Well, that’s it, I’m going to check out’.”

Entertainer Connie Francis records in the studio in circa 1959 in New York. (Photo by PoPsie Randolph/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)

Connie would marry four times, stating that only husband number three, Joseph Garzilli, was worth the trouble. The other marriages each lasted less than a year.

Despite it all, Connie resumed her career in 1989, continuing to perform until the end of her life.

In recent months, her single Pretty Little Baby has gone viral on TikTok, with stars including Kim Kardashian and Kylie Jenner lip syncing to the tune with their daughters.

“I am thrilled and overwhelmed at the success of Pretty Little Baby,” she would say in a statement on May 19. “I recorded that song 63 years ago and to know that an entire new generation now knows who I am, and my music is thrilling for me. Thank you so much, everybody, thank you TikTok.”