This obituary explores the life and career of Marianne Faithfull, a singer who navigated the highs and lows of fame, addiction, and artistic reinvention. From her early ethereal pop success to her raw and powerful later work, Faithfull's journey is marked by resilience and a constant evolution of her voice.
Some artists sing like angels, some voices float on moonbeams and reach for the stars. From debut to last breath their song remains the same. Not so Marianne Faithfull. She began in the realms of the ethereal and then in her descent found a voice that was laced with the grit of experience, raw and unpitying. And then her voice soared.
Faithfull, who has died, aged 78, called this turning point meeting her Frankenstein, indeed becoming her. She had made her masterpiece, as she referred to it.It was 1979. Faithfull had been in the public eye for more than a decade, shimmering and, as it turned out, melting from the searing searchlight and flames of pop stardom and notoriety from her association with the cream of the pop world, notably Mick Jagger and the Rolling Stones.
Indeed, the fury of the song is unmatched. It not only smashed down the doors of what was permissible to sing of, it channelled anger and art into a river of molten notes, seething and raw, of sexual jealousy.And she almost didn’t record it. Denny Cordell, founder of Shelter Records, had contacted her to say Williams had a poem he wanted turned into a song and he was thinking of giving it to Tina Turner or Mick Jagger. Cordell told her to see him and persuade him to give it to her. She did.
dispelled the cobwebs and established me as an artist in my own right. It was a lifeline so crucial to my very being that I think had I not made it I would surely have gone raving mad or cut my throat. With my trusty, murmurous band I was now ready to conquer the world.”Find out the next TV, streaming series and movies to add to your must-sees.
MARIANNE FAITHFULL MUSIC OBITUARY POP MUSIC ARTISTIC EVOLUTION
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