Marianne Faithfull

Marianne Faithfull (born 29 December 1946) is an English singer, songwriter, actress and diarist whose career spans five decades. Her early work in pop and rock music in the 1960s was overshadowed by her struggle with drug abuse in the 1970s. After a long commercial absence, she returned late in 1979 with the landmark album, Broken English. Faithfull's subsequent work, very frequently the subject of great critical acclaim, has at times been overshadowed by her personal history.

Over the course of her long recording career, Faithfull has continually reinvented her musical persona, experimenting in different musical genres and collaborating with such varied artists as Angelo Badalamenti, Beck, David Bowie, Nick Cave, The Chieftains, Jarvis Cocker, Billy Corgan, Marcella Detroit, Emmylou Harris, PJ Harvey, Antony Hegarty, Rupert Hine, Joe Jackson, Alex James, Lenny Kaye, Daniel Lanois, Sean Lennon, Metallica, John Prine, Barry Reynolds, Keith Richards, Sly and Robbie, Teddy Thompson, Tom Waits, Rufus Wainwright, Roger Waters, Steve Winwood and Patrick Wolf.

Faithfull began her singing career in 1964, landing her first gigs as a folk music performer in coffeehouses. Faithfull emerged as a fashionable, vivacious teenager and soon began taking part in London's exploding social scene. In early 1964 she attended a Rolling Stones' launch party with John Dunbar and there a chance meeting with Andrew Loog Oldham, who discovered Faithfull. Her first major release, "As Tears Go By", was penned by Oldham, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, and became a chart success. She then released a series of successful singles, including "This Little Bird, Summer Nights" and "Come and Stay With Me". Faithfull married artist John Dunbar on 6 May 1965 at Cambridge with Peter Asher as the best man. The couple lived in a flat at 29 Lennox Gardens in Belgravia just off Knightsbridge, London SW1. On 10 November 1965 she gave birth to their son, Nicholas. She then: "...left her husband to live with Mick Jagger...' and told the 'New Musical Express' that: 'My first move was to get a Rolling Stone as a boyfriend. I slept with three and decided the lead singer was the best bet".

As Tears Go By