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The Rolling Stones muse and 1960s It girl found a stunning second act as a singer-songwriter

But after meeting producer Andrew Loog Oldham at a party, Faithfull became a breakout star in 1964 with her first single, the ballad “As Tears Go By,” the first song Mick Jagger and Keith Richards wrote together. Although she was only 17 and sang in a voice that sounded frail and very young, Faithfull imbued the song and its lyrics about feeling left out with a conviction that would point the way toward her later work.

Faithfull continued to score hits throughout the mid Sixties, but controversy overshadowed much of her early career. She was in a relationship with Jagger from 1966 until 1970, and was pilloried by the press after police raided Richards’ flat for drugs and found her nude, save for a fur bedcover, in 1967. “My heartfelt condolences to Marianne’s family!” Richards wrote on social media. “I am so sad and will miss her!!”

Jagger wrote on social media Thursday, “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.”

A few hits followed before Faithfull disappeared from the spotlight in a haze of heroin addiction (trials she chronicled in the lyrics to “Sister Morphine,” which the Rolling Stones also recorded).

Toward the end of the Sixties, Faithfull was homeless and addicted to heroin. Asked by Rolling Stone in 2021 whether dating Jagger made her a stronger woman, Faithfull replied, “I don’t know if it did. It almost destroyed me. Although it was wonderful, it was only four years. It was a wonderful time, and he was great, but I don’t think I fit into that life or what he wanted in a woman, that’s all. I couldn’t do it.”

In 1979, Faithfull reemerged with Broken English, an album that drew musically from punk and New Wave and showcased her newfound dark, sometimes vulgar outlook, and a more ravaged but even more powerful singing voice. Its songs, like “The Ballad of Lucy Jordan,” “Guilt,” and a cover of John Lennon’s “Working Class Hero,” perfectly fit the way her voice had deepened during her time away. Broken English would earn Faithfull a Grammy nomination for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance.