Marianne Faithfull

Born in Hampstead in 1946, Faithfull was discovered at a Rolling Stones party in 1964 and released her debut the next year - a dual-album success that made her a leading face of the British Invasion. Her high, melodic voice and a highly publicised relationship with Mick Jagger from 1966 to 1970 kept her in the spotlight, alongside film roles in I'll Never Forget What's'isname and Hamlet. The 1970s collapsed her: anorexia, addiction, homelessness, and severe laryngitis left her voice permanently raspy and lower in pitch. In 1979 she returned with Broken English, a critically acclaimed album that critics called "whisky soaked" and that earned her a Grammy nomination - regarded now as her definitive work. She followed it with Dangerous Acquaintances, A Child's Adventure, and Strange Weather, wrote three books about her life, and was made a Commandeur of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in 2011. She died 30 January 2025.