Connie Francis has a viral hit with “Pretty Little Baby” — over 60 years after she first released it. Over the weekend, the Italian American pop singer shared a sweet reaction to learning that her B-side track is viral on TikTok. (She also dropped several new versions of the track in other languages.)
“My thanks to TikTok and its members for the wonderful, and oh so unexpected, reception given to my 1961 recording ‘Pretty Little Baby,’” Francis wrote on Facebook Saturday. “The first I learned of it was when [my publicist] Ron called to advise me that I had ‘a viral hit.’”
She continued, “Clearly out of touch with present day music statistics terminology, my initial response was to ask: ‘What’s that?’ Thank you everyone!”
Francis’ “Pretty Little Baby” currently sits atop the TikTok Music Charts at Number One with more than 1.3 million posts using it as a sound. “You can ask the flowers/I sit for hours/Telling all the bluebirds/The bill and coo birds/Pretty little baby, I’m so in love with you,” a 23-year-old Francis sweetly sings in the clip, which has soundtracked videos of users singing to their pets and babies. Celebrities such as Nara Smith, Kylie Jenner, and Ariana Greenblatt have used the sound in their own viral videos.
“I am thrilled and overwhelmed at the success of ‘Pretty Little Baby,’” Francis added in a Monday press release. “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 to me. Thank you so much everybody, thank you TikTok.”
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Francis featured “Pretty Little Baby” on her 1962 album Connie Francis Sings Second Hand Love & Other Hits and later released it as a B-side to her single “I’m Gonna Be Warm This Winter.” To celebrate the single’s success, Francis shared an “International Versions” EP on Monday featuring editions of the song in Spanish, German, Italian, French, and Swedish.
The 87-year-old singer is now retired and shares life updates on her Facebook page, including in March, when she shared she was going to use a wheelchair to avoid hurting her “troublesome painful hip.” She also posted a photo of herself in front of a new Bentley, writing in mid-April, “I won’t be driving it myself, but looking forward to the greater comfort and ease of traveling.”
