Sir Paul McCartney has paid tribute to the late “beautiful, sweet” Marianne Faithfull who passed away last night (January 30).
The death of the iconic singer and actor was confirmed yesterday by her representatives who announced that she had “passed away peacefully in London” at the age of 78, “in the company of her loving family.”
Mick Jagger shared a personal message to his former partner while Metallica described her as “fearless” and Morrissey said she “brought us all closer”. A number of other artists and admirers shared tributes to Faithfull, a range of which you can find here.
Today (January 31), the former Beatle took to his official Instagram account to share a black and white photo of him alongside Faithfull, writing. “What sad news that Marianne Faithfull has passed away”.
He continued: “She came into my life in the Sixties and was a beautiful, sweet 17 year old who radiated innocent joy. Then through the years I was lucky enough to run into her and to become a life-long friend.
“It’s very sad to think that I won’t be meeting her again but my memories of our encounters over the years will always bring me joy. May god bless you Marianne and guide you in the next steps of your journey – Paul.”
Faithfull was a key figure in the ‘Swinging London’ arts and music scene in the ’60s, becoming one of the leading female artists during the British Invasion era. She is remembered for hits including ‘As Tears Go By’ and for her roles on stage and screen.
It was her association with The Rolling Stones, however, that drove her public profile to a significant extent. Having married the artist John Dunbar in 1965, with whom she had a son Nicholas, she left her husband for Jagger the following year, with whom she had a four-year relationship.
She is often considered to have been a “muse” for the band, and is thought to have inspired songs such as ‘You Can’t Always Get What You Want’ and ‘Wild Horses’. She also co-wrote their song ‘Sister Morphine’, although she had to win the rights to be credited as a writer in a long legal battle years later.
Faithfull was also friends with the Fab Four and her voice can be heard on their 1966 track ‘Yellow Submarine’. She also previously covered various of their songs with her rendition of ‘Yesterday’ being the most notable.
She discussed the differences between the two bands – who were often pitted against each other in the media and viewed as each other’s opposites – in her 2007 book Memories, Dreams & Reflections.
“The Beatles completely evolved from the pop business. The Stones began as a Brit Chicago R&B group and then lurched into a more raunchy rig than The Beatles ever managed,” she wrote. “When The Beatles stopped touring in 1966, they were still the lovable Fab Four — they were rock ‘n’ roll muppets.”
She also previously revealed that she was much more of a Beatles fan than a Rolling Stones one in an interview with Fabulous Magazine back in 1964. “R&B is all right, but I could never sing it,” she explained
In 2021, she spoke about how a near-fatal battle with COVID-19 had threatened to take away her ability to sing. She had been hospitalised in March 2020 and received 22 days of treatment, but said a year later that she was still feeling the effects.
A biopic of her life, titled Faithfull, has been in production since 2020 but has yet to be completed.
Elsewhere, fans have also been sharing footage from Faithfull’s final ever concert, which took place at Le Bataclan in Paris in 2016 and saw her playing a number of her best known songs, along with covers of Leonard Cohen and Bob Dylan.
