Marianne Faithfull, who passed away at 78, was initially discovered in 1964 by Andrew Loog Oldham at a party in London. He was drawn to her beauty rather than her singing talent, believing her appearance alone would captivate audiences. However, Faithfull didn’t fully develop her vocal talent until her 30s, notably with her 1979 album Broken English. Over her long career, she evolved into a distinctive gothic cabaret singer, subverting traditional expectations of women in pop music, proving that beauty can also voice complex, often uncomfortable truths.
Oldham took him at his word, and a week later he sent Faithfull a telegram telling her to come to Olympic Studios for a session. With a face that pretty, he reasoned, would anyone really care what came out of her mouth?
Faithfull didn't truly come into her own unique talent as a vocalist until her early 30s, far past the ingenue's perceived expiration date.
Eventually, in the last several decades of her improbably long career, she channeled her voice's rich smokiness into a third act as a kind of gothic cabaret singer.
She upended the expectations of all sorts of feminine stereotypes—the flash-in-the-pan teenage pop star; the silent, self-abnegating muse—and allowed the world to experience the destabilizing shock that occurs when a pretty face gives voice to ugly truths.
Collection
[
|
...
]