Singer Marianne Faithfull bumped into Andrew Loog Oldham at a party in 1964, and the Rolling Stones’ manager took her under his wing. Her first single, "As Tears Go By," was written by Oldham, Mick JAGGER, and Keith Richards. It was a hit.

In the 1970s Faithfull became addicted to heroin and was homeless for a time. She recovered and released another hit record in 1979, Broken English.

In 1965 she left her husband, artist John Dunbar, to live with Jagger. As she put it: "My first move was to get a Rolling Stone as a boyfriend. I slept with three and decided the lead singer was the best bet." She also enjoyed same-sex affairs and was caught by Jagger at least once while she was in bed with another woman. As Faithfull put it, "He knew about my girlfriends. He didn’t mind."

Stern, Keith. Queers in History: The Comprehensive Encyclopedia of Historical Gays, Lesbians and Bisexuals. Perseus Books Group. Kindle Edition.

Further Readings:

Memories, Dreams and Reflections by Marianne Faithfull
Paperback: 336 pages
Publisher: Harper Perennial (July 7, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0007245815
ISBN-13: 978-0007245819
Amazon: Memories, Dreams and Reflections

This book is a more personal history than has ever before been written by or about Marianne Faithfull. Anecdotal, conversational, intimate and revealing, this is her no-holds-barred account of her life, her friends, her triumphs and mistakes.

A decade after the publication of ‘Faithfull’, one of the most acclaimed rock autobiographies of all time, Marianne Faithfull is back, vowing periodically leave her wicked ways behind and grow up, but finding that somehow strange things keep happening.

A wry observer of her slightly off-kilter world, Marianne muses nostalgically about afternoons languishing on Moroccan cushions at George and Pattie's, getting high and listening to new songs. She fondly recalls the outlandish antics of her Beat friends Allen Ginsberg and William Burroughs; is frequently baffled at her image in the press (opening the paper to read of her own demise: 'Sixties Star in Death Plunge'); terrified by the curse sent by Kenneth Anger; mortified by her history of reckless behaviour; not to mention her near-death experience in Singapore while looking for an opium den.

Marianne peoples her anecdotal memoir with legendary characters one can imagine only Marianne assembling around her, both the eccentric and the beautiful, from Henrietta Moraes and Donatella Versace to Sofia Coppola, Juliette Greco, and Yves St. Laurent's dog. Here is Marianne on the dark side of the sixties and the bright side of the nineties, which saw her collaborating with the likes of Blur and Jarvis Cocker; compelling recollections of an unconventional childhood in her father's orgiastic literary commune to a hilariously decadent few days at Lady Caroline Blackwood's deathbed. Here she is her blossoming movie career, on her records as subliminal autobiography. This is as intimate a portrait as we've ever had of Marianne, as she meditates on sex and drugs, confronts her alter-ego, the Fabulous Beast, and faces her own mortality in her battle with breast cancer.

Since her last book Marianne has, in her own words, 'made quite a few records, gone on many tours, tried to play it straight, and… Well, the rest is the subject of this book.'

More LGBT History at my website: http://www.elisarolle.com/, My Ramblings/Persistent Voices


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