Connie Francis did not know what a "viral hit" was when her 1962 song “Pretty Little Baby” started trending on TikTok 

American singer and actress Connie Francis, who passed away on July 16, 2025, did not know what a "viral hit" was until her 1962 song Pretty Little Baby started trending on TikTok.

The track began trending on social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram in May 2025, 63 years after its release. On May 18, Connie thanked her copyright manager and friend, Ron Roberts, for reposting the link to a Billboard article reporting the virality of the track.

In her post, Connie Francis expressed her gratitude and mentioned:

"My thanks to TikTok and its members for the wonderful, and oh so unexpected, reception given to my 1961 recording 'Pretty Little Baby'. The first I learned of it was when Ron called to advise me that I had 'a viral hit'. Clearly out of touch with present day music statistics terminology, my initial response was to ask: 'What's that?' Thank you everyone!"

According to Billboard's article dated May 14, 2025, as per the song's tracking week ending on April 10, Pretty Little Baby had more than 17,000 on-demand U.S. streams a week. However, shortly after it started trending, the number went up to 2.4 million with a gain of more than 7000%.

Connie Francis' 1962 song debuted on global charts as well as the Spotify Daily Top Songs USA. The singer passed away at the age of 87, and the news of her demise was confirmed by her friend, Ron Roberts, via a Facebook post, stating:

"It is with a heavy heart and extreme sadness that i inform you of the passing of my dear friend Connie Francis last night. I know that Connie would approve that her fans are among the first to learn of this sad news. More details will follow later."

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Connie Francis had to listen to Pretty Little Baby to identify it after the track went viral: Details explored

While Pretty Little Baby became a TikTok sensation this summer, the track did not garner such a degree of popularity when it was first released in 1962. Talking to Billboard about the song during an interview dated May 20, 2025, Connie Francis admitted:

“I had to listen to it to identify it. Then, of course, I recognized the fact that I had done it in seven languages.”

According to Connie's 2017 autobiography titled Among My Souvenirs: The Real Story Vol. 1, the late singer mentioned that Pretty Little Baby was one of the 40 songs she recorded over four days in August 1961. The now-viral song was a part of her Connie Francis Sings Second Hand Love & Other Hits album.

Following its virality, Connie Francis' record label, Republic/UMe reissued Pretty Little Baby's Japanese, Swedish, and other language versions. As per Billboard's report, the 1962 song had acquired 10 billion TikTok views in May 2025 and became the No.1 track on the app's Top 50 and Viral 50 charts. It also ranked at No. 67 on Spotify's Global Top 100 and crossed 14 million global streams.

As per her interview with Billboard, what Connie missed the most was the stage. However, when asked if she had the opportunity to perform again, she said:

"Those days are over. That ship has sailed."

The late singer mentioned that her reason for declining to resume performing was that "it's too much work." Toward the end of her interview, Connie acknowledged and thanked Pretty Little Baby fans, stating:

"It gives me a new lease on life."

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Connie Francis leaves behind an iconic legacy, given that she became the first woman to top the Billboard Hot 100 in July 1960 as a solo act with her track Everybody's Somebody's Fool.

The singer passed away two weeks after her hospitalization for "extreme pain."

Edited by Arunava Dutta