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The youngest solo singer to headline in Las Vegas was Connie Francis, the wholesome pop queen of the pre-Beatles period who passed away Thursday at the age of 87. At least she was in 1960, when she began a nine-year stay at the Congo Room of the Sahara Hotel.
In 1963, Flamingo star Wayne Newton beat Francis' record at the age of 21. However, her debut signaled a change in the entertainment scene in Vegas, where pop singers, particularly young ladies, were rarely given the highest billing in large casino showrooms.
In that sense, Francis paved the way for Adele, Celine Dion, and Barbra Streisand to become future superstars.
Throughout her career, Francis held several records. She was born Concetta Rosemarie Franconero on December 12, 1937. She was also the first female vocalist to have a rock 'n' roll single that sold a million copies, "Stupid Cupid," from 1958. And from "Who's Sorry Now" in 1958 to "Don't Break the Heart That Loves You" in 1962, she was hardly ever off the top charts.
After appearing on a number of TV variety shows, the chanteuse signed a contract with MGM Records at the age of 17. She had appearances on "The Perry Como Show" and "Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts" when she was nine years old. Godfrey proposed that she abbreviate her last name.
She was frequently featured on "American Bandstand" by Dick Clark, and she later said that his encouragement helped her sustain her musical career.
From May 13-16, 1966, Francis recorded six shows, accompanied by the Lou Basil Orchestra, that were released as “Live at the Sahara in Las Vegas.” The property’s entertainment director, Stuart Allen, praised her on the album’s liner notes as “a rare performer in this present musical age.”
“She is one of the very few who have graduated successfully from the field of pop music to become one of the world’s foremost theatre and night club entertainers,” Allen explained. “In doing this, she has not only gained a whole new public but has retained and even added to her vast following in the pop music field.”
Up until her performance at the Las Vegas Hilton in December 2004, Francis remained the main attraction in Las Vegas. She and Dionne Warwick performed together at the same location in 2010 under the name "Eric Floyd's Grand Divas of Stage," which ended up being her last Vegas engagement.
She retired in 2018, and a year later, she was inducted into the Las Vegas Entertainers Hall of Fame, recognizing her services to the entertainment industry in Las Vegas.
Francis recently had an unanticipated spike in streaming after her 1962 hit song "Pretty Little Baby" rose to the top of the TikTok charts this year. As of July, it had received about 85 million Spotify plays and appeared in over 2 million videos on the platform.
