Marianne Faithfull, the British pop star, muse, libertine and old soul who inspired and helped write some of the Rolling Stones' greatest songs and endured as a torch singer and survivor of the lifestyle she once embodied,

Marianne Faithfull, an icon of British rock in the 1960s whose career went on to stretch seven decades, is dead at 78. Faithfull died “peacefully in London today, in the company of her loving family,” a spokesperson told the BBC.

Marianne Faithfull's first hit, "As Tears Go By," was recorded when she was just 17 years old after she met with the manager of the Rolling Stones at a party.