Obituary | “Virgin on a Pedestal”

Marianne Faithfull battled labels all her life

The singer and icon of the 1960s died on January 30th, aged 78

Marianne Faithfull
Photograph: Getty Images

Free love. Psychedelic drugs. Embroidered Moroccan cushions. Nietzsche. Zen. Tribal trinkets. Customised existentialism. Ossie Clark dresses with knee-high boots. (Later, it was all ruffled blouses and cloaks from the Antique Market). Chat-up lines such as “Have you read ‘Les Fleurs du Mal’?” Or, when she first slept with Mick Jagger, a deep discussion of the Holy Grail. All these things summed up the 1960s for Marianne Faithfull. But most of all, she would remember with her still-bright smile, “how beautiful everyone was”.

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This article appeared in the Obituary section of the print edition under the headline “Marianne Faithfull”

From the February 8th 2025 edition

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