From pop stardom through the depths of addiction to her punk-rock comeback, Marianne Faithfull's life captures rock 'n' roll at its most decadent and its most destructive. Faithfull's first hit, 1964's "As Tears Go By," opened doors to the hippest circles in London. There she frolicked with the most luminous of the young, rich, and reckless, including Bob Dylan, the Beatles, and the Rolling Stones. Her legendary affair with Mick Jagger produced one hit single, "Sister Morphine," and countless headlines. Faithfull left the relationship a strung-out junkie. Struggling to kick drugs and revive her musical career, she recorded Broken English in 1979, an edgy, hard-hitting, critical triumph. As honest in her autobiography as in her music, Faithfull is a searing, intimate portrait of a woman who examines her adventures and misadventures without flinching, without apology.

A tribute to the life and work of one of the great musical icons of the twentieth century, reflected through the lenses of the world’s greatest photographers. Published to coincide with the fiftieth anniversary of the release in 1964 of her groundbreaking debut single "As Tears Go By," this is the definitive book on Faithfull, one of the most beloved singers of the twentieth century. As a folk singer in London, Marianne Faithfull was discovered in a coffeehouse in 1964 by the manager of the Rolling Stones. Over the five decades since, her work as a musician, her performances as an actress on stage and screen, and her presence as an icon of style have made Faithfull an undisputed icon of pop culture. Edited by the artist herself, with accompanying handwritten captions, this book represents a personal collection of images that tell the stories of her life—from her explosive success in London in the 1960s and her infamous relationships with Mick Jagger and the Rolling Stones, to her rise as an actress and her collaborations with artists as diverse as David Bowie and Nick Cave. Including never-before-seen snapshots from Faithfull’s collection, specially commissioned photographs of her home in Paris, and iconic images by many of the world’s best-known photographers—Steven Meisel, David Bailey, and Anton Corbijn, among many others—this is a revealing celebration of an extraordinary life in popular culture.

Returning triumphantly from addiction and homelessness to sing, write songs, and act, the author tells of her rise, fall, and redemption in the music business--beginning with her childhood and continuing through her tumultuous relationship with Mick Jagger. 32 photos.

First as a doe-eyed ingénue with “As Tears Go By,” then as a gravel-voiced phoenix rising from the ashes of the 1960s with a landmark punk album, Broken English, and finally as a genre-less icon, Marianne Faithfull carved her name into the history of rock ’n’ roll to chart a career spanning five decades and multiple detours. In Why Marianne Faithfull Matters, Tanya Pearson crafts a feminist account that explains the musician’s absence from the male-dominated history of the British Invasion and champions the eclectic late career that confirmed her redemption. Putting memoir on equal footing with biographical history, Pearson writes about Faithfull as an avid fan, recovered addict, and queer musician at a crossroads. She’s also a professional historian unafraid to break from the expectations of the discipline if a “titty-centered analysis” or astrology can illuminate the work of her subject. Whether exploring Faithfull’s rise to celebrity, her drug addiction and fall from grace as spurned “muse,” or her reinvention as a sober, soulful chanteuse subverting all expectations for an aging woman in music, Pearson affirms the deep connections between listeners and creators and reveals, in her own particular way, why Marianne Faithfull matters.