On March 29, 1959, two icons of mid-20th century entertainment crossed paths when Connie Francis performed on The Ed Sullivan Show. Sixty-six years later, that moment is getting a renewed spotlight: Francis’ performance of “Come Rain Or Come Shine” from that night is the latest addition to the show’s popular YouTube channel. Francis’ version of the song, a jazz standard from the Broadway musical St. Louis Woman, was the opening track on her 1959 album The Exciting Connie Francis.
The Sullivan performance captures Francis on the rise, with her biggest hits still to come. In 1960, she became the first woman to conquer the Billboard Hot 100 when her song “Everybody’s Somebody’s Fool” reached No. 1—the first in a string of chart-toppers also including “My Heart Has A Mind Of Its Own” and “Don’t Break The Heart That Loves You.” AllMusic Guide calls her “the prototype for the female pop singer of today.”
Before her death last month at age 83, the long-retired Francis experienced a surprise career resurgence this year when her 1962 deep cut “Pretty Little Baby” went viral on TikTok, attracting her to the video platform to join in the fun and causing the song to chart in several countries 63 years after its release. Since her passing, the Francis renaissance has continued with the reissue of her holiday album Christmas In My Heart and the appearance of more than 100 of her songs on streaming services for the first time.
The Ed Sullivan Show has been enjoying a moment of renewed attention lately as well. Airing on CBS from from 1948 to 1971, the series was a fixture of American pop culture, ushering emerging superstars like the Beatles and Elvis Presley into the public consciousness. Sullivan also played an important role in introducing US audiences to Black talent during the peak of segregation—a legacy explored in the recent Netflix documentary Sunday Best: The Untold Story of Ed Sullivan.
