She became well-known in the late 1950s and sold over 80 million records, making her one of the most successful female vocalists ever. However, beneath the glittering stage lights and number-one songs was a life of unfathomable misery, family strife, and heartbreak.
A Story of Love Stealed by Family
She met Bobby Darin, a talented songwriter with her own charm and drive, when she was just eighteen. Darin, who was bold and self-assured, stormed off following a quarrel over a song during their uncomfortable first meeting. However, as they kept up their collaboration, their business partnership developed into a romantic one.
He forced Darin to leave a rehearsal at gunpoint one evening after learning of the couple’s covert elopement plot. She was forced to keep her distance out of fear for Bobby’s life.
After experiencing heartbreak, Darin moved on and eventually married Sandra Dee, an actress, in 1960. However, she never fully moved on from him.
A Too-Early Love Loss
Darin’s success took off. With four million-selling songs, Grammy Awards, and an Oscar nomination, he was a legend by the age of twenty-four. However, a chronic cardiac ailment brought on my childhood rheumatic illness shadowed him.
He famously remarked, “I have to be a legend by the time I’m 25 because that’s how long doctors gave me to live,” realizing that his time was running out.
Darin passed away at the age of 37 in 1973 as a result of complications after heart surgery. She was heartbroken.
A terrifying experience that altered everything
If the loss of Bobby Darin wasn’t agonizing enough, life was going to be even more difficult.
She was subjected to a horrifying incident in 1974 while lodging at a hotel on Long Island. She was raped at knifepoint by a man who broke into her room.
The trauma was too much to handle. She retreated from the spotlight, unable to comprehend the nightmare she had experienced. She later referred to Joey, the infant boy she adopted a month later, as her savior amid her lowest point.
However, the difficulties didn’t stop there.
Her Family Was Shattered by the Murder
When her younger brother, George Franconero Jr., was killed in an execution-style murder in 1981, tragedy struck once more. He was shot while scraping ice off his car’s windshield on a chilly New Jersey morning.
She was caught off guard.
She was unaware of George’s purported connections to organized cri:me until after his passing. She went into a downward spiral because the sadness was so overwhelming.
A Durable Legacy
She is currently 87 years old and has a decades-long career as one of the most recognizable female vocalists of all time. She defined an era and influenced the music industry with more than 80 million records sold.
Beyond her musical accomplishments, she used her platform to empower others by becoming an advocate for veterans’ support, mental health awareness, and victims’ rights.
