Musician and actress Marianne Faithfull has died at the age of 78, as music icons have paid tribute.

Marianne Faithfull has died at the age of 78. Credit: Stephane Cardinale/Corbis via Getty Images

The London-born star found fame in the 1960s with the release of her single ‘As Tears Go By’, becoming one of the lead female artists during the British Invasion in the United States.

News of her death was confirmed by her spokesperson, who said in a statement on Thursday: “It is with deep sadness that we announce the death of the singer, songwriter, and actress Marianne Faithful.

“Marianne passed away peacefully in London today, in the company of her loving family. She will be dearly missed.”

Faithfull’s best-known hit, ‘As Tears Go By’, was written by the Rolling Stones’ Keith Richards and Mick Jagger, the latter of whom she was in a relationship with for several years.

Faithfull had met the Rolling Stones’ manager, Andrew Loog Oldham, who’d set her up with Jagger and Richards, starting her successful career with several Top 10 singles in the UK, which also charted in the US.

Faithfull found fame in the 1960s. Credit David Redfern/Redferns/Getty Images

She married artist John Dunbar in 1965, with the couple going on to have a son, but left Dunbar for Jagger, dating him for four years before they split.

Jagger, 81, shared his heartbreak at the news of Faithfull’s death, writing on Instagram: “I am so saddened to hear of the death of Marianne Faithfull.

“She was so much part of my life for so long. She was a wonderful friend, a beautiful singer and a great actress. She will always be remembered.”

Richards also shared a photo of them together, sharing a toast in more recent years, writing: “My heartfelt condolences to Marianne’s family! I am so sad and will miss her!! Love, Keith.”

Faithfull was known as a muse for the band, reportedly inspiring the Rolling Stones’ song ‘Wild Horses’ after once telling Jagger: “Wild horses couldn’t drag me away.”

Her struggles with drug addiction were also said to be the inspiration for the songs ‘Dear Doctor’ and ‘You Can’t Always Get What You Want’.

Faithfull previously said: “I know they used me as a muse for those tough drug songs. I knew I was being used, but it was for a worthy cause.”

According to the Guardian, as Faithfull’s addiction to cocaine and heroin worsened, she was once found naked, wrapped in a fur rug alongside Jagger, Richards, and six other men by police in 1967, who’d raided Richards’ home.

She later said: “It destroyed me. To be a male drug addict and to act like that is always enhancing and glamorizing. A woman in that situation becomes a slut and a bad mother.”

By the early 1970s, Faithfull had broken up with Jagger, lost custody of her son, and found herself homeless and living on the streets of Soho, London, as she tried to get clean from drugs.

She famously dated Mick Jagger and was known as a muse for the Rolling Stones. Credit: William Lovelace/Express/Getty Images

Faithfull revealed that this time in her life led her to see that she’d been living in a “very fake sort of world in the ’60s”, and showed her the kindness of ordinary people, as a local Chinese restaurant allowed her to wash her clothes there, while a man working on a tea stall gave her cups of tea.

She managed to turn her life around and returned to music with a country album in 1976 titled Dreamin’ My Dreams, before quitting drugs for good in 1985.

Faithfull continued to release music as well as acting, and went on to get married and divorced twice more, first to Ben Brierly of the punk band the Vibrators and then to actor Giorgio Della Terza.

In her later life, Faithfull lived in Paris and had undergone several health battles including a successful surgery for breast cancer in 2006. She also announced in 2007 that she had hepatitis C, having been diagnosed 12 years before.

Faithfull is survived by her son, Nicholas Dunbar.

Our thoughts remain with her family, friends, and fans at this heartbreaking time.