Singer and actress Marianne Faithfull has died at the age of 78.

A spokesperson said: “It is with deep sadness that we announce the death of the singer, songwriter and actress Marianne Faithfull.

“Marianne passed away peacefully in London today, in the company of her loving family.

“She will be dearly missed.”

Faithfull was best known for her 60s hit As Tears Go By, written by The Rolling Stones’ Jagger and Keith Richards.

She also starred in films including The Girl on a Motorcycle and 2007’s Irina Palm, for which she was nominated for a European Film Award for Best Actress.

In recent years, she provided voice work for the 2021 remake of Dune and 2023’s Wild Summon.

Born in 1946, Faithfull started her singing career in 1964 after being discovered by the Stones’ manager Andrew Loog Oldham.

Her self-titled debut album was released a year later, with As Tears Go By reaching number nine on the UK singles chart.

She went on to have a string of successful singles, including Come and Stay with Me, This Little Bird, and Summer Nights, and famously dated Sir Mick from 1966 to 1970.

Faithfull was prolific throughout the 60s, releasing six albums – some only in the UK and some for the US – as well as contributing backing vocals to the Beatles’ Yellow Submarine and inspiring the Stones’ Sympathy For The Devil.

That decade also saw her star in films like 1967’s I’ll Never Forget What’s’isname – where she was one of the first people to say f*** in a mainstream studio film – 1968’s The Girl on a Motorcycle, and Tony Richardson’s 1969 adaptation of Hamlet.

Her relationship with Sir Mick was notorious, with the couple being arrested in 1968 for possession of cannabis.

She was also infamously found by police wearing only a bear skin rug when they arrived for a drugs raid at Richard’s home in 1967.

After breaking up with the Stones frontman, Faithfull spent two years homeless in Soho while suffering from anorexia and heroin addiction, before she started living in a squat.

She wrote in her 1994 autobiography: “For me, being a junkie was an admirable life. It was total anonymity, something I hadn’t known since I was 17.

“As a street addict in London, I finally found it. I had no telephone, no address.”

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In 1979, following success in Ireland with the country-themed Dreamin’ My Dreams, Faithfull released the Grammy-nominated Broken English – widely considered her best album.

She later achieved critical acclaim as a jazz and blues singer with 1987’s Strange Weather and went to rehab that same decade.

Faithfull released a total of 21 solo albums throughout her career. Her most recent was the spoken word album She Walks in Beauty from 2021, which saw her work with frequent Nick Cave collaborator Warren Ellis.

She made a full recovery from breast cancer in 2006, and fell into a coma after catching COVID-19 early in 2020 before recovering.

On Dec. 8, one month and nine days after a nightmare fifth inning torpedoed the New York Yankees‘ hopes of overcoming a 3-1 deficit to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series, the Yankees absorbed another franchise-shifting loss at the winter meetings in Dallas.

Juan Soto wasn’t returning. And he wasn’t just not returning — he was signing with the New York Mets.

The Yankees offered the superstar outfielder a 16-year, $760 million contract. When he rejected it, general manager Brian Cashman and his front office turned to plans they had devised during their pursuit of Soto should they need to pivot. His departure set in motion a flurry of activity over a 12-day stretch in mid-December to attempt to raise the floor on a roster with franchise cornerstones Aaron Judge and Gerrit Cole still in their primes.

“You can’t replace a Juan Soto,” Cashman told ESPN this week. “So how do you cushion the blow and diversify that throughout the lineup? And then the defense was a real problem on our roster. We had a bad defensive team. We have an opportunity to upgrade the defense at the same time, which will improve our run prevention and our pitching. So, getting more athletic, getting more protection on the defensive front while still trying to provide good, strong balance on the offensive side was, ultimately, the simple framework.”

The Yankees believe their aggressive restoration attempt after an uncharted disappointment — losing a bidding war for your superstar free agent? To the Mets? — wasn’t just successful. They believe it was an upgrade.

“Some people may disagree with me,” Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner told the YES Network on Tuesday, “but some people will agree with me: I think we have a better team right now than we did a year ago today.”

The Yankees’ first post-Soto move — just 48 hours after Soto accepted a 15-year deal worth $765 million guaranteed to defect to Queens — was to bolster a strength: They added another front-line arm to a deep rotation with an eight-year, $218 million contract with Max Fried, one of the three best starters on the free agent market.

A day later, the Yankees agreed to re-sign reliever Jonathan Loaisiga to a one-year, $5 million deal. Two days after that, they acquired Devin Williams, arguably the best closer in the sport, from the Milwaukee Brewers for left-hander Nestor Cortes and prospect Caleb Durbin. Four days later, they finalized a trade with the Chicago Cubs for Cody Bellinger. Three days after that, they acquired reliever Fernando Cruz and catcher Alex Jackson from the Cincinnati Reds for backup catcher Jose Trevino.

Then, on Dec. 21, the last major addition: an agreement with veteran first baseman Paul Goldschmidt on a one-year, $12 million contract.

“The Soto deal is insane,” a rival executive said. “It could be a blessing in the end. Fried is an ace. Bellinger might hit 30 HRs there and shores up their defense. Goldschmidt is a Hall of Famer. Added a bullpen arm. All in all, pretty good.”

The Yankees let second baseman Gleyber Torres and relievers Clay Holmes and Tommy Kahnle walk in free agency. Anthony Rizzo and Alex Verdugo are among the other contributors from last season’s club who won’t return.

“I think they’ve pretty much nailed everything they’ve done,” a rival scout said.

Among the Yankees’ potential targets in a pivot were left-hander Blake Snell and shortstop Willy Adames. The team held Zoom calls with both free agents. Real interest was expressed from both sides. But both players decided to sign in the week before Soto made his choice. The Yankees, not wanting to commit to any long-term deals before knowing where Soto would sign, watched them go elsewhere.

The Yankees also held a Zoom call with Corbin Burnes, the third of the big three free agent starters, but an offer was never made, sources said. The Yankees, with Snell off the market, instead focused on Fried.

In the bullpen, Williams represents an upgrade over Holmes, the Yankees’ closer until he lost the job in early September, though it could be for just one season. Williams arrives with just one year of control remaining, just like Soto had.

“At the end of the day, we are trying to win,” Cashman said. “It’s a win-now move, just like Soto’s acquisition the previous year was a win-now move. And, obviously, the Yankees are about impact and trying to find impact.”

The Cubs, seeking to free up payroll, were between trading Bellinger to the Yankees or Toronto Blue Jays, according to sources with knowledge of the negotiations. The Cubs ultimately settled on the Yankees’ offer of right-hander Cody Poteet, also sending the Yankees $5 million to pay down Bellinger’s salary over the next two years.

At the time of the trade for Bellinger, the Yankees were still shopping for a first baseman. They never had interest in signing Pete Alonso, sources said. Christian Walker could have been a fit, but the Yankees decided they didn’t want to pay the penalty for signing a player who was given the qualifying offer. The Yankees engaged in discussions with the Cleveland Guardians on Josh Naylor, but the two sides couldn’t come to a resolution, according to a source, before Naylor was traded to the Arizona Diamondbacks.

In the end, it came down to giving the job to Ben Rice, a rookie last season, or signing one of two free agents in their late 30s: Goldschmidt or Carlos Santana. Goldschmidt, another former MVP, is 37 years old and coming off his worst season, but the Yankees were encouraged enough by his strong second half (.271/.319/.480) with St. Louis to make the low-risk investment.

Goldschmidt’s down season — he batted .245 with 22 home runs, a .716 OPS, and 1.1 fWAR — would still be a considerable improvement on the production the Yankees received from their first basemen in 2024, who ranked last in the majors in OPS (.594), tied for 26th in home runs (17) and 27th in fWAR (-1.2).

Offsetting the loss of a player of Soto’s caliber — one who recorded a .989 OPS, blasted 41 home runs, posted an 8.1 fWAR, routinely delivered in clutch situations and made life easier for Judge hitting behind him — is an inexact science, with several moving pieces beyond all those transactions.

Judge is slated to move from center field, where the metrics said he performed poorly last season, back to right field. Jasson Dominguez, the organization’s top prospect, should be given an extended run for the first time after September call-ups the past two seasons — and he should be an upgrade in left field over Verdugo, one of the least productive regulars in baseball last season. Add Bellinger in center field, and the Yankees’ outfield projects to drastically improve defensively.

“What’s going to matter ultimately is the wins and losses that transpire over the six months when we open March 27th,” Cashman said. “Once that starts, that’s the real world. Sleep on us, don’t sleep on us. Overrate us, underrate us. None of it matters. All that matters is us winning. And if we win as much as we’re capable of winning, then it keeps those dark storms, that are really not fun to deal with, away. And that’s all I care about.”

The Yankees aren’t quite finished yet. They would like to further replenish the roster in two areas.

Acquiring a third baseman or second baseman — and having Jazz Chisholm Jr. play the other position — remains on their to-do list, though club officials maintain they have internal options, including DJ LeMahieu, Oswaldo Cabrera and Oswald Peraza. Trading for Nolan Arenado or signing Alex Bregman are not among the options, sources said.

They could also use a left-handed reliever; the team’s 40-man roster currently doesn’t include one. A reunion with Tim Hill, who excelled after joining the Yankees in June and recorded a 2.05 ERA in 35 appearances, is on the table.

Financially, the salaries of Goldschmidt, Fried, Williams and Bellinger will combine for $74.6 million on the Yankees’ competitive balance tax (CBT) payroll while Soto alone will count as $51 million against the Mets’ CBT ledger. To facilitate further acquisitions, however, the Yankees prefer to shed right-hander Marcus Stroman‘s contract, which includes $37 million over the next two seasons. The Yankees’ current projected CBT payroll is $302.9 million, according to Cot’s Contracts, putting them nearly $62 million over the tax threshold.

Since they’ve been over the tax for at least three straight years, the Yankees would be taxed at a base rate of 50% plus a 60% surcharge if they exceed the threshold by at least $60 million at the end of the season.

Last season, the Yankees paid a $62.5 million tax for their $316 million CBT payroll. The tax bill was the third-highest among the nine payees. The Mets were second. The team that beat them in October was first.

The Dodgers, after investing more than $1 billion in player contracts last winter, continued splurging after winning the World Series, committing more than $450 million to free agents this winter after paying a $103 million tax payment on top of their $353 million payroll last season. Their spending spree has drawn angst from all corners of the baseball world — including from the Yankees, once the free-spending Goliath who engendered ire throughout the industry.

“It’s difficult for most of us owners to be able to do the kind of things that they’re doing,” Steinbrenner said.

The Yankees, according to Forbes, are the highest valued franchise in the majors and the fourth-highest-valued sports franchise in the world at an estimated $7.55 billion. The Dodgers rank a distant second in baseball and 24th in the world at $5.45 billion but are making major inroads in Japan with Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and now Roki Sasaki on the roster.

For now, the Dodgers are the defending champions, and they are, on paper, better than ever — with All-Stars seemingly everywhere. The Yankees, without Soto, will try to chase them down with a very different roster after a very busy offseason. Time will tell if their pivot was enough.

“It’s impossible to make 110% great decisions at all times,” Cashman said. “We’re trying to aspire to that, but maybe this ’25 version will be the magic run. We’ll see.”