Singer and actress Marianne Faithfull has died at the age of 78, a spokesperson has said. Faithfull’s hits included As Tears Go By, which was written by The Rolling Stones’ Mick Jagger and Keith Richards.

Nick Cave has said that the death of Marianne Faithfull at the age of 78 means a loss of “not just a fiercely unique talent, but the stored knowledge of a generation”.

Rolling Stones frontman Sir Mick Jagger was joined by bandmates Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood who also shared their thoughts.

The 1960s icon passed in London surrounded by family, according to a statement from her record promotion group.

Marianne Faithfull, who died on Thursday at 78, “seemed to touch all the moments,” helping define the look of the 1960s with an influence that is still seen today.

First off: she had the face of an angel, a cherub. Wide eyes, silken blonde hair, perfect skin, the whole business.

Rolling Stones frontman Sir Mick Jagger has led tributes to “wonderful friend and beautiful singer” Marianne Faithfull following her death

Born in London in 1946 to a British military officer and an Austro-Hungarian Jewish baroness, Faithfull began her singing career in 1964, after being spotted by Rolling Stones manager Andrew Loog Oldham, with the single As Tears Go By, written by the band’s Sir Mick Jagger and Keith Richards.

Marianne Faithfull with then boyfriend Mick Jagger in 1969. (Image: PA) Eager to enjoy the first stirrings of the 60s, she started travelling to London aged 16 to visit Beatnik clubs like The Marquee and Flamingo, before meeting boyfriend John Dunbar at a Cambridge party.

In the description of her superb 1994 memoir Faithfull, she was bedevilled by “grotesque contracts, lying, cheating crafty legalisms, mad and bungling managers and barbaric schedules”. Relief of a sort came with entry into the Stones’ inner sanctum.

Drugs, addiction, the ‘sexual constellation’ between Mick Jagger and Keith Richards… The late star held nothing back in this 1994 encounter