British singer Marianne Faithfull has tested positive for coronavirus and is being treated in hospital, her publicists said on Saturday.

"Marianne Faithfull's manager... has confirmed that Marianne is being treated for COVID-19 in hospital in London," music industry publicists Republic Media tweeted. "She is stable and responding to treatment. We wish her well and a full and speedy recovery."

Faithfull's friend, the US avant-garde performer Penny Arcade, wrote on her Facebook page that the singer went into hospital on Tuesday, reportedly after developing a cold while self-isolating. "She has withstood and survived so much in her life -- including being Marianne Faithful, that to be taken down by a virus would be such a tragedy," wrote Arcade, whose real name is Susana Ventura.

Faithfull, 73, was one of the icons of the 1960s and was catapulted to fame at the age of just 17 singing "As Tears Go By", written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones.

She has had a five-decade career as a singer-songwriter, and stage and film actress. But she has also had well-documented battles with drug addiction and health issues.