Sixties icon Marianne Faithfull was delighted when British tabloid the News of the World was closed over a phone-hacking scandal as she blames the publication for her descent into drug addiction.

The singer/songwriter was dating Sir Mick Jagger in 1967 when she was caught up in the infamous police raid on Keith Richards' home in Redlands, England.

The drugs bust, which reportedly followed a tip-off from editors at the News of the World, sparked lurid rumours suggesting Faithfull was discovered at the property naked and wrapped in a fur rug, and the blonde beauty's world imploded.

She spiralled into heroin addiction, split from Jagger, and ended up homeless on the streets of London before beating her drug demons in the 1970s.

Faithfull blames the tabloid for her downfall, and admits she danced with joy when the newspaper was shut down in 2011 over the phone-hacking scandal.

She tells Britain's Q magazine, "That (drugs raid) really damaged me, it damaged our relationship, and by 22 I was living on the street as a heroin addict. Do I blame anyone or anything for that? I do blame the Redlands thing, yes. I blame the police. I blame the News of the World. When the News of the World closed, I danced a jig...

"I could've stayed with Mick and he did love me, but I couldn't bear it, that world. I just felt... not good enough. Low self-esteem. All the things a drug addict feels. But I don't think I would've felt like that if the bust hadn't happened. I think we would've been fine. Would we have been together today? I don't know. Why not?"