Although uncomfortable being thought of as a singer, Annette had a number of pop record hits in the late 1950s and early 1960s, mostly written by the Sherman Brothers and including: "Tall Paul", "First Name Initial", "O Dio Mio", "Train of Love" (written by Paul Anka) and "Pineapple Princess".

Funicello announced  in 1992 that she suffers from multiple sclerosis. She had kept her condition a secret for many years, but felt it necessary to go public to combat rumours that her impaired carriage was the result of alcoholism. That same year, she was inducted as a Disney Legend. In 1993, she opened the Annette Funicello Fund for Neurological Disorders at the California Community Foundation.