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Lesley Gore has died at age 68 – her hits included “It’s My Party” and “You Don’t Own Me”
This makes me very sad.
Lesley Gore, the 1960s pop star who later came out publicly as a lesbian, died on Monday of lung cancer. Her biggest hits included It’s My Party, You Don’t Own Me and Sunshine, Lollipops and Rainbows.
Gore died New York University Langone Medical Center in New York, according to the Associated Press.
‘She was a wonderful human being – caring, giving, a great feminist, great woman, great human being, great humanitarian,’ Lois Sasson, Gore’s partner of 33 years, told the AP.
Gore was just 16 when she recorded It’s My Party which reached number 1, was nominated for a Grammy and sold more than 1 million copies.
More hits followed including You Don’t Own Me which spent three weeks at number 2 but was unable to dislodge the song in the top spot: The Beatles’ I Want to Hold Your Hand.
Her many other hits during the 60s including She’s A Fool, Judy’s Turn to Cry, Maybe I Know, Look of Love, and That’s the Way Boys Are.
While Gore’s recording career stalled at the end of the 1960s, she kept performing and was nominated for an Academy Award for co-writing the song Out Her On My Own with her brother, Michael Gore, for the movie Fame. The song lost to the theme song from the film which was also written by Michael.
It was in 2005 that Lesley publicly stated that she was a lesbian.
Comments
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Joe says:
I’m sad too. Lesley Gore was wonderful. I will miss her a lot, but I’m thankful I have her music that will last forever.
Sam says:
I will always be partying with Lesley’s music…love her and RIP.
eric says:
I am devastated at this news. 🙁
Kyle says:
How sad! My condolences to her family during this difficult transition!
K. Martinez says:
I remember Lesley’s music when I was a kid in the 1960’s. My sister used to play her records all the time. Very sad.