Life

‘It’s My Party’ singer‑songwriter Lesley Gore dies at age 68

‘It’s My Party’ singer‑songwriter Lesley Gore dies at age 68
Lesley Gore hugs a flowered record at her 18th birthday party celebrated at the Delmonico Hotel in New York on May 5, 1964.
Lesley Gore hugs a flowered record at her 18th birthday party celebrated at the Delmonico Hotel in New York on May 5, 1964. Marty Lederhandler, AP (File)

NEW YORK — Singer-songwriter Lesley Gore, who topped the charts in 1963 with her epic song of teenage angst, “It’s My Party,” and followed it up with the hit “Judy’s Turn to Cry,” and the feminist anthem “You Don’t Own Me,” died Monday. She was 68.

Gore died of cancer at New York University Langone Medical Center in Manhattan, according to her partner of 33 years, Lois Sasson.

Lesley Gore in 2007
Lesley Gore in 2007 Richard Drew, AP

“She was a wonderful human being — caring, giving, a great feminist, great woman, great human being, great humanitarian,” Sasson, a jewelry designer, told The Associated Press.

Brooklyn-born and New Jersey-raised, Gore was discovered by Quincy Jones as a teenager and signed to Mercury Records. She graduated from Sarah Lawrence College with a degree in English/American literature.

She sang at the 1964 T.A.M.I. Show in Santa Monica, California, alongside future Rock and Roll Hall of Famers like the James Brown and the Rolling Stones.

Gore also played Catwoman’s sidekick in the cult TV comedy “Batman.”

In a Facebook post, songwriter Neil Sedaka, who attended Gore’s Sweet 16 birthday party, shared his thoughts: “She was a great person and a phenomenal talent, who had opened for me on many occasions. She recorded a few of my songs (“Magic Colors” and “Summer Symphony”) and was a great songwriter in her own right. I’m glad I had the chance of knowing her.”

In the 1990s, Gore co-wrote “My Secret Love” for Allison Anders’ film “Grace of My Heart,” released in 1996. A couple of years later, she appeared in “Smokey Joe’s Cafe” on Broadway. Gore had been working on a stage version of her life with playwright Mark Hampton when she died.

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Lesley Gore rehearsing in 1966.
Lesley Gore rehearsing in 1966.
/Dan Grossi, AP (File)

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In 2005, she released “Ever Since,” her first album in 30 years, but was sure to revisit older hits in front of fans. “If I’ve learned anything in this business,” she told The New York Times that year, “how stupid would it be not to do ‘It’s My Party’ when people come to hear it?”

Beginning in 2004, Gore hosted the PBS television series “In the Life,” which focused on LGBT issues. She stated in a 2005 interview that she was a lesbian; at the time of the interview, Gore had been living with Sasson for more than 23 years.

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During the 2012 presidential campaign, Gore turned “You Don’t Own Me” into an online video public service announcement demanding reproductive rights which starred Lena Dunham and Tavi Gevinson, among others

In the last few years, she performed at Feinstein’s at the Loews Regency in New York and, along with Ronnie Spector and LaLa Brooks, headlined the “She’s Got the Power” concert outdoors at Lincoln Center in 2012.

In addition to Sasson, Gore is survived by her brother and mother, Ronny.

Services will be held on Thursday at the Frank E. Campbell funeral home on New York’s Madison Avenue.

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