Lesley Gore, the singer whose pop hits became anthems for a generation of teen girls, passed away at NYU Langone Medical Center in Manhattan, NYC on February 16, 2015. According to her longtime partner, Lois Sasson, the cause of death was lung cancer. Lesley Gore was 68. She leaves behind Sasson, her partner of 33 years.
Born Lesley Sue Goldstein in Brooklyn. Gore grew up in Tenafly, New Jersey. She was discovered by Quincy Jones when she was just 16. Her hit “It’s My Party (And I’ll Cry if I Want To)” made it to number one on the singles chart in 1963. She followed with a string of successes including “Judy’s Turn to Cry.”
At the height of her popularity, Lesley Gore made many television appearances, including the Ed Sullivan Show, Shindig, Hollywood A-Go-Go, and Batman.
“You Don’t Own Me,” written by John Madara and David White, originally reached No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100. It has been repeatedly rerecorded and revived by performers including Dusty Springfield, Joan Jett and the cast of the 1996 movie “The First Wives Club.”
“When I heard it for the first time, I thought it had an important humanist quality,” Ms. Gore told The Minneapolis Star-Tribune in 2010. “As I got older, feminism became more a part of my life and more a part of our whole awareness, and I could see why people would use it as a feminist anthem. I don’t care what age you are — whether you’re 16 or 116 — there’s nothing more wonderful than standing on the stage and shaking your finger and singing, ‘Don’t tell me what to do.’ ”
Read the full story: Lesley Gore, Teenage Voice of Heartbreak, Dies at 68
After graduating from high school, she attended Sarah Lawrence College where she majored in English and American literature. After college, she worked primarily as a songwriter. She was nominated for an Academy Award and an Emmy in 1981 for the Fame song “Out Here on My Own” which she penned with her brother, Michael Gore.
