It’s My Party singer Lesley Gore has died from lung cancer aged 68.
Lesley Gore’s partner of 33 years, Lois Sasson, confirmed the singer-songwriter had died at a New York City hospital. .
The singer was only 1-year-old when she topped the US charts with It’s My Party.
Lesley Gore’s hits include feminist anthem You Don’t Own Me and the Oscar-nominated Out Here On My Own from 1980 film Fame.
“She was a wonderful human being – caring, giving, a great feminist, great woman, great human being, great humanitarian,” Lois Sasson told the Associated Press.
Lesley Gore was discovered by Quincy Jones as a teenager and signed to Mercury Records, before going on to record tracks including Judy’s Turn to Cry, She’s A Fool, Sunshine, Lollipops and Rainbows, That’s the Way Boys Are and Maybe I Know.
In 2005, she released comeback album Ever Since, her first album in 30 years and in an interview that year said that unlike Hollywood, the music industry has “always been a man’s world.”
However, Lesley Gore credited Quincy Jones as a “great mentor” saying that he was “a very sensitive man and a beautiful human being.”
Lesley Gore was born in Brooklyn and raised in New Jersey and had graduated from Sarah Lawrence College with a degree in English/American literature.
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