Lesley Gore dies from lung cancer aged 68

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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