Fame' and 'Flashdance' singer Irene Cara has died at 63

Accessibility links Skip to essential content material Keyboard shortcuts for audio player OPEN NPR 24 HOUR PROGRAM STREAMOn Air Now Open Navigation Menu NPR brand DONATE OBITUARIES 'Fame' and 'Flashdance' singer Irene Cara has died at 63 Updated November 26, 20225:53 PM ET Heard on Weekend Edition Sunday Emma Bowman, photographed for NPR, 27 July 2019, in Washington DC. EMMA BOWMAN Twitter Chloe Veltman headshot CHLOE VELTMAN Twitter LISTEN· 2:31 2-Minute Listen Toggle more alternatives Coco Hernandez (Irene Cara) performs at a graduation ceremony in a scene from Fame, directed by Alan Parker, 1980. United Artists/Archive Photos/Getty Images Irene Cara, the singer-actress first-rate regarded for starring in and belting the name tracks from the 1980s movies Fame and Flashdance, has died. She become 63. Cara died at her home in Florida, said her publicist, Judith Moose, who introduced the information on Cara's social media account on Saturday. She stated a reason of death changed into "currently unknown." "Irene's own family has asked privateness as they procedure their grief," Moose wrote. "She changed into a fantastically gifted soul whose legacy will live all the time via her song and movies." Cara was born into a running-magnificence Puerto Rican and Cuban family inside the Bronx neighborhood of New York City. As a toddler actor, her credit protected a ordinary stint at the 1970s children's display The Electric Company. ​But it was Fame, the 1980 film approximately a set of talented younger hopefuls in New York seeking to release their careers inside the cutthroat acting arts world, that launched Cara to stardom. She sang at the title tune that become nominated for an Academy Award for high-quality authentic song. Fame co-megastar Laura Dean Koch remembered Cara as "a dynamo who may want to sing, dance, and act, the definition of a triple hazard. Irene become a function version and someone I aspired to be like." From Here To Eternity: A Giorgio Moroder Primer THE RECORD From Here To Eternity: A Giorgio Moroder Primer Three years later, Cara regular the Oscar for first-rate authentic song for "Flashdance ... What a Feeling," along side the songwriting crew of Flashdance (1983) — tune by Giorgio Moroder, lyrics by means of Keith Forsey and Cara — for which she sang the jubilant name tune. She additionally gained two Grammys for her work on Flashdance. Cara stimulated a destiny generation of artists. Broadway conductor and radio host Seth Rudetsky says watching Cara on display as a kid helped shape his career pursuits. "Irene Cara represented making it within the arts and gave us a lot excitement and wish and enthusiasm to pursue the humanities," he stated. In a observe-up statement on Twitter, Moose said that she and Cara had been running on "exceptional projects that might have made her and her fanatics particularly glad." "Her manager and I will end them," she stated. "She'd need that." Facebook Twitter Flipboard Email More Stories From NPR OBITUARIES Pablo Eisenberg, a fierce critic of nonprofits and philanthropy, died at age ninety OBITUARIES Cuban singer-songwriter Pablo Milanés has died at age 79 OBITUARIES Jason David Frank, who played Tommy Oliver inside the '90s Power Rangers display, has died OBITUARIES George Lois, an icon of ads and mag covers, has died at 91 OBITUARIES John Aniston, who starred in 'Days of Our Lives,' has died at 89 OBITUARIES The man who stimulated 'The Terminal' dies on the airport he long known as domestic Popular on NPR.Org HEALTH He woke up from eye surgery with a gash on his forehead. What passed off? NATIONAL Frontier Airlines drops its customer support line NATIONAL 2 human beings are rescued from a aircraft that crashed into a Maryland transmission tower SPORTS NFL wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. Is escorted off a aircraft in Miami CULTURE It's no trick; Merriam-Webster says 'gaslighting' is the word of the year MUSIC NEWS Pop sensation Dua Lipa has been granted Albanian citizenship NPR Editors' Picks BUSINESS Crypto company BlockFi declares bankruptcy in the first huge aftershock of FTX's fall FOOD A Florida woman sues Velveeta, claiming its macaroni takes longer than 3 1/2 mins WORLD Week in Ukraine: Power back on for lots but extra Russian moves expected (Nov. 28) GLOBAL HEALTH WHO renames monkeypox as mpox, citing racist stigma POLITICS White House unveils its excursion decor, consisting of seventy seven timber and 'We the People' subject matter GAMES & HUMOR How Legos helped me rebuild my foundation READ & LISTEN Home News Culture Music Podcasts & Shows CONNECT Newsletters Facebook Twitter Instagram Press Contact & Help ABOUT NPR Overview Diversity Ethics Finances Public Editor Corrections GET INVOLVED Support Public Radio Sponsor NPR NPR Careers NPR Shop NPR Events NPR Extra terms of use privacy your privateness alternatives text simplest © 2022 npr