Lesley Gore

Launched to fame at the age of just sixteen, Lesley Gore became one of the most successful female vocalists of the late brill-building era before diversifying into the worlds of acting, song-writing and television presenting. Gore's debut single and signature hit, "It's My Party," reached the top of the US charts while she was still in high school in 1963, and was followed by a string of Top 10 singles which pursued a similarly irresistible girl group sound including sequel "Judy's Turn To Cry" and feminist anthem "You Don't Own Me."

The hits began to dry up following her split with mentor Quincy Jones - although "California Nights," one of two songs she performed during her brief stint as Pussycat in "Batman" (ABC, 1966-68), returned her to the Top 20 in 1967 - and Gore spent most of the 70s performing on the cabaret scene. In 1981, she received an Oscar nomination for her contribution to the "Fame" (1980) soundtrack and following further film work on "Grace of My Heart" (1996) and a hosting gig on LGBT show "In The Life" (PBS, 1992-2012), Gore staged a comeback in 2005 with her first album of new material in nearly 30 years, Ever Since.

She died of lung cancer on February 16, 2015.

Born in Brooklyn, NY in 1946 but raised in Tenafly, NJ, Gore became inspired to take up singing by the likes of Anita O'Day, Nat King Cole and June Christy, and first started performing at Italian weddings, socials and bar mitzvahs aged 14. Two years later, a bunch of demos she recorded reached Quincy Jones, then an A&R man at Mercury Records, who invited Gore to work with him in the studio. Their first collaboration, an ironically joyous piece of girl group pop titled "It's My Party," propelled Gore to stardom when it reached number one on the US Hot 100 while she was still at high school, and the pair continued to strike gold with follow-up singles "Judy's Turn To Cry," "She's a Fool," and "You Don't Own Me."

The latter, a million-selling statement of independence also adopted as a proto-feminist anthem, proved to be Gore's final Top 10 hit, and in 1965, she began to work with other songwriters and producers, most notably Marvin Hamlisch on the Top 20 singles "Sunshine, Lollipops and Rainbows," and "California Nights." Gore also started to branch out into other areas, appearing in the films "Ski Party" (1965) and "The Girls on The Beach" (1965), and guesting as Catwoman's minion Pussycat in two episodes of kitsch superhero series "Batman" (ABC, 1966-68) as well as balancing her showbiz career with her American and English Literature studies at Sarah Lawrence College, NY.

Gore's hit rate had slowed down considerably by the time she graduated, and although she kept on recording well into the mid-'70s, her career had become largely confined to the cabaret scene. However, she returned to the spotlight in 1981 when "Out Here On My Own," a song she wrote with composer brother Michael for the "Fame" (1980) soundtrack was nominated for an Academy Award.

In 1996, her composition "My Secret Love," appeared in "Grace of My Heart" (1996), a musical drama in which Bridget Fonda plays a closeted singer loosely based on Gore. In 2004 she was appointed host of long-running LGBT show "In The Life" (PBS, 1992-2012). A year later, Gore officially came out as a lesbian and staged a comeback with Ever Since, her first album of entirely original material since 1976.

Sadly, Gore passed away from lung cancer at a New York medical center in February 2015, aged 68.