Lesley Gore, the singer of Sixties hits like 'It's My Party', 'Judy's Turn To Cry' and 'You Don't Own Me', has succumbed to cancer and passed away on Monday. She was 68 years old.
Gore's partner for 33 years, Lois Sasson told Associated Press, "She was a wonderful human being - caring, giving, a great feminist, great woman, great human being, great humanitarian." She died of lung cancer at the New York University Langone Medical Center in Manhattan.
Lesley Gore was born Lesley Sue Goldstein on May 2, 1946, in Brooklyn and grew up in Tenafly, New Jersey. At only 16 years old and a junior high school student at the Quincy Jones rose to stardom after signing in with Mercury Records which produced her first single turned hit, 'It's My Party'.
The song topped the Billboard Hot 100 in 1963. Eventually, she had other follow up singles including 'Judy's Turn To Cry' that sold over a million copies in the same year, according to The Rolling Stone.
According to ABC News, Gore is a non-smoker but still developed lung cancer. She is now survived by her brother and mother, Ronny. Services will be held on Thursday at the Frank E. Campbell funeral home on Madison Avenue.
Gore tried it out in the movie world when she played Catwoman's sidekick in the TV Comedy 'Batman'.
In a Facebook post, songwriter Neil Sedaka, who was there during the singer's 16th birthday shared his sadness and tribute for Gore, "She was a great person and a phenomenal talent, who had opened for me on many occasions. She recorded a few of my songs ("Magic Colors" and "Summer Symphony") and was a great songwriter in her own right. I'm glad I had the chance of knowing her."
Recently, she performed at Feinstein's at the Loews Regency in New York. Also, she was part of the "She's Got the Power" concert outdoors at Lincoln Center in 2012 with Ronnie Spector and LaLa Brooks.
Ronnie Spector shared his thoughts saying, "She was a serious artist that was way ahead of her time. She had a certain sound. But you want to be able to do new things too, and it can be hard on an artist that is so identified with a specific sound. Although she wasn't in a girl group, Lesley was definitely a huge part of that era. But she continued to be creative, and kept looking ahead, and that's how I will remember her."