Irene Cara, best known as a movie theme singer, won her award for the song What a Feeling from the movie Flashdance.
Oscar-winning singer and actress Irene Cara, who rose to pop stardom singing the title songs of “Fame” and “Flashdance,” died at 63.
His publicist, Judith A. Moose announced the news on social media, writing that the cause of death is “currently unknown.”
Moose wrote, “Irene’s family has requested privacy while they process their grief.” “She was the soul of a beautiful genius whose legacy will live on forever through her music and films.”
Cara first rose to fame playing Coco Hernandez, a student at the High School of Performing Arts, now known as Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School, with ambitions to become a star.
Cara not only starred in the film but also recorded the film’s theme song, “Fame”. That track would go on to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song, as was “Out Here on My Own”, another track from “Fame” that Cara sang.
But Cara found even bigger success with “Flashdance… What a Feeling,” an infectious anthem of empowerment that she sang and wrote.
The 1983 romantic drama about a ballerina who dreams of becoming a ballerina was a box-office success. Its title track was equally popular, winning the Academy Award for Best Original Song and the Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance.
He would re-record the song with DJ Bobo for 1997’s “The Full Monty”, giving it another blast of ubiquity.
Cara’s credits include “City Heat” with Burt Reynolds and Clint Eastwood, “Certain Fury” with Tatum O’Neal, and a nationally touring production of “Jesus Christ Superstar” in the 1990s.