In Memoriam|

Photo: Irene Cara (from her Facebook page) | By Nicholas Rice, People | Irene Cara, the singer best known for performing the title tracks to the classic 1980s films Fame and Flashdance, has died. She was 63.

Cara’s publicist, Judith A. Moose, confirmed the news of her death in a statement shared on the singer’s Twitter account early Saturday morning.

“It is with profound sadness that on behalf of her family I announce the passing of Irene Cara,” Moose wrote. “The Academy Award-winning actress, singer, songwriter and producer passed away in her Florida home.”

“Irene’s family has requested privacy as they process their grief,” the rep added. “She was a beautifully gifted soul whose legacy will live forever through her music and films.”

Cara’s cause of death is currently unknown, but it will be released when information is available, her rep said. Funeral services are currently pending and a memorial for Cara’s fans will be planned at a future date, she added.

Cara first rose to fame when she was cast in the 1980 musical Fame, which she sang the title track for and starred in as Coco Hernandez.

Her performance in Fame earned her two Grammy nominations for best new artist and best pop vocal performance, female, at the 23rd annual Grammy Awards in 1981.

Cara later sang and co-wrote “Flashdance… What A Feeling” for the soundtrack of the 1983 blockbuster Flashdance, with Giorgio Moroder and Keith Forsey.
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Read the full story here:
https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/irene-cara-fame-flashdance-feeling-132342107.html

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An Award-Winning Performer Reflects on Her Climb to the Top and the Price She’s Paid for Fame

By Irene Cara, as told to Lois Armstrong, People

Ask anyone—anyone who isn’t—to imagine what it’s like to be famous. Invariably, visions of stretch limos, vast wardrobes, glitzy parties and adoring fans spring to mind. But those who have won their spot on center stage know that fame has its less savory side—the captious reviews and snide rejections, the loss of anonymity and its freedom, and friends and lovers who turn out to be interested only in hitching a ride to the top. For someone who starts out in the business as a youngster, as Irene Cara did, the star trip can sometimes seem like steerage.

At 25, Cara is an accomplished singer, actress and composer, and an 18-year showbiz veteran. The youngest of five children of a black Puerto Rican father who is a retired musician and a mother of Cuban-French descent, Cara grew up in the Bronx. She started performing at age 7 on Spanish-language television, moved on to Broadway a year later, then to film and TV roles. Her performance as the intensely ambitious Coco Hernandez in the 1980 movie Fame, plus her recording of the title song, put her firmly over the top. This year, her best to date, she has already copped three major awards: a Golden Globe, an Oscar and a Grammy, for her hit song, Flash-dance…What a Feeling. Her new single Breakdance is in the Top 10.

Cara’s success carried a hefty premium, however. It has lost her friendships, earned her a reputation for arrogance and forced her to face her emotional growing pains in public. She took time out from filming City Heat with Clint Eastwood and Burt Reynolds in Los Angeles to talk with correspondent Lois Armstrong about the price she’s paid for fame.

Ever since I was 5 years old my parents kept telling me that I was a star. Even my friends were fascinated by my musical abilities and thought that I was special because of them. That confused me as a child. I was happy that people loved me, but early on I began to ask myself, “Do I have to be special to be loved? Doesn’t anybody care about the Irene who is just Irene?” As I grew up I came to the realization that I had to tap into what I thought was special about me and stop trying to be what everybody else felt I should be.
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When I was 8, I was in my first Broadway show. It was my first experience with a stage manager, set designers, costume people all running around, and it was scary. You had to be here at a certain time and there at a certain time, and if you were late, they’d yell at you and your mother. . . .
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I can’t say that my life has been a continuous series of problems. Maybe I did lose something in my childhood and maybe I didn’t. But there were times when, instead of being appreciated for being the new thing on the scene, I was attacked for it. . . .
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Read the full interview here:
https://people.com/archive/an-award-winning-performer-reflects-on-her-climb-to-the-top-and-the-price-shes-paid-for-fame-vol-22-no-2/

“Without music, life would be a mistake” ~ Friedrich Nietzsche

Photo: Irene Cara
https://www.facebook.com/TheIreneCara/photos/

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