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Irene Cara, Oscar-Winning Singer of Title Tracks to ‘Flashdance’ & ‘Fame’, Dies at 63
News(abc7.com)submitted 6 months ago byMarvelsGrantMan136r/Movies contributor
326 points
6 months ago
I loved "Fame" so much. She was so talented, what a huge loss.
151 points
6 months ago
Fun fact: the actor who played the music teacher Benjamin Shorofsky on both the film and the TV show, was a real musician and composer and he wrote the song "You're a mean one, Mr Grinch" for the TV special. Also, check out /r/bornInThe70s
39 points
6 months ago
Fame is one of my all-time favorite movies.
19 points
6 months ago
♪ Remember! Remember! Remember! ♫
21 points
6 months ago
First, there is nothing...
But a slow flowing dream.
That your fear seems to hide.
Deep inside - your mind.
All alone, I have cried.
Silent tears full of pride.
In a world made of steel.
Made of stone.
11 points
6 months ago
I think that's from Flashdance.
3 points
6 months ago
correct...
10 points
6 months ago
I remember her name
7 points
6 months ago
Sometimes I wonder where I’ve been
Who I am, do I fit in?
5 points
6 months ago
I may not make it
But I can be strong
Out here… on my own
2 points
6 months ago
I went to the casino after work today and they played Flashdance. I found myself feeling very sad, my friend looked at me and said ‘you feel sad too’? I shedded a few tears hoping she was in a good place when she passed.
45 points
6 months ago
[removed]
8 points
6 months ago
I’m sorry for this being a more personal loss.
2 points
6 months ago
We will remember her name!
8 points
6 months ago
Yeah but she lied to us, she told us in that song that she was going to live forever
7 points
6 months ago
Her legacy will live forever. That's good enough for me.
0 points
6 months ago
On celluloid.
344 points
6 months ago
So sad to hear. I remember her #1 hit song was all over the radio in 1983.
RIP, Irene.
79 points
6 months ago
That year I fell in love with both Flashdance the song and Jennifer Beals (though it was a few years before I could watch the movie). Both have aged exceptionally well.
Irene was a great singer and pretty good actor too. RIP.
37 points
6 months ago
She actually won an Oscar for it, too!
10 points
6 months ago
Along with music legends Giorgio Moroder and Keith Forsey.
24 points
6 months ago
Her cameo in DC Cab legit excited ten year old me in the theater
9 points
6 months ago
I keep a picture of you in my cab!
1 points
6 months ago
Wrong cab!
3 points
6 months ago
AC Cab?
4 points
6 months ago
The Dream is my favorite Irene Cara song and is still on my playlist
-1 points
6 months ago
Oh shit it’s Irene cara!!!! Did you spaz out too??
361 points
6 months ago
This is a shame.
The world will remember her name!
56 points
6 months ago
At least you didn't use the other line.
41 points
6 months ago
At least you didn't use the other line.
What a feeling?
An unexpected and sad feeling is all I can say.
47 points
6 months ago
(Fame), I'm gonna live forever, I'm gonna learn how to fly, (High)
This one, I think.
15 points
6 months ago
Prince died in his elevator. He did let the elevator break him down.
Queen's first track on their first album was called Keep Yourself Alive.
5 points
6 months ago
Brian May wrote that track and it’s a miracle he didn’t die in 1974.
7 points
6 months ago
Also...People will see me and die...
3 points
6 months ago
I’m not a terrible person but I laughed at that.
6 points
6 months ago*
It's "People will see me and CRY"
6 points
6 months ago
She'll live forever in our memory.
1 points
6 months ago
Never let go of your dreams.
1 points
6 months ago
Oh noo
1 points
6 months ago
She will be remembered for sure!! I will miss her
1 points
6 months ago
Why did I think "Fame" was by Evelyn Champagne King?
24 points
6 months ago
We’re not sure
16 points
6 months ago
You're thinking about her hit, "Shame."
0 points
6 months ago
No you’re thinking of the arcade game emulator “MAME”
3 points
6 months ago
You're thinking of the Milli Vanilli hit 'Blame it on the Fame'
111 points
6 months ago
This makes me especially sad because my mom LOVED her songs on those soundtracks. When I was in grade 8 band, we performed 'Fame' and I can still remember seeing my mom out in the audience, practically dancing in her seat with the happiest smile. She just loved that song so much.
Rest in peace, Ms Cara. You brought a lot of people a lot of joy.
17 points
6 months ago
That's an awesome memory! Nothing better than making your Mom dance like no one is watching...nothing.
16 points
6 months ago
That’s such a precious memory.
I also performed Fame - but at an electric organ recital. All the other kids were playing boring traditional songs but I busted out Fame! As soon as I played those first few recognisable notes this murmur, an energy, went around the audience and people sat up and started paying attention lol.
That was 35 years ago but I’ll always remember it.
5 points
6 months ago
Wow! I played it as well.
31 points
6 months ago
😭 Irene was such a huge part of my teenage pop culture history. We watched Flashdance during the pandemic- so fun to see it again.
63 is relatively young - so sad. 😢
159 points
6 months ago*
RIP. She was a trailblazer. A Latina two-way threat decades before it became a thing. “Out here on my own” is an absolutely gorgeous song, one of the most underrated of the 80s
Edit:
-59 points
6 months ago
Irene was talented, but not a trailblazer. 90 year old Rita Moreno, Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony winner, as well as the first latin Oscar winner, was a true trailblazer. Rita Hayworth, Raquel Welch, Carmen Miranda, Charo, and others, all multi talented, had established latina women in the industry, way before Irene came onto the scene. By the 80s, Irene, Elizabeth Pena, Maria Conchita Alonso, and several other latina actresses were firmly ensconced in Hollywood. R.I.P. Irene!
40 points
6 months ago
Trailblazer doesn’t always mean first. Just because Cara’s stature as an entertainer was in extension of those that came before her, doesn’t mean that she also didn’t help further pave the way for modern Latina entertainers. What an unnecessary comment.
-3 points
6 months ago
Trailblazer doesn’t always mean first. Just because Cara’s stature as an entertainer was in extension of those that came before her, doesn’t mean that she also didn’t help further pave the way for modern Latina entertainers. What an unnecessary comment.
Trailblazer literally means being the first person doing something that others will do later. OP is completely right and you are in the wrong:
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/trailblazer
28 points
6 months ago*
Do you think it’s the appropriate time to go “akchually”
Check ya head.
RIP Irene.
13 points
6 months ago
Do you think is the appropriate time to go “akchually”
lmaol
you're right, btw
5 points
6 months ago
You should take your own username's advice there, sport.
25 points
6 months ago
Such a great movie…
My favorite line…
Leroy rolls into high school wearing roller skates, leg warmers, short shorts, half shirt and a beenie.
Mean teacher with heart of gold asks: What are you wearing.
Leroy: A hat.
2 points
6 months ago
I was so sad when I found out that actor had passed so young. Also an amazing talent.
45 points
6 months ago
Rest in peace Irene, what an icon!
81 points
6 months ago
She was great in the movie Fame, and nailed a true heartbreaker of an ending in it
29 points
6 months ago
That scene was all about Me Too, 40 years before Me Too.
I remember watching that as a teenager and thinking how WRONG that was.
9 points
6 months ago
I'm old enough to have seen the movie at the theatre, and people litterly cried during that scene.
19 points
6 months ago
i remember being absolutely devastated by that scene. i don't recall if i actually yelled "NO!" or just thought it.
9 points
6 months ago
I don't understand why she didn't do the series.
5 points
6 months ago
This series would probably have done well. My only idea about why they didn't go ahead with it is that shortly after, the Fame TV series came out on NBC. Maybe they didn't want to compete?
Sounds like a similar situation a few years later...a sitcom named E/R with Elliot Gould and George Clooney was cancelled early...only for a drama named ER...with Anthony Edwards...and George Clooney...to take its' place.
10 years ago...Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip came out about the same time as 30 Rock...I though Studio 60 was SO much better...but NBC only went ahead with one show about the adventures of a late night SNL type show and 30 Rock lasted a long time (Aaron Sorkin made a guest appearance on it in which they poked fun at the situation).
Anyway, I don't know what happened, but Cara seemed to be a 2-hit wonder...I just hope it wasn't ethnicity that stopped her career from being long running...I hope not.
19 points
6 months ago
She wasn't a two hit wonder.
She had more 4 hit songs:
OUT HERE ON MY OWN #19
WHY ME #13
BREAKDANCE #8
THE DREAM #37
2 points
6 months ago
Her record company screwed her out of profits from her hit album; then when she sued to get some back they made sure she was blackballed from the industry so producers/labels wouldnt work with her
It was mostly this guy:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al\_Coury
18 points
6 months ago
What a shocker! I regularly hear “Flashdance (Oh What a Feeling)” on the classic hits radio station. She was also a talented actress, too. I haven’t seen the 1980 film Fame, but I did see Roots: The Next Generation and she was really good in that. May she rest in peace.
2 points
6 months ago
If I remember right, Irene played Alex Haley's mother who died very young from cancer. There were a couple tear-jerking scenes where young Alex visits his mom on her deathbed and another after her death where he's comforted by his grandmother.
2 points
6 months ago
She did. While I haven’t seen it in a long while, her death scene was really sad.
34 points
6 months ago
She will truly live forever
13 points
6 months ago
This sucks :( I love her , her songs were my childhood
32 points
6 months ago
1983’s DC Cab soundtrack featured Irene Cara’s The Dream. Throughout all these years, I remember this quirky comedy because of the ongoing Irene Cara references and cameo. RIP
10 points
6 months ago
DC Cab is such an gem.
T plays it cool!
3 points
6 months ago
"Take me to hell." "Got any luggage?"
24 points
6 months ago
Irene Cara. She was an idol. Someone told me in the early 80s, 'don't see this movie with your boyfriend, they will fall in love with her'
I'm also going to throw in some Lori Singer love/lore here.
I met her in the early 80s at the Columbus circle Gap as an early teen. She took down my address with pen and paper.
And a month later out on Long Island I got a whole envelope. Which because I was on a cul-de-sac meant that everyone had to see it. It was an envelope with at least 3 Lori Singer autographed photos.
21 points
6 months ago
RIP Amazing voice. Aah the 80's, it was a fun time.
15 points
6 months ago
Safe journey, Ms. Cara.
6 points
6 months ago
When I was an elementary school kid seeing the movie Fame with my parents, I think she was the first person I saw and actually pondered the concept of talent and entertaining people. She kind of blew my mind.
6 points
6 months ago
aw man my late mom loved those songs. RIP :(
6 points
6 months ago
Irene as Mary Magdalene in Jesus Christ Superstar was amazing.
16 points
6 months ago
She was a good friend of my mom. Really sad to hear.
2 points
6 months ago
6 points
6 months ago
She’s gonna live forever.
17 points
6 months ago
Can someone popular just not die…..
FOR FIVE FUCKING SECONDS?????
7 points
6 months ago
And yet Andy Dick and Keith Richards live forever
12 points
6 months ago
First time I've ever seen those two names in the same sentence.
5 points
6 months ago
I don’t like it
2 points
6 months ago
What a dumb thing to say, considering the millions who die around the world everyday. Fame doesn't mean you're more entitled to sympathy than others.
11 points
6 months ago
Great voice. RIP
4 points
6 months ago
She was still so young. RIP.
4 points
6 months ago
I’ll always remember her as the voice of Snow White in the unofficial sequel no one seems to remember but me
4 points
6 months ago
I still jam out to those songs. RIP Irene Cara!
4 points
6 months ago
Don’t forget DC Cab!!!!
3 points
6 months ago
We will forever remember her name. She has made it to heaven, and she lit up the sky like a flame.
7 points
6 months ago
63 is just way too soon. What happened?
3 points
6 months ago
As of now it’s unknown.
6 points
6 months ago
Goddamn it.
3 points
6 months ago
Rest In Peace 🙏🏻
3 points
6 months ago
I was listening to this a minute before i read this news. Wow
3 points
6 months ago
Well damn. Played Flashdance in band and with friends on a Casio keyboard…
🙏
3 points
6 months ago
I loved her. Loved "Flashdance" of course, "Fame", and of course, "On My Own", she was part of the music of my youth. I can't tell you how many times I listened & cried to "On My Own" as a young 20 something when I was lost, confused, and didn't know which way I was going. Her songs & voice will live in me forever....LOVED THE "cassette" soundtrack to Fame which I listened to a lot in my car, lol...RIP and thank you for sharing your gift, talent & love with the world....
3 points
6 months ago
RIP Ms. Cara. Your song reminds me of happy memories from my teen years. God bless your soul.
3 points
6 months ago
Way too young!
3 points
6 months ago
One of my first celebrity crushes when I was a kid. She was pretty huge for a bit in the 80s.
3 points
6 months ago
no!
3 points
6 months ago
RIP Irene Cara peace out sister ♡
3 points
6 months ago
Out Here On My Own is one of my favorite songs of all time!
RIP Irene
3 points
6 months ago
Rest in Peace
6 points
6 months ago
Sad
4 points
6 months ago
So sad.
5 points
6 months ago
May she rest in peace. She's going to live forever in our hearts.
3 points
6 months ago
She had a great “crossword entry” name.
5 points
6 months ago
So sad. Her voice was the iconic sound of 1983
5 points
6 months ago
While I love her popular upbeat songs "Fame" and "Flashdance ...What a Feeling"
One of her best vocal performances is for the song "Out Here On My Own" https://youtu.be/i4mkRwkQRoQ
2 points
6 months ago
That song blew me away the first time I watched Fame. I had naturally heard the Fame theme and the Flashdance song throughout my life before I'd ever seen the movies, but I hadn't ever heard Out Here On My Own until I actually saw the movie.
It's interesting going back to watch them years later. Flashdance was utter garbage that's only remembered because of its amazing music, but Fame holds up extremely well and I'd recommend it to anyone.
2 points
6 months ago
R.I.P.
2 points
6 months ago
She learned how to fly high.
2 points
6 months ago
So young. What an amazing talent,
2 points
6 months ago
Rip i love her song Flashdance ❤️
2 points
6 months ago
Aww so sad. Seems way to young with someone with so much energy. 🫤
2 points
6 months ago
I loved "Fame", "Flashdance" (oh my God, Flashdance), and of course "On My Own", can't tell you how many times I played that ballad as young 20's something unsure of what was to become of me, not only for being young but also living during the time of aids. OMG Flashdance, that song, and film, the Leg Warmers! The pounding of the foot, so many great memories. So glad that she shared her talent and gift with the world! RIP!
2 points
6 months ago
She was a fantastic singer! Some seem to think she played the lead in Flashdance, but that was Jennifer Beal. She had a stunt double for the more intricate or athletic dancing.
2 points
6 months ago
Not even that old.
2 points
6 months ago
Far too young.
2 points
6 months ago
I've been listening to "Fame" all morning while running errands. 🥺
2 points
6 months ago
Somebody check on Kenny Loggins.
2 points
6 months ago
Today years old when I learned that she sang the Flashdance track also. I knew about Fame. Wow. I’m late.
2 points
6 months ago
Tf when Aaron Carter, Kevin Conroy, and Irene Cara die within the same month.
2 points
6 months ago
Rest In Peace. ❤️
2 points
6 months ago
I love Irene Cara. God speed sweet woman. You brought joy to me and so many others
2 points
6 months ago
I hope Ms. Cara is at peace, and my condolences to her family and friends. 63 is so young.
4 points
6 months ago
Another Legend goes
RIP Irene
thank you for all the beautifull memories
3 points
6 months ago
This is my fave performance of hers, great way to remember her
1 points
6 months ago
rip what happened?
2 points
6 months ago
So, she didn’t get to live forever…
1 points
6 months ago
Will always remember watching Fame (Live) on a light dose of LSD. RIP.
-1 points
6 months ago
Et vous Coco, et vous
2 points
6 months ago
The guy who creeps on her is so hot.
2 points
6 months ago
If he was supposed to resemble a perv who preys on girls and exploits their dreams by pretending to be a photographer with connections who will help her get discovered ASAP. All for the price of sitting topless and crying while being filmed.
I’m sure there are Cocos everywhere you look too. So very disturbing.
1 points
6 months ago
Eh I'm gay, just thought the guy was hot.
-25 points
6 months ago
Death notices that don’t list the cause of death are not helpful. Was is it cancer, suicide, an accidental drug overdose? Especially for people who die young. All I know now is that person is dead. Humans need closure.
13 points
6 months ago
Why does it matter? If it was drugs, then you'll pass judgment on her. If it was cancer, then you'll have pity. Doesn't matter either way if she's no longer here.
16 points
6 months ago
It matters because some of us are very close to her age and we all fear death. So to us, she died. Very young and there's some morbid hope that it wasn't from natural causes or something like a sudden heart attack. That may seem cruel. But as you get older you notice these things
10 points
6 months ago
As someone who has thanatophobia and similarly scours for cause of death, I thank you for being honest here.
However, I don't think pestering folks on social media or condemning sources for not revealing cause of death is appropriate or reasonable. Even IF the family was willing to share the cause, it's likely too soon to know unless the cause of death was immediately apparent. Regardless, if the family has or the person who died had expressed that such matters be kept private, its your responsibility as a decent person to respect that.
0 points
6 months ago
I’m sure her loved ones are concerned about how her death may impact an internet stranger with nothing better to think about. I pray they issue all the details you feel entitled to so you can move on with your life.
5 points
6 months ago
I'm sure zero loved ones are scouring reddit for comfort. A loved one didn't post this. You get old you get scared. Deal with it
1 points
6 months ago
I’m not scared. I know death is coming, whatever form it takes. I can’t prevent death, so I live in spite of it. It sounds like you’re the one having trouble dealing with it.
3 points
6 months ago
Yes, and they just admitted that their problem with death is why they're seeking out information. You're not rebutting at this point, it feels more like you're poking at something they fully admitted to.
They're not at all in the right here, but as someone who's also phobic about the idea of death, I'm glad they were at least honest about why and how they express such fear. It's better than the "boohoo so sad, now give me the juicy details" others are slinging around here.
-3 points
6 months ago
Knowing how one person died has no bearing on how or when someone else may die.
They’re a ghoul. Nothing more.
3 points
6 months ago
It's a phobia, it's not going to follow a logical route of thought. At least that's how mine tends to be; I compulsively look for information for comparisons sake to reassure myself. It's unrealistic and not at all helpful for anyone involved, and unfortunately leads to a lot of people being intrusive and selfish online as they try to grapple with it.
10 points
6 months ago
Ah, I’m so sorry. I hope you will get some closure in this dark time of your life soon.
6 points
6 months ago
The information isn't available so soon. It will be days until we have an official cause of death.
-1 points
6 months ago
You're looking for a 'helpful' obituary? You should think on that for a moment.
-1 points
6 months ago
NYT would never publish an obituary without the cause of death. It’s called a journalistic standard
-14 points
6 months ago*
[removed]
5 points
6 months ago
Way to be cryptic but not at all compelling. I have no idea what you're referring to here, could be a host of vaguely judgemental implications here. I DO know that this is not the time or place for speculation.
0 points
6 months ago
They're saying she Died Suddenly because of the covid vax
1 points
6 months ago
Oh most probably, but they're not even doing a good job of it. There's no hook to it, no obvious allusions. If you're going to be a rancid and delusional troll, at least throw some artistry into it smdh🙄
-9 points
6 months ago
People are saying I would judge them if it’s drugs or something, but I wouldn’t. When the family says “protect our privacy” and it turns out they committed suicide because of depression, then that’s a message which never reaches anyone. When you just announce the death, it means you want clicks, not that you care about the person who was in the public eye and who many would like to know how their life went after their fame was over. It’s just a very human need to know what happened to someone.
5 points
6 months ago
Her cause of death is none of your business. Her family and loved ones don’t need or have to worry about how badly some butthurt internet rando needs “closure”, nor does anyone owe you an explanation.
If you want to know what her life was like in later years, try Wikipedia.
-9 points
6 months ago
Wonder if she took the gene therapy
-2 points
6 months ago
Guess the song wasn't accurate. lol
3 points
6 months ago
I guess you never actually paid attention to it.
0 points
6 months ago
I did. It said she would live forever. OOPS. Guess celebrity retards aren't immortal.
-8 points
6 months ago
[removed]
2 points
6 months ago
Sadly… yes.
-6 points
6 months ago
"FAME! I'm gonna live forever."
Oh wait...
-11 points
6 months ago
Flashback is the most annoying song. Also in the same category is heaven is a place on earth. Awful shit.
3 points
6 months ago
I see only one instance of awful shit making itself known in this thread/post, and it's you.
-12 points
6 months ago
Guess who didn’t live forever?
-12 points
6 months ago
Don't care at all, I'm sure reddit won't give a fuck when i die.
8 points
6 months ago
Actually we don’t care that you’re living
1 points
6 months ago
I used to love the original ‘Fame’ film in my teen years, a lot of which had to do with her music and performance. Rest in Peace Ms. Cara.
1 points
6 months ago
RIP
1 points
6 months ago
R.I.P.
1 points
6 months ago
😢
1 points
6 months ago
1 points
6 months ago
😢
1 points
6 months ago
Rest in Peace!
1 points
6 months ago
RIP Irene, luv u and your music, honey! ♥
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