Irene Cara, who sang the award-winning title songs for both Fame and Flashdance, has died. She was 63. News came from her publicist, who posted on social media announcing the actress and singer’s death. “It is with profound sadness that on behalf of her family I announce the passing of Irene Cara,” she wrote. “The Academy Award–winning actress, singer, songwriter, and producer passed away in her Florida home.” Cause of death is not yet known.
Cara got her start in Off Broadway shows, then gained national notice on television. She appeared in Roots and The Electric Company before being tapped to sing the theme to Fame. The film follows a cohort of students at New York’s High School of Performing Arts (now Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School). Cara also played triple-threat student Coco Hernandez. “Fame” won Best Song at the Academy Awards. In 1983, she co-wrote and performed “Flashdance … What a Feeling” for the film of the same name. More colloquially known as “What a Feeling,” the song won Cara Grammys, another Oscar, a Golden Globe, and an AMA. In a follow-up statement, her publicist said, “We were working on amazing projects that would have made her and her fans incredibly happy. Her manager and I will finish them. She’d want that.”
