Irene Cara Has Died At 63

November 26, 2022 / Posted by:

Irene Cara, Oscar-winner who could do it all (sing, dance, act, write, produce, play musical instruments, bring the charisma, and set any stage on fire), died yesterday at her home in Miami, FL.  Irene was only 63.

The horrible and unexpected news of Irene Cara’s death was confirmed by her publicist, Judith A. Moose, who also paid tribute to the light that was Irene Cara. Judith added that Irene’s cause of death isn’t known right now.

Irene Cara was born Irene Cara Escalera on March 18, 1959 in the Bronx. She was the youngest of five children, Her father was Afro-Puerto Rican, and her mother was Cuban. The spark to perform lit up in Irene very early on. When she was just three years old, she competed in the Little Miss America beauty pageant. But young Irene wasn’t just interested in becoming a beauty pageant queen. She taught herself how to play piano by ear and started taking dance lessons at five years old. Irene’s professional career started on Spanish-language TV, and she later made her Broadway debut in 1968’s Maggie Flynn. The early ’70s is when things really started to happen for Irene’s career. She played the original Daisy Allen in the soap opera Love of Life from 1970 to 1971, was part of The Short Circus band on The Electric Company from 1971 to 1972, and was in the Broadway shows The Me Nobody Knows and Via Galactica. In 1975, Irene played one of the title roles in the movie Aaron Loves Angela, which was a modern take on Romeo & Juliet. One of Irene’s big breaks came when she was just 17 years old. Irene played the title role in 1976’s Sparkle, aka the movie that my young gay eyeballs were glued to every time it played on TV.

After Sparkle, Irene starred in the miniseries Roots: The Next Generations and a production of Ain’t Misbehavin. And then there was Fame! The character of Coco Hernandez was originally a dancer only, but when producers heard the nightingale sound that came out of Irene’s mouth (they probably watched Sparkle), they rewrote the role for her. Coco, of course, sang the movie’s title song and my personal favorite, Out Here Own My Own. Those songs and Irene’s performance helped make Fame a hit! Both songs were nominated for the Best Original Song Oscar, with Fame picking up the award. Here’s Irene giving us VOICE and DRAMA while performing both songs at the 1981 Oscars.

Just a few years after Fame truly made Irene Cara a star, she struck gold again with Flashdance. In 1983, Irene had already released her first album, Anyone Can See, and was working on her second when Paramount Pictures asked her to sing a song for their movie Flashdance. Irene said that she’d do it but only if she could help write the song. They agreed. Irene worked with legendary composer Giorgio Moroder and songwriter Keith Forsey on the song. They were shown the final dance scene of Flashdance, and in the car ride from the screening to the recording studio, she came up with many of the song’s lyrics. Flashdance… What A Feeling spent six weeks at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, and Irene won two Grammys for it, and the Oscar for Best Original Song. And it also probably became the #1 song that we little kids performed in the living rooms for our parents during holidays. Here’s Irene performing her instant classic on Solid Gold:

Giorgio Moroder and Irene worked together again on her second album, titled What A Feelin’. And Irene starred in 1984’s City Heat with Clint Eastwood and Burt Reynolds. But around that time is when Irene’s career stalled. There were rumors that she was battling drug addiction and was hard to work with. Irene later said that those rumors were part of a smear campaign to destroy her career after she filed a lawsuit against her record label for unpaid royalties from the Flashdance soundtrack. via BET:

After winning $1.5 million when she sued Al Coury Inc. and Network Records of withholding her royalties from the Flashdance soundtrack, the pop singer was shut out. She said in an interview that the industry “virtually blacklisted [me]. All of a sudden, I was hearing stories about how difficult I was to work with, ridiculous rumors about drugs and what a diva I was.”

In 1999, Irene formed an all-female band called Hot Caramel, and they released one album together. Irene was also in the reality shows Gone Country and Hit Me, Baby, One More Time.

Debbie Allen, Jennifer Beals, and those who were touched by Irene’s talent paid tribute to her today:

Rest in peace, Irene Cara. Light up the sky like a flame.

Pic: Harry Langdon/Getty Images

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