Lesley Gore

Lesley Gore was born Lesley Sue Goldstein in Brooklyn, New York City, to Ronny and Leo Goldstein, a manufacturer of children's clothes and swimwear. Her family was Jewish. She grew up in Tenafly, New Jersey. Gore hit the music scene at 17 years of age in 1963 with the teen anthem "It's My Party". Born in Brooklyn (Kings County), New York, she was discovered at a party by legendary producer Quincy Jones, who signed her to Mercury Records and produced "It's My Party". More hits followed: "Judy's Turn to Cry", "She's a Fool", "That's the Way Boys Are", and the surprisingly (for the times) feminist-oriented "You Don't Own Me".

She was the only female solo act to perform on the star-studded The T.A.M.I. Show (1964), one of the first big rock venues of the 1960s. Her million-seller "You Don't Own Me", which she performed on that show, predated the era of Women's lib. That song has gained a new life recently, with its inclusion in a women's sportswear commercial.

She branched out from recording and began appearing on stage in summer stock, and putting in appearances in movies and television shows (including one on the TV series Batman (1966), which just happened to be produced by her uncle Howie Horwitz).

Inspired a storyline for the movie Grace of My Heart (1996) in which a 1960s bubble-gum singer is shown to be a closet lesbian. Coincidentally, Lesley helped with music for the movie, and in the movie the closet lesbian singer records a song Lesley herself recorded, "Secret Love".

She died of lung cancer at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital in Manhattan, NYC. She was diagnosed with a tumor on her spine in January 2015.