Irene Cara, the singer and actress who inextricably linked her name to the wonderful world of the 80s, died at her home in Florida.

With Fame and Flashdance… what a feeling ", thanks to which she won the Oscar twice for the soundtrack and for the best song, she made two generations dance. 

He was 63 years old and the cause of death has not been disclosed.

The announcement was made on social media by her agent Judith A. Moose, who said: "It is with deep sadness that on behalf of her family I announce the passing of Irene Cara. Irene's family have asked for privacy as they process their grief. He was a wonderfully gifted soul whose legacy will live on forever through his music and films."

Born in New York, in the Bronx district, on March 18, 1959, she claimed to boast African, Cuban and Puerto Rican origins and from an early age she began singing on Spanish-language television broadcasts.

She was also among the five finalists of Little Miss America.        

Just twenty years old in 1979 he made his debut in the cast of the TV series "Roots - The new generations", conceived and produced by Marlon Brando, but it was in 1980 thanks to the film "They will be famous" that he became popular all over the world: his character is the aspiring dancer and singer Coco Hernandez and also sings the film's theme, "Hunger," which will win the Academy Award for Best Song.

Another song taken from the film and also performed by her was also nominated for an Oscar: "Out Here On My Own";

for the soundtrack of the film by Alan Parker she also recorded "Hot Lunch Jam".

"They will be famous" follows the story of a group of dance, singing and acting students from the High School of Performing Arts in New York: the story is divided into chapters that correspond to the auditions, the first, second, third and fourth and last year of the course.

The enormous success of "Fame" also earned her a Grammy Award nomination in 1980 for best new female singer and best new pop artist.

Getty

Irene Cara and Lee Curreri, Fame, 1980

In 1983 Irene Cara reaches the peak of her musical career with the song "Flashdance ... What a Feeling", written in collaboration with Giorgio Moroder, the main theme of the film "Flashdance" by Adrian Lyne, which launched the protagonist Jennifer Beals, twenty at the time. 

Both the film and the song achieved global success, also winning the Oscar for best song in 1984: Irene Cara was the first Hispanic singer to receive it as an author.

The single will be remixed and sung several times over the years and in 2007 "Flashdance... What a Feeling" is ranked number 22 among the most successful songs in the history of music, as well as the fourth most successful song of a female artist behind Cher's "Believe," Céline Dion's "My Heart Will Go On," and Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You."

Rainews

Flashdance poster

Irene Cara's career later did not know any other peaks.

When "Fame" becomes a television series, Irene Cara does not accept to continue playing the role of Coco Hernandez, preferring to create a semi-autobiographical sitcom focused on her personality entitled "Irene".

The series, while gaining critical acclaim, was interrupted due to low ratings.

Getty

Irene Cara, 56th Academy Awards 1984

In 1984 he released the single "Breakdance", which marks his last entry into the American top ten in eighth place.

Subsequently he starred in some comedies of little success such as "Please... don't save my life anymore" and "1 pm: after the massacre the hunt", and in 1987 he released his fifth and last album, "Carasmatic", which however did not achieve the desired success. 

Between the end of the 1980s and the beginning of the 1990s she continued to act in cinema, theater and television, also giving herself to dubbing, but now far from the success of the first years of her career.        

In the mid-nineties, he recorded 'eurodance' singles, including two remakes of Italian songs but with different lyrics: "You need me", a cover of "Ti sento" by Matia Bazar and "All my heart", a cover of "Movin'" on of the twentieth century. 

In the 2000s she concentrated on her live activity, both as a solo artist and with her group Hot Caramel with whom she returned to record an album in 2011 entitled "Irene Cara Presents Hot Caramel".

She also took part in two musical reality shows: the first in 2005 "Hit Me, Baby, One More Time" for Nbc, and in 2008 in "Gone Country".