60s Pop Icon Lesley Gore Dies At Age 68

Openly lesbian 60s pop icon Lesley Gore has died. Via the Associated Press:

A singer-songwriter who topped the charts in 1963 with her epic song of teenage angst "It's My Party" and followed it up with the hits "Judy's Turn to Cry" and "You Don't Own Me" has died. Lesley Gore was 68. According to her partner of 33 years, Gore died Monday of cancer at New York-Presbyterian Hospital in Manhattan. Brooklyn-born and New Jersey-raised, Gore was discovered by Quincy Jones as a teenager and signed to Mercury Records. Gore's other hits include "She's A Fool," "That's the Way Boys Are" and "Maybe I Know." She co-wrote with her brother, Michael, the Academy Award-nominated "Out Here On My Own" from the film "Fame."

In 2004 Gore began hosting the PBS series In The Life, which focuses on LGBT issues. Over her pop music career she landed eleven Top 40 singles on Billboard's pop chart. In 2005 she released Ever Since, her critically-raved first album since 1976.