Irene Cara, the award-winning US singer who performed and co-wrote the iconic song Flashdance (What a Feeling), has died at the age of 63, her publicist has announced on Twitter.
Judith Moose said Cara passed away at her Florida home, adding the cause of death was "unknown and will be released when information is available".
"This is the absolute worst part of being a publicist … I can't believe I've had to write this, let alone release the news," Ms Moose wrote.
Born in New York to a Puerto Rican father and Cuban-American mother, Cara's first taste of show business success was as a teenager in the 1976 musical drama, Sparkle.
She hit the top of the charts in 1980 with Fame, recording the title song for a movie in which she also appeared.
The film's producers were so impressed with her voice that they rewrote the script to create the character of Coco Hernandez, especially for her.
She also sang the second single from Fame, Out Here on My Own, which was part of a soundtrack album that also topped the charts.
Four years later, Flashdance (What a Feeling) — from the film Flashdance, starring Jennifer Beals — rocketed to number one in the US, Canada and Australia.
It earned Cara an Academy Award for best original song in 1983, and two Grammy Awards in 1984 — best female pop vocal performance and best album of a film or television original score, which she shared with others.
She would enjoy further top 10 hits with Why Me? (1983) and Breakdance (1984) before her pop career faded in the late 1980s.
As an actor, she appeared in films such as Caged in Paradiso (1986) and Beyond Awareness to Action: Ending Abuse of Women (1995) and provided her voice to animated features including Beauty and the Beast (1992) and The Jungle King (1994).
In more recent years, she worked as a backing singer for artists including Oleta Adams, Lou Reed and Vicki Sue Robinson.
She sang Flashdance (What a Feeling) as part of the pre-match entertainment for the 2006 AFL grand final between the West Coast Eagles and the Sydney Swans in Melbourne.
Cara was married to stuntman and film director Conrad Palmisano between 1986 and 1991, and had no children.
"Irene's family has requested privacy as they process their grief," Moose wrote.
"She was a beautifully gifted soul whose legacy will live forever through her music and films."
ABC/wires
