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Lesley Gore

Lesley Sue Goldstein (May 2, 1946 – February 16, 2015), better known as Lesley Gore, was an American singer, songwriter, actress, and activist. At the age of 16, in 1963, she recorded the pop hit "It's My Party", and followed it up with other hits including "Judy's Turn to Cry", "You Don't Own Me", and "California Nights".

Gore also worked as an actress and composed songs with her brother Michael Gore for the 1980 film Fame, for which she was nominated for an Academy Award. She hosted an LGBT-oriented public television show, In the Life, on American TV in the 2000s, and was active until 2014.

Early life

Gore was born Lesley Sue Goldstein in Brooklyn, New York City into a middle-class Jewish family, the daughter of Leo and Ronny Gore. Her father was the owner of Peter Pan, a children's swimwear and underwear manufacturer, and later became a leading brand licensing agent in the apparel industry. She was raised in Tenafly, New Jersey and was a junior at the Dwight School for Girls in nearby Englewood when "It's My Party" became a number one hit. The song was eventually nominated for a Grammy Award for rock and roll recording. It sold over one million copies and was certified as a gold record.

You Don't Own Me

"You Don't Own Me" is a popular song written by Philadelphia songwriters John Madara and David White and recorded by Lesley Gore in 1963, when Gore was 17 years old. The song reached number 2 on the Billboard Pop Singles Chart in the United States (just behind The Beatles' "I Want to Hold Your Hand"). The song remained at number 2 for three consecutive weeks, unable to overcome the Beatles' hit, and became Gore's second most successful hit, next to "It's My Party". It was Gore's last top ten single.

The song is an example of threatened emancipation, as the singer tells a lover that he does not own her; that he is not to tell her what to do or what to say; that he is not to put her on display. The song's lyrics became an inspiration for younger women and played in a major factor in the rise of the second wave feminist movement. Gore said, "My take on the song was: I'm 17, what a wonderful thing, to stand up on a stage and shake your finger at people and sing you don't own me". In Gore's obituary, The New York Times referred to "You Don't Own Me" as "indelibly defiant".