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Lesley Gore was born in Brooklyn, NY. But she grew up as a Jersey Girl in nearby Tenafly, NJ. At the age of 16 she was discovered by legendary music producer, Quincy Jones. There are differing reports as to how that actual discovery took place. But what is known is that Lesley was taking vocal lesssons in New York City and one day, instead of the normal lesson, the pianist and Lesley went into a studio and recorded some demos which made their way through an agent to Quincy. He contacted Lesley and suggested that they record. And the rest is musical history, beginning with the song that made her an overnight sensation.
"It's My Party" was cedited as being written by John Gluck, Wally Gold and Herb Weiner, who were staff writers employed at the Aaron Schroeder Music firm in 1962. But its lyrics were reportedly actually written by Seymour Gottlieb, a feelance song writer, and was based on actual events relating to his daughter Judy's sweet sixteen party. Quincy produced Lesley's recording of the song which had an arrangement by Brill Building songwriter Ellie Greenwich. Phil Spector was about to release a version of it by the Crystals. But when Quincy found out about that, he rush-released Lesley's version. But apparently he didn't tell Lesley! According to Lesley, as quoted on the Biography.com website: "We recorded the record on a Saturday afternoon, March 30th (1963), and I heard the record for the first time on April 6th. I was driving to school, literally seven days later. You know, that doesn't happen anymore, so when it started getting played, we weren't prepared for it. We didn't even know it had been released." "It's My Party" on Mercury Records hit the Billboard Hot 100 on May 11th and three weeks later it was #1. Despite all the attention, Lesley remained in school and focused hard on her studies which trying to build her music career. Her follow-up single, "Judy's Turn To Cry," was a sequel to "It's My Party" and reached #5. The next release, "She's A Fool," duplicated that peak position. And then came the release of the recording that would become Lesley's second signature song. "You Don't Own Me," written by Philadelphia songwriters John Madara and David White, was a declaration that girls and women are not objects that boys and men can possess and control. Reportedly Lesley's passionate vocal inspired teenage girls to not let boys push them around. The song would have been a 3-week #1 hit but had to settle for being a 3-week #2 hit because of a recording called "I Want To Hold Your Hand" by a foursome from Liverpool, England. The British invasion made it difficult for many American acts to achieved notable success but, in spite of that, over the next few years Lesley was able to continue her successful hitmaking career, making the national top 40 with "That's The Way Boys Are," "I Don't Want To Be A Loser," "Maybe I Know" "Look Of Love", "My Town, My Guy And Me" and two Marvin Hamlisch compositions: "Sunshine, Lollipops And Rainbows" and "California Nights" (produced by Bob Crewe). After high school, while continuing to make appearances as a singer, Lesley attended Sarah Lawrence College, studying British and American English literature. She graduated in 1968. After college, Lesley continued releasing singles while also starting to explore other creative avenues, including TV and stage performances. She guest-starred on the hit TV show "Batman" in two episodes as Catwoman's sidekick Pussycat, lip-synching "California Nights" in one of them. She also sang on the final Donna Reed show. Her movies included "The Girls On The Beach," "The T.A.M.I. Show" and "Ski Party." She and her brother, Michael, co-wrote "Out Here On My Own" for the movie "Fame," which earned them an Academy Award Oscar nomination. She pretty much remained out of the spotlight as a recording artist for the next 35 years until, in 2005, she released a comeback album called "Ever Since." It was praised by critics and was featured in the soundtracks to several movies and TV shows. Over the past few years she had been a fixture on the Oldies Music circuit. Lesley passed away from lung cancer on February 16, 2015 at the age of 68. For over 30 years she had lived in New York City with Lois Sasson, her partner, who told the Associated Press: "She was a wonderful human being — caring, giving, a great feminist, great woman, great human being, great humanitarian." 
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