Cara won an Academy Award in 1984 in the category of Best Original Song for co-writing Flashdance...What a Feeling. She is best known for her recordings of the songs Fame and Flashdance... What a Feeling. She also starred in the 1980 film version of Fame.
Personal
Her father Gaspar (died in 1994) is an Afro-Puerto Rican. Her mother Louise is of French and Cuban descent. She has 2 sisters and 2 brothers.
Married Hollywood stuntman Conrad Palmisano in 1986. They divorced in 1991.
Her age has always been a confusing mystery by biographers who stated her birth year as either 1959 or 1964 from the day she shot to fame. In July 2004 the Associated Press claimed to have found her voter registration record in Florida, where she lives. However, Ms. Cara has never voted or registered to do so in Florida. Ms. Cara disputes this and claims that she has never voted. Her date of birth is March 18th 1962 on Twitter.
Career
Irene first captivated the audiences of her family sometime after her fifth birthday when she began to play the piano by ear. Irene soon moved into serious studies of music, acting, and dance. Her career started on Spanish-language television as a child, professionally singing and dancing. By age 8, Cara recorded a Latin-market Spanish-language record; an English Christmas album soon followed.
From there, Cara appeared in on- and off-Broadway theatrical shows including the musical The Me Nobody Knows (which won an Obie award) and Maggie Flynn, opposite Shirley Jones and Jack Cassidy.
As a pre-teen, Her first national exposure was in the educational series The Electric Company, playing a member of the band The Short Circus. The series also featured Bill Cosby, Rita Moreno, Morgan Freeman, Mel Brooks, Joan Rivers and Gene Wilder.
Next came her role as Angela in romance thriller classic Aaron Loves Angela, followed by her portrayal of the title character in Sparkle.
Television brought Irene international acclaim for serious dramatic roles in two outstanding mini series, Roots: The Next Generations, the critically acclaimed adaptation of Alex Haley’s moving novel and Guyanna Tragedy: The Story of Jim Jones.
1980s box office smash movie Fame catapulted Irene to stardom. As Coco Hernandez she sang both the title song Fame and the film’s second hit single Out Here On My Own. This made the movie soundtrack be a multi-platinum album that topped the charts. Further history was made when at the Academy Awards that year; for the first time two songs from one film were nominated in the same category: Fame and Out Here On My Own. Cara had the opportunity to be one of the few singers to perform more than one song at the Oscar ceremony. (Note: Robert Goulet, who sang all the Oscar-nominated songs in 1963, is among several singers who had done so in the past.) Fame, written by Michael Gore and Dean Pitchford, won the award that year.
Fame earned Irene a 1980 Grammy nominations for "Best New Female Artist" and "Best New Pop Artist," as well as a Golden Globe nomination for "Best Motion Picture Actress in a Musical". Billboard Magazine named Irene "Top New Single Artist," while Cashbox awarded her both "Most Promising Female Vocalist" and "Top Female Vocalist."
In 1982 Irene earned the Image Award for Best Actress when she co-starred with Diahann Carroll and Rosalind Cash in the NBC Movie of the Week, Maya Angelou's Sister, Sister. Irene portrayed Myrlie Evers-Williams in the PBS TV movie about Civil Rights Leader Medgar Evers, For Us the Living: The Medgar Evers Story; and earned an NAACP Image Award Best Actress nomination. She also was in 1982's Killing 'em Softly.
In 1983, Irene's title song for the movie Flashdance Flashdance...What A Feeling, which she co-wrote with Giorgio Moroder and Keith Forsey won her numerous awards. She won the 1983 Academy Award for Best Song(Oscar); 1984 Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance, 1984 Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song, Top Female Vocalist-Pop Singles, Black Contemporary Female Vocalist-Pop Singles, Top Pop Crossover Artist-Black Contemporary Singles, Pop Single of the Year, American Music Awards for Best R&B Female Artist and Best Pop Single of the Year.
In 1984 she was in City Heat and in 1985 she was in Certain Fury and in 1986 she was in Busted Up. She provided the voice of Snow White in the unofficial sequel to Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in Filmation's Happily Ever After in 1993.
In 1992, Irene toured in the revival of Jesus Christ Superstar, along with Ted Neely and Carl Anderson playing their respective roles from the film adaptation of the play.
Singing Career
Along with her successful career in acting, Cara released three albums in the 1980s: Anyone Can See in 1982, What A Feelin' in 1983 and Carasmatic in 1987. She also released a compilation of Euro-dance singles in the mid to late 90's entitled Precarious 90's.
Currently
In June 2005, Irene won the third round of NBC television series Hit Me Baby One More Time, performing "Flashdance (What a Feeling)" and covered Anastacia's hit "I'm Outta Love" with her current band, Hot Caramel.
At the 2006 AFL Grand Final in Melbourne, Cara performed "Flashdance (What a Feeling)" as an opener to the pre-match entertainment.
She lived in Florida and continues work in preparation for her band Hot Caramel's album.
Cara died at her home in Largo, Florida, on November 25, 2022, at the age of 63. The official cause of death was determined to be arteriosclerotic and hypertensive heart disease.
Keep On
Irene Cara Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Locked up behind closed walls
What they have said
For all we know
To them it's simply news
Through the heroes of our peopl0e
Vanished long ago
All the lessons that they taught still live to
Keep on
Believing in our world
Togetherness with hope
There's nothing we can't build
Keep on
Knowing that it's right
Sharing with our brothers we can see
The light
Shine (see it shine)
How many politicians try to cover up
Their lies
And in the blackness of the night
Abuse us with their might
It's the sadness of it all that makes us
Stand and fight, so
With his hands
The farmer works the land
Dedicated for the earth to grow
In the streets
The people make ends meet
It's their reality
Through the heroes of our people
Vanished long ago
All the lessons that they taught still live to
Keep us strong
We'll hold on
With his hands
The farmer works the land
Dedicated for the earth to grow
In the streets
The people make ends meet
It's their reality
Through the heroes of our people
Vanished long ago
All the lessons that they taught still live to
Keep us strong
We'll hold on
In the “Keep On” song, Irene Cara is singing about the struggles people face in life, the governments that don't care about their citizens, and how the heroes of the past fought for a better future. The lyrics express the idea that we still have a long way to go to achieve a world that is fair and equal for all people. She acknowledges that there are secret plans and agendas being made behind closed walls. However, despite all of this, we must keep on believing in our world and that together with hope, there is nothing we can't build.
The song also highlights the difficulties faced by ordinary people who have to work hard to make ends meet. The farmer who works the land and the people in the streets who make ends meet, are dedicated to their cause to achieve a better future. They are the true heroes of society, and the lessons they have taught us still remain with us to keep us strong.
Overall, the message in the song is that we should never give up on our dreams, we should stand up for our rights, and we should always hold on to hope. Sometimes, the struggle may seem overwhelming, and the obstacles insurmountable, but we should remember that we are not alone in this fight, and we have the lessons of the past to guide us.
Line by Line Meaning
What secret plans still lie ahead
What unknown schemes and plots are hidden from us at this moment
Locked up behind closed walls
Safeguarded and kept secure from outsiders and public view
What they have said
The statements and declarations they have made
For all we know
Considering the limited information we possess
To them it's simply news
To the individuals and groups involved, it's just another piece of information
Through the heroes of our people
Thanks to those brave and noble figures of our society
Vanished long ago
Who disappeared or died a long time ago
All the lessons that they taught still live to
The wisdom and knowledge they imparted still exist and continue to be taught
Keep us strong, so
Uphold our resolve and resolve to endure difficult situations
Keep on
Persist and persevere
Believing in our world
Have faith in the world we inhabit
Togetherness with hope
Unity and a shared vision towards a positive future
There's nothing we can't build
We have the ability to create and construct anything we envision
Knowing that it's right
Being aware that our actions are just and moral
Sharing with our brothers we can see
By cooperating with our fellow human beings, we can comprehend new perspectives and insights
The light
The radiant emanation that illuminates our path
Shine (see it shine)
Glitter and gleam with brilliance
How many politicians try to cover up
A large number of political leaders try to conceal
Their lies
Their untruths and deceitful behavior
And in the blackness of the night
Under the cover of darkness
Abuse us with their might
Exploit their power to harm and oppress us
It's the sadness of it all that makes us
The tragedy and grief of these situations is what compels us
Stand and fight, so
To rise up and resist with determination
With his hands
Using his physical labor
The farmer works the land
The individual dedicated to cultivating the soil
Dedicated for the earth to grow
Devoted to nurturing and fostering the growth of crops
In the streets
On the crowded thoroughfares
The people make ends meet
The members of the community manage to survive financially
It's their reality
This is their true situation and circumstances
We'll hold on
We'll endure and persist
Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: BARROW ARTHUR W, IRENE CARA, KEITH FORSEY, RICHIE ZITO, W BARROW ARTHUR
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@felixojedatapuerca7141
Tenía 13 años y este disco en versión cassette fue el primero que escuché. Grabado dentro de mi lo tengo desde entonces. Desde ese momento la música es y sigue siendo mi mayor pasión. Gracias Irene Cara. Descansa en paz.
@jonathanbernaza1875
Mi tema más preferido de Irene cara me encanta
@MissGNX
Love this song
@GregoryOrme
I love the positive feeling (against the odds) and beat of this song. I agree it would be wonderful to hear this track updated.
@oldermuscleguy
My favorite song by Irene Cara ..Energy personified. 1983 A great time to be 29 living in So cal rents were reasonable and rush hour traffic wasn't 19 hours a day
@alexfernandohuenten1374
Awesome
@missshannon9790
RIP
@EduardoLima-rx3ei
Caralho, n sei como cheguei aqui :$
@LVSWTZ
@gluserty waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay better. Plus she also has...ummmmm?????? what's that thing called??? Oh yeah!....TALENT LOL!
@user-vs3hu6ie9f
ucc칸코히...