‘Fame’ and ‘Flashdance’ Singer Irene Cara’s Cause of Death Revealed

New reports claim that Irene Cara, singer behind the soundtrack to “Fame,” died of hypertension and high cholesterol. 

TMZ reported that they reviewed the 63-year-old’s medical documents from the medical examiner of Florida’s Pinellas County and revealed that the singer’s official cause of death was arteriosclerotic and hypertensive cardiovascular disease, allegedly stating that Cara was diabetic.

Cara passed away inside her home in Largo, Florida, on Nov. 26. She is best known for massive soundtrack hits for the films “Flashdance” and “Fame.” 

Her top hits included 1980’s “Fame” and 1983’s “Flashdance … What a Feeling.” She would win an Academy Award for Best Original Song, and a Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Performance for “Flashdance.” 

Cara once sang that she wanted people to remember her name but allegedly became something of a “recluse” in recent years. 

“She didn’t talk to anyone,” said Roseann Nolan, who lived across the street from Cara, in an interview with the New York Post. “I didn’t even know it was her living there until a few years ago. It was the best-kept secret ever.”

One of her other neighbors, Maria Contreras, told the Post that Cara would never accept her offers to take walks on the beach or socialize and says that she even tried to befriend Cara before knowing about her past, but no one seemed to ever go inside her house.

“She greeted you outside by the garage,” Contreras recalled.

“She got very angry with me when I took down a fence between our houses because I wanted to put a new one up. She sent me such crazy messages that I saved them on my phone. She was worried that she wouldn’t be safe with the fence down, even for a day,” she added.

Judith Moose, Cara’s representative, as well as Betty McCormick, manager of nearly two decades, disagreed with her neighbor’s assessment. However, McCormick did admit that the COVID-19 pandemic was tough on the singer.

“She was very afraid of getting the [COVID] virus,” McCormick said. “She really struggled during that period.”