‘Fame’ singer Irene Cara’s cause of death revealed

Fame star Irene Cara’s cause of death is said to be hypertension and high cholesterol.

According to TMZ, which claimed to have reviewed the 63-year-old’s medical records from the medical examiner in Pinellas County, Florida, the singer’s official cause of death is arteriosclerotic and hypertensive cardiovascular disease.

The documents also state that Cara was diabetic.

The Post has contacted the doctor’s office, as well as a representative of Cara.

Cara died on November 26 inside her home in Largo, Florida. She is best known for the massive soundtrack hits for the films Flashdance and Fame.

Her biggest hits included 1980’s “Fame” and 1983’s “Flashdance… What a Feeling,” for which she won an Academy Award for Best Original Song and a Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Performance.

Irene Cara circa 1970. Michael Ochs Archives

Although she once sang that she wanted people to remember her name, the ’80s icon has allegedly become a “loner” in recent years.

“She didn’t talk to anybody,” Roseann Nolan, who lived across the street from Cara, told The Post in December. “I didn’t even know she lived there until a few years ago. It was the best kept secret ever.”

Cara is best known for her acting and singing on the Fame and Flashdance soundtracks.

Her next-door neighbor, Maria Contreras, 59, also told The Post that Cara would never accept offers to go for walks on the beach or to hang out. Contreras claimed that she tried to befriend Cara even before she knew about her illustrious past, but no one, not even the man who mowed her star’s yard, entered her home.

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

Irene Cara pictured in 1983. Getty Images Irene Cara’s neighbors called the star a “loner” in recent years. WireImage

“She was very angry with me when I removed a fence between our houses because I wanted to put up a new one. She sent me messages so crazy 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.

However, Cara’s representative, Judith Moose, and her Los Angeles manager of nearly two decades, Betty McCormick, have had a different version of Cara in recent years. McCormick told The Post that she disagreed with Neighbors’ assessment of Cara’s final years, but she acknowledged that the COVID-19 pandemic was tough on the singer.

Cara appeared at the Covenant With Youth Awards Gala in Beverly Hills on April 26, 2007. Getty Images

“She was too afraid to take [COVID] virus,” McCormick said. “She really struggled during that period.”

Her representatives also told The Post that Cara left Hollywood and the music industry on her own terms, for the most part, and had been trying to revive her career in the months before her death.