Eydie Gorme, a popular singer known for her solo hits as well as her performances with husband Steve Lawrence, died at the age of 84, her publicist reports.
Howard Bragman, Gorme’s publicist, tells the Associated Press that she died at Sunrise Hospital in Las Vegas, Nev., following an “undisclosed illness.”
Gorme received a Grammy nomination for her hit song “”Blame it on the Bossa Nova,” and was part of Steve Allen’s local New York show in 1953. She met Lawrence there and the pair went on to perform on NBC’s Tonight Show in 1954. They married in 1957 and then got their own TV program, The Steven Lawrence and Eydie Gorme Show.
Lawrence released a statement saying, “Eydie has been my partner on stage and in life for more than 55 years. I fell in love with her the moment I saw her and even more the first time I heard her sing. While my personal loss is unimaginable, the world has lost one of the greatest pop vocalists of all time.”
Gorme is survived by Lawrence, their son David, and a granddaughter. She and Lawrence’s other son, Michael, died of heart failure in 1986 at age 23.
