Singer Eydie Gorme Dies At 84 In Las Vegas

Eydie Gorme, the Grammy- and Emmy-winning nightclub performer who often sang with her husband Steve Lawrence, has passed away in Las Vegas at age 84, just shy of her 85th birthday.

She died today at Sunrise Hospital in Las Vegas following a brief, undisclosed illness, her publicist, Howard Bragman, told Fox News. Lawrence, the couple's son David and other loved ones were by her side when she died, Bragman said.

"Eydie has been my partner on stage and in life for more than 55 years," Lawrence said in a statement. "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."

Stars including Tony Bennett and Joe Mantegna paid tribute to her on Twitter.

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Gorme joined Steve Allen's New York TV show in 1953, performing duets and comedy skits with Lawrence. When the program became NBC's Tonight Show, in 1954, the duo went with it. They married in 1957 and later hosted The Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme Show, a summer replacement for Allen.

One of her biggest hits was 1963's "Blame It On the Bossa Nova," followed by the Spanish-language song "Amor" in 1964. She won a Grammy Award in 1967, for her version of "If He Walked Into My Life," from Mame.

She and Lawrence recorded a best-selling, breezy Christmas album, "That Holiday Feeling" in 1964 that was as much of a holiday staple in some households as Nat King Cole or Frank Sinatra.

Billed simply as "Steve and Eydie," the two appeared at nightclubs in Los Angeles, Chicago, New York and Las Vegas, combining music with comedy bits. In 1960, they won a joint Grammy for the album, "We Got Us." Their biggest hit single as a duo, "I Want to Stay Here," was written by Gerry Goffin and Carole King and reached #28 in 1963.

They were staples on early TV, appearing on game shows and variety shows. Gorme also hosted The Kraft Music Hall for NBC in the late '60s and The Hollywood Palace on ABC in 1970.

You might remember the duo being parodied on Saturday Night Live in the '90s as part of "The Sinatra Group," with Victoria Jackson as Gorme and Mike Myers as Lawrence.