Party Rock Anthem singer Lauren Bennett dies aged 36
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- Lauren Bennett, British singer and one of the featured voices on LMFAO's 2011 hit 'Party Rock Anthem,' has died aged 37, according to a statement posted on Instagram by her former group G.R.L. on Monday.
- 'Party Rock Anthem' has been named the fifth most successful song of all time by Billboard after spending six weeks at No. 1 on the Hot 100 in 2011, and its music video — which featured Bennett — has surpassed 2.5 billion YouTube views.
- G.R.L., formed in 2014 as a reboot of The Pussycat Dolls and also featuring Bennett, scored a hit with 'Ugly Heart' (2014) and collaborated with Pitbull on 'Wild Wild Love' the same year.
- G.R.L. disbanded in 2015 after group member Simone Battle died by suicide, making Bennett's death the second tragedy to strike the group's lineup.
- Bennett also sang on soundtracks for the films 'Date Night' and '21 Jump Street,' and was previously a member of Paradiso Girls, created by Robin Antin as a European spin-off of The Pussycat Dolls.
- No cause of death has been disclosed, and representatives for Bennett did not immediately respond to the BBC's request for comment.
- Former Paradiso Girls bandmate Aria Crescendo posted on Instagram: 'RIP Lauren my sister my best friend I can't believe you left us... We spoke a week before it all happened.'
Why it matters: Bennett was a credited voice on one of the most-streamed songs of all time, so her death reverberates across a global pop audience far larger than her solo catalog suggests. The lack of a disclosed cause — combined with G.R.L.'s earlier loss of Simone Battle to suicide in 2015 — means the unanswered questions around her death carry particular weight for fans and former bandmates.
