Laura Branigan | |
|---|---|
 Branigan c. 1982 | |
| Born | Laura Ann Branigan July 3, 1952 Mount Kisco, New York, U.S. |
| Died | August 26, 2004 (aged 52) East Quogue, New York, U.S. |
| Alma mater | American Academy of Dramatic Arts |
| Occupations |
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| Spouse |
Laurence Ross Kruteck
(m. 1978; died 1996) |
| Musical career | |
| Genres | |
| Years active |
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| Labels | Atlantic |
| Website | laurabraniganonline |
| Signature | |
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Laura Ann Branigan (July 3, 1952[nb 1] – August 26, 2004) was an American singer. Her signature song, the platinum-certified 1982 single "Gloria", stayed on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 for 36 weeks, then a record for a female artist, peaking at No. 2. It also reached number one in Australia and Canada. Branigan's "Gloria" was a cover of a song written by Italian singer-songwriters Giancarlo Bigazzi and Umberto Tozzi. In 1984, she reached number one in Canada and Germany and No. 4 in the U.S. with "Self Control" a cover of Italian singer and songwriter Raf from the same year. Both "Gloria" and "Self Control" were successful in the United Kingdom, making the Top 10 in the UK Singles Chart.
Seeing her greatest level of success in the 1980s, Branigan's other singles included the Top 10 hit "Solitaire" (1983), the U.S. Adult Contemporary Chart number one "How Am I Supposed to Live Without You" (1983), the Australian No. 2 hit "Ti amo" (1984) a cover of 1977 single by Umberto Tozzi, her return to the top 40 "The Power of Love" (1987), and "Shattered Glass" (1987), which reached the top 15 of the U.S. dance chart. Her most successful studio album was 1984's platinum-selling Self Control. She also contributed songs to motion picture and television soundtracks, including the Grammy- and Academy Award–winning Flashdance soundtrack (1983), the Ghostbusters soundtrack (1984), and Miami Vice (1984). In 1984, she won the Tokyo Music Festival with the song "The Lucky One".
Her chart success began to wane as the decade closed and after her last two studio albums Laura Branigan (1990) and Over My Heart (1993) garnered little attention, she generally retired from public life for the rest of the 1990s.[2] She returned to performing in the early 2000s, most notably appearing as Janis Joplin in the off-Broadway musical Love, Janis. As she was recording new music and preparing a comeback to the music industry, she died at her home in August 2004 from a previously undiagnosed cerebral aneurysm.[3]
Branigan and her music saw renewed popularity and public interest in 2019 in the U.S. after "Gloria" was adopted by the NHL's St. Louis Blues as their unofficial victory song while they completed a historic mid-season turnaround to win their first Stanley Cup in franchise history, leading to the song entering ice hockey lore as an "unlikely championship anthem".[4] Branigan's legacy manager and representative Kathy Golik embraced the trend and traveled to St. Louis to publicly represent Branigan among the Blues fanbase during the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs, later stating her belief that Branigan and "Gloria" "will forever be intertwined" with the Blues and the city of St. Louis.[5]
Branigan's 1984 song Self Control regained popularity as part of the soundtrack of the 2002 video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, and subsequently became Branigan's most streamed song on Spotify and YouTube.
- ^ "Laura Branigan". The Independent. August 30, 2004. Retrieved December 18, 2023.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
Billboardwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "Laura Branigan, a Grammy-nominated pop singer best known for her 1982 platinum hit "Gloria," has died". Billboard. August 30, 2004.
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