Laura Branigan

A Sudden Loss

​Laura Branigan, multi-platinum singer, songwriter, and actress, was born in New York on July 3, 1952, and grew up in Armonk. After high school, Laura moved to Manhattan and studied acting at The American Academy of Dramatic Arts. While at school, Laura, along with Walker Daniels and Chris Van Cleave, formed the folk-rock group Meadow. Laura was a singer/songwriter in the group, and in 1973, Meadow released their only album, The Friend Ship. In 1976, Laura toured Europe as a backing vocalist for legendary singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen. Upon Laura’s return to New York, it became clear to her that she wanted to pursue a career as a solo artist. Laura’s powerful talent as well as her drive and determination led to her being signed to a multi-album deal by Atlantic Records founder and music legend, Ahmet Ertegun. Ertegun was extremely fond of Laura and often spoke of her as one of his “greatest finds”.
 

Laura’s first major appearance on the pop scene was when her energetic dance anthem “Gloria” broke in 1982, becoming the signature song of her career and one of the most iconic songs of not only the 1980's, but all of music history. The song is a cover of an Italian song from 1979. The track is from Laura’s debut album Branigan. "Gloria" rose to #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and continued its residence on the chart for an amazing 36-week run, setting a record at the time. With the stellar success of "Gloria," Laura was catapulted to international stardom, and she also received a Grammy nomination for Best Pop Vocalist Female for “Gloria”.

Laura was one of the first artists whose music videos were placed on the groundbreaking MTV television network.

In 1983, Laura released Branigan 2 and had a follow-up Top 10 hit with “Solitaire” and “How Am I Supposed to Live Without You," penned by Michael Bolton, reached the #1 position on Billboard's adult contemporary chart. These successes with her sophomore album confirmed Laura's status as a major artist. That same year, Laura was heard on the now-iconic 80's Flashdance soundtrack with “Imagination," and she was the only artist associated with the film to have two songs included in it, with "Gloria" being the other. Laura's musical involvement with the film led her to receive her second Grammy nomination, as the film's soundtrack was Grammy-nominated in the "Album of the Year" category. 

Laura's 1984 album Self Control was released with the title track giving Laura yet another huge Top 10 hit, as it peaked at #4 on the Billboard Hot 100. "Self Control" became Laura's biggest international hit single of her career. Another single from the album, "The Lucky One", went Top 40. In addition, Laura won the coveted Grand Prize at the 13th Tokyo Music Festival for her riveting performance of “The Lucky One.” The Self Control album remains Laura's biggest selling album of her career.

Laura released her Hold Me album in 1985, which spawned the Top 40 hit “Spanish Eddie”.

In 1987 Touch was released. With this album, Laura became more personally involved with the recording process. A ballad from the album, "Power of Love”, returned Laura to the Top 40. 

Throughout the 80’s, Laura’s songs also appeared on the Ghostbusters, Body Rock, Coming to America, and Salsa soundtracks. 

Laura released Laura Branigan in 1990. With this album, she added producing to her repertoire with her cover of Vickie Sue Robinson's disco-era "Turn the Beat Around."

Laura's seventh studio album Over My Heart was released in 1993. This recording was by far her most personally reflective to date.

In 1995, the US greatest hits collection The Best Of Branigan was released. This compilation included two new cover songs, "Show Me Heaven" and "Dim All the Lights." 

Laura's US album and single sales have exceeded ten million, with her multiple international greatest hits compilations having sold additional millions in every world market. These cumulative sales have garnered Laura various Gold and Platinum record awards from both the RIAA in the US and similar entities in other countries. She performed passionately for audiences in the United States, Canada, Europe, South America, Asia, Australia, and Africa, touring the world several times with consistently sold-out shows to her credit. 

During her career, Laura appeared frequently on several of the most popular US television shows of the day, including “The Merv Griffin Show,” “American Bandstand,” “The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson,” and “Solid Gold," in addition to widely acclaimed international television shows.

Laura’s acting credits includes TV's CHiPs, Automan, and Monsters, as well as the films Mugsy’s Girls and Backstage. 

In the mid 90's Laura took a hiatus from her career and admirably devoted herself full-time to caring for her husband, Larry Kruteck, who had been diagnosed with colon cancer, until his death in 1996. During the late 90’s while dealing with her loss, Laura performed only the occasional concert. In early 2001 she made her return to the studio. 

In 2002 The Essentials, a digitally remastered hits compilation was released. During the same year, Laura also returned to acting, performing the role of the singing Janis Joplin in the hit New York City musical Love, Janis.

2004 saw the release of Self Control 2004 and Gloria 2004, collections of remixes of the original Branigan classics produced by some of Europe's top re-mixers, which featured stunning, newly recorded vocals by Laura. During this time Laura was at work performing concerts at various venues, as well as continuing to record her album of new material, and it was with great expectation and anticipation that fans everywhere were awaiting its release. Laura was back touching audiences once again with the unique four-octave range voice, consuming passion, and undeniable power that is pure Branigan! Sadly, Laura passed away suddenly at her home in East Quogue, New York (Long Island), on August 26, 2004, from a brain aneurysm. At the time of her passing, Laura was working on the production of an EP; a manuscript for a cookbook she was writing; working on opening her official online store, and future shows were being booked.

The years since Laura's passing have seen the release of the 2006 Warner Music UK greatest hits compilation, The Platinum Collection, and the 2007 repackaging of Laura's US hits compilation, The Best of Branigan, as part of Warner Music's "Greatest Hits" series. In 2008, Laura's albums Touch, Laura Branigan, and Over My Heart were reissued. History was made in 2010 when Warner Music Gallo Africa released Shine On: The Ultimate Collection CD+DVD, with the groundbreaking inclusion of Laura's Atlantic music videos on DVD for the first time ever! 

Additionally, there have been multiple remastered expanded album reissues released, including Self Control Expanded (US, 2 CD-2013), Branigan Expanded (US, 2 CD-2014), Branigan 2 Expanded (US, 2 CD-2018), and Self Control 2CD Expanded (UK-2020). Vinyl reissues of the albums Self Control (Netherlands, 2023) and Branigan (Netherlands, 2024) have been released as well. Laura's songs are also featured on various 80's music compilations.

Laura's music continues to be prominently featured in films such as I, Tonya and Gloria Bell, as well as in television, in shows such as Glee, Mr. Robot, and American Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni Versace, and HBO Max's Somebody Somewhere. Most recently, “Gloria” was featured in a popular Southwest Airlines commercial, as well as “Self Control” featured in a commercial for Virgin Media TV.

In 2019 Laura's "Gloria" surged hugely in popularity, as it became the victory anthem for the National Hockey League's St. Louis Blues. With their mid-season adoption of "Gloria," the team went from worst to first in the NHL, winning their first Stanley Cup in team history. This organic and phenomenal story of the St. Louis Blues and "Gloria" is not only one of the greatest in NHL history, but all of sports history, and is commemorated with a permanent marker on the St. Louis Blues Champions Walk at Enterprise Center. Laura's legacy manager Kathy Golik had the honor of representing Laura and “Gloria” in St. Louis throughout the entire 2019 Stanley Cup Final run and the Blues subsequent team championship.

The distinctiveness of Laura's voice is undeniably recognized as hers and hers alone. Her range coupled with the incredible but precisely controlled dynamic power of her voice simply blows the listener away. Laura expressed she wanted to stand on her voice alone - for her, it was always about the "big" voice, the power, and the emotion in every note. The way she delivered a lyric was always very genuine, very real, and very personally relatable. To listen to Laura's interpretation of a song is to become immersed with her in its emotion. 
 

In addition to her gift of voice and emotive expression in her music, Laura demonstrated a warm, caring spirit - whether it was through performing for various charities, helping to provide for a South African orphanage, or joining in the fight for AIDS awareness. She also possessed a wicked sense of humor, often playing practical jokes on the unsuspecting. Throughout her life, Laura enjoyed swimming, running, tennis, and martial arts. Besides singing, her greatest love was cooking, and she also had a love for horses and enjoyed gardening. At heart Laura remained a shy country girl.
 

Laura lives on through her music and through the wonderful memories of her family, friends, and fans worldwide. She sought to make a personal connection with her fans, and she greatly succeeded in that endeavor, touching lives in very meaningful ways, making each and every one feel as if she were singing just for them. Laura's fans are found in every country, and they remain a very devoted group years after her passing, who are dedicated to do what they can to ensure that she is never forgotten. It's with great excitement that there are new generations of fans coming into the fold, many as teenagers and young adults, who are eager to get hold of Laura's music and to learn all they can about her artistry and life. 
 

Laura affectionately referred to her fans many times as her "other half." On the first anniversary of Laura's passing in 2005, Laura's "other half" gathered together with Other Half Entertainment for the first Laura Branigan

Spirit Of Love Memorial Gathering. This 3-day event was held near Laura's Long Island, New York home where she last resided while caring for her mother. The memorial gathering was a very special time of coming together to remember Laura and to celebrate her life and artistry. Fans look forward to future annual Spirit of Love Memorial Gatherings. 

Laura Branigan was a unique, magnificently gifted singer who had an unbridled passion for life - with these attributes ensuring that she will never be far from the minds of those who love her, both for her many contributions to the music and entertainment worlds and for the indelible impression she has made upon the many, many, many lives she has touched and continues to touch through her artistry.