Biography
Laura Branigan earned Grammy nominations across her work as a pop singer, songwriter, and actress. Cinematic qualities defined her synth-driven, club-oriented dance pop while pioneering videos lifted both singles and albums onto the highest chart positions, establishing her as a major live draw. Branigan functioned primarily as a singles artist whose trajectory aligned with MTV’s ascent, moving from the clear-throated, energetic post-disco energy of “Gloria” through the sultry Roland 808 textures and drum-machine loops of “Self Control” and subsequent releases. Her chart record paralleled those of fellow ’80s female icons Sade, Kim Wilde, and Kim Carnes. That visibility placed two of her songs on the soundtracks of Flashdance and Ghostbusters, two of the decade’s signature films. Five singles reached the upper portion of the Hot 100, six albums entered the Top 200, and two dozen tracks appeared on dance and adult contemporary charts. She maintained activity in theater and film while recording with other artists until a brain aneurysm ended her life in 2004.
Born in 1952 in Brewster, an upstate New York town, Branigan first contemplated a musical path during her final high-school year after securing the lead in a school production. By the mid-’70s she had entered the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City; late in the decade she auditioned successfully as a backing vocalist for Leonard Cohen and spent the rest of that period touring internationally with him. The association secured a recording deal with Atlantic, though a management-change lawsuit delayed her solo debut until 1982, when Branigan appeared. Its standout track, the Donna Summer-styled “Gloria,” reworking a 1970s Italian pop song, reached number six in the U.K. and number two in the U.S., earning Branigan the first of four Grammy nominations for Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female. The single achieved even greater dominance in Germany, topping the chart and reviving interest in the original version, which then climbed to number two. Branigan 2, issued in 1983, yielded further U.S. hits with “Solitaire” and “How Am I Supposed to Live Without You,” the latter co-written by Michael Bolton.
Additional albums followed through the remainder of the ’80s: Self Control (1984, number 23), Hold Me (1985, number 71), and Touch (1987, number 87). These sets produced the singles “Self Control,” “The Lucky One,” “Ti Amo,” “Spanish Eddie,” “I Found Someone,” the title track from Hold Me, “Shattered Glass,” and “The Power of Love.” By the early ’90s momentum had subsided; the 1990 self-titled album and 1993’s Over My Heart, which Branigan co-produced with Phil Ramone, attracted little notice. In 1994 she recorded the duet “I Believe” with David Hasselhoff for the Baywatch soundtrack. The following year the 13-track compilation The Best of Branigan appeared, featuring new covers of Maria McKee’s “Show Me Heaven” and Donna Summer’s “Dim All the Lights,” the latter later issued in multiple remixed forms. Branigan sustained her acting and concert work in Europe and Asia, with television and film appearances including episodes of CHiPS, Monsters, and the movies Mugsy’s Girl (1984) and Backstage (1988).
Her husband, Larry Kruteck, received a colon-cancer diagnosis in 1994. Branigan rejected the initial prognosis, stepped away from music, and devoted herself to his care, exploring herbal treatments and eventually providing full-time support until his death on June 15, 1996, in New York. The 2001 compilation The Essentials included the previously scarce single “I Found Someone.” Branigan reentered the public arena in 2002 with a critically praised short run portraying Janis Joplin in Love, Janis. On August 26, 2004, she suffered a brain aneurysm and died in her sleep.
Fans marked the first anniversary of her passing in 2005 with the initial “Laura Branigan Spirit of Love Memorial Gathering,” organized by Other Half Entertainment, her management company at the time, and her official website; the event became annual. Other Half Entertainment maintains oversight of her catalog via the website and Facebook presence while collaborating regularly with Warner Music Group on new greatest-hits packages. The Platinum Collection, an 18-song set, gathers the principal hits alongside “Silent Partners,” “Satisfaction,” “All Night with Me,” and “If You Loved Me.” Rhino reissued The Best of Branigan in 2007 and, in 2009, re-released Touch, Laura Branigan, and Over My Heart. Shine On: The Ultimate Collection arrived in June 2010, pairing an 18-track audio disc of radio edits with a DVD containing ten music videos. In summer 2020 Cherry Red issued a double-disc expanded edition of the 1984 album Self Control.
Born in 1952 in Brewster, an upstate New York town, Branigan first contemplated a musical path during her final high-school year after securing the lead in a school production. By the mid-’70s she had entered the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City; late in the decade she auditioned successfully as a backing vocalist for Leonard Cohen and spent the rest of that period touring internationally with him. The association secured a recording deal with Atlantic, though a management-change lawsuit delayed her solo debut until 1982, when Branigan appeared. Its standout track, the Donna Summer-styled “Gloria,” reworking a 1970s Italian pop song, reached number six in the U.K. and number two in the U.S., earning Branigan the first of four Grammy nominations for Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female. The single achieved even greater dominance in Germany, topping the chart and reviving interest in the original version, which then climbed to number two. Branigan 2, issued in 1983, yielded further U.S. hits with “Solitaire” and “How Am I Supposed to Live Without You,” the latter co-written by Michael Bolton.
Additional albums followed through the remainder of the ’80s: Self Control (1984, number 23), Hold Me (1985, number 71), and Touch (1987, number 87). These sets produced the singles “Self Control,” “The Lucky One,” “Ti Amo,” “Spanish Eddie,” “I Found Someone,” the title track from Hold Me, “Shattered Glass,” and “The Power of Love.” By the early ’90s momentum had subsided; the 1990 self-titled album and 1993’s Over My Heart, which Branigan co-produced with Phil Ramone, attracted little notice. In 1994 she recorded the duet “I Believe” with David Hasselhoff for the Baywatch soundtrack. The following year the 13-track compilation The Best of Branigan appeared, featuring new covers of Maria McKee’s “Show Me Heaven” and Donna Summer’s “Dim All the Lights,” the latter later issued in multiple remixed forms. Branigan sustained her acting and concert work in Europe and Asia, with television and film appearances including episodes of CHiPS, Monsters, and the movies Mugsy’s Girl (1984) and Backstage (1988).
Her husband, Larry Kruteck, received a colon-cancer diagnosis in 1994. Branigan rejected the initial prognosis, stepped away from music, and devoted herself to his care, exploring herbal treatments and eventually providing full-time support until his death on June 15, 1996, in New York. The 2001 compilation The Essentials included the previously scarce single “I Found Someone.” Branigan reentered the public arena in 2002 with a critically praised short run portraying Janis Joplin in Love, Janis. On August 26, 2004, she suffered a brain aneurysm and died in her sleep.
Fans marked the first anniversary of her passing in 2005 with the initial “Laura Branigan Spirit of Love Memorial Gathering,” organized by Other Half Entertainment, her management company at the time, and her official website; the event became annual. Other Half Entertainment maintains oversight of her catalog via the website and Facebook presence while collaborating regularly with Warner Music Group on new greatest-hits packages. The Platinum Collection, an 18-song set, gathers the principal hits alongside “Silent Partners,” “Satisfaction,” “All Night with Me,” and “If You Loved Me.” Rhino reissued The Best of Branigan in 2007 and, in 2009, re-released Touch, Laura Branigan, and Over My Heart. Shine On: The Ultimate Collection arrived in June 2010, pairing an 18-track audio disc of radio edits with a DVD containing ten music videos. In summer 2020 Cherry Red issued a double-disc expanded edition of the 1984 album Self Control.
Albums
