Laura Branigan

This article is about the singer. For her 1990 self-titled album, see Laura Branigan (album).

Laura Branigan

Laura Ann Branigan (July 3, 1957 – August 26, 2004) was an American singer-songwriter and actress of Italian and Irish ancestry. She is best known in the United States for her 1982 Platinum-certified hit "Gloria" and in Europe for the number one single "Self Control". Branigan is also remembered for the Top 10 "Solitaire," and for the number one Adult Contemporary hit "How Am I Supposed to Live Without You."

She also contributed songs to notable motion picture and television soundtracks, including the Grammy- and Academy Award-winning Flashdance soundtrack (1983), the Ghostbusters soundtrack (1984), and the Baywatch soundtrack (1994), as well as having songs featured in the popular Grand Theft Auto video game series.

Her signature song "Gloria" stayed on the Billboard Hot 100 for 36 weeks, at the time a record for a female artist. The song holds a place in the top 100 singles of both 1982 and 1983.

Biography

Early career

In the early 1970s, Branigan was a member of the band Meadow, which released one album in 1973 called The Friend Ship. The record has never been re-released. Branigan preferred not to discuss her involvement with Meadow publicly. During the years after Meadow broke up, she had various jobs, including a stint as one of Leonard Cohen's backup singers for his European tour.

In 1979 Branigan was signed by Ahmet Ertegun to Atlantic Records. The strength of her dramatic alto voice, with its four-octave range,Template:Http://www.laurabraniganonline.com/main/bio.php ironically impeded her career for a couple of years while the label went through the process of categorizing her. She was finally categorized as a pop singer and a single called "Looking Out for Number One" made a brief appearance on the U.S. Dance chart. Two other early Atlantic singles, "Tell Him" and "Fool's Affair", followed. None of these three singles were included on her first album or ever reissued on any compilation CDs. Her first solo album Branigan was released in 1982; the first single from this album was "All Night With Me," which hit #69 on the Billboard charts in early 1982. Her first reviews saw her voice compared to both Donna Summer and Barbra Streisand, both of whom had enjoyed iconic Disco hits.

File:Laura17.jpg

Laura Branigan in 1974 at age 17.

Branigan, the nine-song debut album, alternated four hyper-energetic up-tempo songs with five ballads, including one of the few songs written solely by Branigan, "I Wish We Could Be Alone." "Gloria," originally an Italian love song recorded by Umberto Tozzi in 1979 (and successful in several European countries), was released as the album's second single. Branigan's version was reworked with Tozzi's own arranger, Greg Mathieson, who sharpened the ballad's hooks and updated its production with fellow producer Jack White to give it what Branigan called "an American kick" to match aggressive new English lyrics. American radio was not initially receptive to "Gloria"; the song's combination of American and European sound predated the imminent second "British Invasion" of popular music by several months. Embraced by dance clubs, especially gay clubs, it eventually won over American radio stations and propelled the song to become one of the biggest hits of the 1980s. The album went Gold, and the single was eventually certified Platinum (for sales of more than two million U.S. copies). Her vocal performance of "Gloria" was nominated for a Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female Grammy award (alongside Linda Ronstadt, Olivia Newton-John, Juice Newton, and that year's winner Melissa Manchester); "Gloria" marked her first of four nominations.

In the spring of 1983, Branigan released her second album, Branigan 2. By this time, the dramatic European synth-pop sound was on the rise, and Branigan's surging, sustained vocals propelled her English-language version of the French song "Solitaire" to the upper reaches of the U.S. charts. The original "Solitaire" was written and recorded in 1981 by French singer-songwriter Martine Clemenceau. In addition to cementing a place in pop history and ensuring she was not a one-hit wonder, her second album's two big hits began the careers for two then-unknowns, who themselves became industry legends. The English translation of "Solitaire" was the first major hit for songwriter Diane Warren, while the album's second hit single, the ballad "How Am I Supposed to Live Without You," was the first major hit for its co-writer, Michael Bolton. Branigan's debut recording of "How Am I Supposed to Live Without You" reached #12 on the Hot 100 and spent three weeks at #1 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart.

The 1983 film Flashdance contained two Laura Branigan songs, "Gloria" and a new song, "Imagination." The latter song was included on the Grammy Award winning Flashdance soundtrack that reached #1 and sold more than six million copies in the U.S. alone.

Height of her career

The year 1984 was the height of the European synth-pop era, and Self Control, the title track of Branigan's third album, became her biggest hit to date. The song became her most popular international hit, topping the charts in several countries, most notably West Germany, where it spent seven weeks at #1. The original version of "Self Control," recorded few months earlier in 1984 by one of the song's co-writer Raffaele Riefoli (under the name Raf), held the West German number two spot during this time period; outside of Raf's native Italy, Branigan's version enjoyed more success.

Other pop, dancefloor and adult contemporary hits from Branigan's Self Control album include "The Lucky One" (which won her a Tokyo Music Festival prize), the continental ballad "Ti Amo" (another Umberto Tozzi hit, and a #2 hit in Australia for Branigan) and the Dance hit "Satisfaction." The album also featured an uncharacteristically understated version of Carole King's "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow"; as a counterpoint to all the disco production, it was a bare-bones piano version. (In concerts and television appearances throughout her career, Branigan accompanied herself on the piano for the song.) That year, Branigan's live show was recorded twice, for a syndicated radio concert series and a second time for a concert video. Branigan was also nominated for an award at the American Music Awards of 1985 for Favorite Pop/Rock Female Video Artist (though Cyndi Lauper won the award). Also in 1985, Branigan performed the main theme song for the highly rated television mini-series Hollywood Wives, based on the novel by Jackie Collins.

By the time of Branigan's fourth album, 1985's Hold Me, "Self Control" was a world-wide success. The hits continued with "Spanish Eddie," which was her sixth US Billboard Top 40 Pop hit in two and a half years. The story was different around the world, however, as her newest hit followed its predecessors up the charts in Europe, South Africa and South America. Subsequent release "Hold Me" was a U.S. top 40 dance hit and her introduction of the rock ballad "I Found Someone" (cowritten by Michael Bolton) scored even higher on the Adult Contemporary chart, but neither song was supported by a music video and stalled in the lower reaches of the pop charts.

Touch, which was released in 1987, marked a change in Branigan's career. Under new management and using different producers, Branigan took a more active role in her work and in the studio. Touch saw her return to dancefloors with the Stock/Aitken/Waterman-produced "Shattered Glass", written by Bob Mitchell and Steve Coe. The album also included a return to the Billboard Top 40 with her cover of Jennifer Rush's "The Power of Love," which was one of the top 20 bestselling singles in the US over Christmas. The album's third single, "Cry Wolf," did not capture attention at pop radio. The ballad was recorded two years later by Stevie Nicks, and more recently by writer Jude Johnstone.

During the height of her career, Branigan also made acting appearances, first in 1981 in An American Girl in Berlin for German television, and then after the success of "Gloria," guest appearances on American television series such as CHiPs, Automan and Knight Rider. She would later do independent films such as Mugsy's Girls (aka Delta Pi, 1985) with the venerable Ruth Gordon, and the Australian film Backstage. She sang on major national television and radio campaigns for products including Dr Pepper, Coca-Cola and Chrysler, which sponsored her 1985-1986 "Hold Me" tour.

Later Years

Branigan's 1990 self-titled album brought the singer back to the Hi-NRG charts and gay clubs with "Moonlight On Water" and scored another Top 30 Adult Contemporary hit with "Never in a Million Years." Branigan added production to her list of credits with her cover of Vicki Sue Robinson's disco-era "Turn the Beat Around" and the atmospheric "Let Me In." It also included "Unison," which was the title track for Celine Dion's English debut CD in the same year. The album's closing track, a subdued cover of Bryan Adams' "The Best Was Yet to Come," was produced and arranged by Branigan herself. The singer's 1990-1991 concert tour was filmed for a syndicated U.S. television show, SRO in Concert, which was also released on videocassette and laserdisc (though not on DVD, to date.)

File:IWantToKnowWhatLoveIs.jpg

Laura Branigan and John Farnham singing I Want to Know What Love Is at the 1986 Logies in Australia

On Branigan's seventh and final studio album, 1993's Over My Heart, the singer again produced (with Phil Ramone), wrote and arranged. The album included a cover of Roxette's song "The Sweet Hello, the Sad Goodbye," and "Is There Anybody Here But Me?" (Pessis, Wells), a smooth mid-tempo number with a light Latin beat, decorated with romantic sax and atmospheric synths.

She was married to Larry Kruteck, a lawyer 20 years her senior, in December 1981. Not long after the Over My Heart album's release, Branigan left the music industry in 1994 to spend more time with Kruteck following his diagnosis of colon cancer. He died on June 15, 1996.

During these years, Branigan's chart success cooled in the US, though she was still in demand around the world and went on several global tours. Branigan had several official hit collections released in South America, Japan, Germany, South Africa, and the United States. The U.S. collection was released in 1995: The 13-track The Best of Branigan and included two newly recorded covers: "Show Me Heaven" (written by Maria McKee) and the Donna Summer hit "Dim All the Lights," which Branigan released in several remixes.

Receiving rave reviews for her live performances, Branigan's vocal coach was Carlo Menotti, and she worked with Steve Lukather (Toto), Dann Huff (Giant) and Michael Landau; keyboardists Greg Mathieson, Harold Faltermeyer, Michael Boddicker and Robbie Buchanan; bassists Nathan East and Dennis Belfield (Rufus); drummer Carlos Vega; percussionists Paulinho Da Costa and Lenny Castro; and guest vocalists including Joe "Bean" Esposito and background vocalists including The Waters Sisters (Maxine & Julia), James Ingram, and Richard Page & Stephen George (Mr. Mister). As her stature grew, she attracted Grammy-winning producers including Phil Ramone, Richard Perry and David Kershenbaum. She performed duets with John Farnham as well as Latin pop artist Luis Miguel. She also appeared frequently on various television shows, including The Merv Griffin Show, Dick Clark's American Bandstand, Solid Gold, and The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.

In 2001, Branigan's return to the stage was postponed when she broke both of her femurs in a fall. In 2002, she performed twice as the "singing" Janis Joplin in the off-Broadway musical Love, Janis, before dropping out of the show. "I left Janis because the producers didn't file with Equity properly," she told the Sunday News in Lancaster, PA. "I was sort of relieved. My voice isn't anything like Janis Joplin's, and there were 19 of her songs in the show."

Also in 2002, her second official U.S. hits collection The Essentials: Laura Branigan was released, and included the long out-of-print "I Found Someone."

Death

Branigan died at her home on Long Island, New York, on August 26, 2004. Her death was attributed to a previously undiagnosed brain aneurysm. It was reported in the media that she had been experiencing headaches for several weeks before her death but did not seek medical attention. Her ashes were scattered over Long Island Sound.

Legacy

Other Half Entertainment, Laura's management company at the time of her death, continues to oversee her career legacy through her official website, www.LauraBraniganOnline.com, her official MySpace and Facebook pages, by taking part in various media opportunities, as well as through relationships with Warner Music Group and other entertainment industry entities. Other Half Entertainment serves as the comprehensive, official voice for her legacy interests, while keeping Laura's artistic visions and standards at the heart of its operations.

In 2005, Other Half Entertainment organized a memorial for her friends and fans held on the anniversary of her death near the Long Island home in which she was caring for her mother at the time of her death. Following its initial success, the "Spirit of Love Memorial Gathering" remains an annual event in celebration of her life and the legacy of her passionate vocal performances and the heartfelt connection she made with her fans, whom she consistently referred to as "my other half."

Between 2006 and the present, Other Half Entertainment collaborated with Warner Music Group entities in the production and release of various new greatest-hits compilations. The Platinum Collection is an 18-song compilation including all the major hits as well as tracks such as "Silent Partners," "Satisfaction," "All Night With Me" and "If You Loved Me," that were four relatively new additions to Branigan hits compilations. In 2007, the 1995 "The Best of Branigan" was re-released as part of Rhino's 2007 "Greatest Hits" series of CDs. In 2008, Rhino/WEA authorized the re-release of three out-of-print Branigan albums, Touch, Laura Branigan and Over My Heart. In the summer of 2010, Warner Music Gallo Africa and Other Half Entertainment collaborated on the release of the CD+DVD project Shine On: The Ultimate Collection, which for the first time, incorporated a region-free DVD featuring official Atlantic music videos to 10 of Laura's songs.

Disputes

In 1998, an individual bought the domain name "laurabranigan.com" placing a website on that domain that claimed to be Ms. Branigan's official website. After several years, it became common knowledge among Branigan fans that the website at laurabranigan.com had no actual authorized connection to the singer herself, as evidenced by that site's consistently inaccurate information and discussion board on which its members posted hate speech against Branigan and various fans. In November 2002, a new website was launched at LauraBraniganOnline.com, with which Branigan openly cooperated, culminating in January 2004 with her sanction of LauraBraniganOnline.com as her sole ever official website. This was documented in open letters on the latter site in which the singer clearly states that she had no connection with either laurabranigan.com or its owner.

In 2008, Sunset Records announced plans to release a two-disc CD containing Laura Branigan remixes and rarities. After one year of postponed release dates, Branigan's management company announced that no such release would occur and that neither Sunset Records nor its affiliates owned or had permission to use the tracks claimed by Sunset Records to be on the CD.

Discography

Main article: Laura Branigan discography

Studio albums

• Branigan (1982)
• Branigan 2 (1983)
• Self Control (1984)
• Hold Me (1985)
• Touch (1987)
• Laura Branigan (1990)
• Over My Heart (1993)

Compilation albums

• The Best of Laura Branigan (1988)
• The Very Best of Laura Branigan (1992)
• The Best of Branigan (1995)
• The Essentials (2002)
• The Platinum Collection (2006)
• Shine On: The Ultimate Collection (2010)

Filmography

Film
Year	Film	Role	Notes
1985	Mugsy's Girls	Monica	Also known as Delta Pi
1988	Backstage	Kate Lawrence
Television
Year	Title	Role	Notes
1982	Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade	Herself	Performer of "Gloria"
	Saturday Night Live	Herself	Performer of "Gloria" and "Living a Lie"
1983	CHiPs	Sarah	Guest star in "Fox Trap" (Season 6, Episode 16)
	A Solid Gold Christmas	Herself	Performer of "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas" and "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town"
	Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve	Herself	Performer of "How am I Supposed to Live Without You" and "Solitaire"
1984	Automan	Jessie Cole	Guest star in "Murder MTV" (Season 1, Episode 9)
	Laura Branigan In Concert	Herself	Her concert live from Caesars Tahoe
	Rock Rolls On	Herself	Co-host, Performer of "Self Control" and "The Lucky One"
1985	Cover Story	Herself	Biography
1986	Disney's Living Seas	Herself	Performer and composer of "If I Were a River"
1988	Record Guide '88	Herself	Interview
1990	SRO: In Concert	Herself	Her concert live from Atlantic City
1991	Monsters	Amanda Smith-Jones	Guest star in "A Face for Radio" (Season 3, Episode 19)
Theater
Year	Title	Role	Notes
2002	Love, Janis	Janis Joplin	Off-Broadway, New York

Awards and nominations

Year	Group	Category	Song	Result
1982	Grammy Awards	Best Pop Vocal Performance — Female	"Gloria"	Nominated
1983		Album of the Year	"Imagination" (Flashdance soundtrack)	Nominated^
		Best Soundtrack	"Imagination" (Flashdance soundtrack)	Won^
1984		Best Soundtrack	"Hot Night" (Ghostbusters soundtrack)	Nominated^
	American Music Awards	Favorite Pop/Rock Female Video Artist	"Self Control"	Nominated
	Tokyo Music Festival	Grand Prix Award for Best Vocal Performance	"The Lucky One"	Won

• ^ These awards/nominations were not awarded to Laura Branigan alone.

Certifications

For a list of certifications awarded to Branigan for album and single sales, see Laura Branigan discography - Certifications.

External links

• Official Website
• Laura Branigan at IMDb
• ‹The template AllMovie name is being considered for deletion.› Laura Branigan at AllMovie
• Billboard news story: Singer Laura Branigan Dies At 47
• Laura Branigan at Find a Grave