Remembering Laura Branigan


I was very sadden to hear of Laura Branigan's passing. She died Thursday night in her sleep from a brain aneurysm. Apparently she had complained to a friend of headaches for about two weeks before, but had not sought medical attention. Laura was a four-time Grammy Award nominee best known for her 1982 platinum hit "Gloria," which launched her career. In 2002 she starred as Janis Joplin in the off-Broadway musical "Love, Janis," which earned her rave reviews.
Laura recently had been working on material for a new release. She was 47.

Laura loved performing onstage, her voice was a thing of beauty, very emotional and with a five octave range. Although she enjoyed working with other musicians in the studio, she loved the thrill of performing for a live audience. " When you're on stage", she says "the audience becomes your other half. It's the ultimate high you can reach as a musician--an incredible feeling. And no matter where I am it's the same; there's a reason we call music the universal language."

Back in January of this year I attended one of her concerts at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville, CT. Laura's voice that night was stunning, her heartfelt performances of "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow", "Ti Amo", "Don’t Cry For Me Argentina" and "Forever Young" were especially memorable. I will truly miss her.
mlq79
I was saddened to learn of Ms. Branigan's passing in your post. I remember what I believe was her self titled LP "Laura Branigan" which contained her hits Gloria and Ti Amo and Will you still love me tomorrow. She was clad on the cover in a slinky pink blouse and leather pants. What a great sound. Very upbeat and uplifting. I remember it on my on my first stereo set and Philips speakers, Dual turntable, and a Toshiba receiver. I will miss her.
G-d speed.
I feel sorry for her, but must admit that I had deep hatred for "Gloria." You hear it week after week while you're running your butt off in an aerobics class, and it gets old...fast. (Same thing for Denise Williams's "Let's Hear It For The Boy.")

Someone should have shot Michael Bolton for destroying her song "How Am I Supposed To Live Without You?".

Crikey, she was only a few years older than me.
And six years younger than me!

Her condition was not really age dependent. It's suspected this is what killed Bruce Lee.
Laura Branigan's "Gloria" was a reworking of a 1979 up-tempo chart-topping song from Italy originally sung by Umberto Tozzi, Laura gave it English lyrics. BTW, she charted again in 1984 with two more covers of Italian songs, "Ti Amo" by Umberto Tozzi and "Self-Control" by Raffaele Rifioli.