Gloria's strong voice falls silent30aug04
SINGER Laura Branigan, best known for her 1982 platinum hit Gloria, has died at 47.
Branigan died in her sleep at her home, her manager, John Bowers, said yesterday.
He would not disclose the cause, though her official website listed it as a brain aneurism.
Gloria stayed on top of the pop charts for 36 weeks and earned Branigan a Grammy nomination for best female pop vocalist.
It was the first of four nominations.
Her songs appeared on soundtracks for the films Flashdance and Ghostbusters.
During the late 1970s, she toured Europe as a backing vocalist for Canadian singer and songwriter Leonard Cohen. She signed as a solo artist with Atlantic Records in 1982.
Her releases in the early '90s attracted little attention. In 1994, she sang a duet with David Hasselhoff, I Believe, for the soundtrack of the TV show Baywatch.
She released a 13-track Best of Branigan LP the next year.
After the death of her husband, Lawrence Kruteck, in 1996, Branigan stopped performing, but returned to the stage in 2001.
In 2002 she starred as Janis Joplin in the off-Broadway musical Love, Janis, earning rave reviews.
She had recently been working on material for a new release.
She is survived by her mother, Kathleen, brothers Billy and Mark, and sister Susan. Branigan and Kruteck had no children.
Services will be held on Monday, with a private funeral service and burial the next day. - AP
