The world of show business is still amazing. It would seem that a talented person born in America should conquer his native shores. Well, then go to conquer the rest of the world. True, in the case of the star of musicals and TV shows, who has become one of the brightest representatives of the incendiary disco, Laura Branigan, everything turned out quite differently.
No more drama from Laura Branigan
She was born on July 3, 1952 in an ordinary American family of a broker. Even as a child, Laura dreamed of becoming the new star of the theater in New York. The girl dreamed of the stage and creativity. Therefore, after school, she applied for training at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. Already in the first months after the start of her studies, Branigan began to appear in episodic scenes of various musicals. They were so popular in the 70s of the last century.
Money for life and study was sorely lacking. Consequently, the 20-year-old student was forced to look for an additional source of funding by taking a job as a waitress. The salary was not the biggest, but it was enough for rent, food and even outfits.
A little later, fate brought her to the folk rockers from Meadow, for whom the girl even wrote several songs. After that, Laura realized that her dramatic education could easily be combined with a musical career.
So Branigan began to move from one group to another, trying herself as a backing vocalist. In 1976, she stopped on a joint show with Leonard Cohen. In the early 80s, Laura realized that the music world was waiting for her and decided to become an independent unit. But the employment contract greatly interfered with this matter. The girl had to run around legal offices and courts in order to achieve the start of a solo career.
Let there be disco at Laura Branigan
In 1982, Atlantic Records released Laura's first album, Branigan. It appealed to fans of dance music. In those years, synth-pop and disco were actively gaining momentum. Musical genres offered music lovers a distraction from the heaviness of rock and the melancholy of the chansonnier. Therefore, the work of the rising American singer was greeted with a bang.
That's just a grandiose success in the United States, the singer could not achieve. Even attempts to reduce a few years for themselves and embellish their own biography did not lead to success. But in Europe, Branigan's work caused a stir among listeners. In a matter of weeks, her songs conquered the charts, and the track "Gloria" even got a Grammy nomination.
Thanks to the American performer, Europe learned what a real Eurodisco is. The hits of the former backing vocalist of the great Cohen were regularly played on all radio stations in Germany and other countries.
Already by 1984, Laura's popularity just went through the roof. Followers began to appear, copying the singer in everything: from style to stage outfits. But they were all far from real success. And by that time, Branigan herself was able to conquer even Asians by winning a music festival in Tokyo.
Laura Branigan's dreams come true unexpectedly
Could the little girl Laura, living in New York, imagine that her desire to be an actress is realized in a completely non-standard way? After playing in musicals and with the beginning of her singing career, Branigan had already forgotten about her dream of being an actress. But fate prepared a very original gift for her.
Since the mid-80s, Laura's songs have become a constant musical accompaniment to numerous TV series. Her songs have also appeared in several films. And the singer herself later began to actively act in them, playing roles or appearing as herself. Of course, these episodic flashes could not be called a real acting craft. But for Laura herself, her musical career by that time had taken a leadership position.
Between 1982 and 1994, the singer released seven full-length albums and numerous singles. Some of them won awards, became the leaders of the charts and did not disappear from the air of European radio stations. In the USA, success came to her compatriot after one of the tracks became one of the favorite compositions of the popular TV series Baywatch. The composition was recorded in a duet with artist David Hasselhoff.
Time does not favor anyone
Fame and success are very capricious and short-lived. Therefore, the era of disco and the leadership of dance music gradually began to leave in the 90s. No, Laura Branigan did not write less songs or release albums and singles. It's just that her records were no longer so impressive to the public, whose tastes had time to change very quickly.
The singer had no choice but to remind herself of herself by shooting in second-rate soap operas and medium-budget films. The euro disco queen felt that her time was running out, but there was nothing she could do about it. Laura returned to the musical genre and even again found herself on the wave of success. She starred in Love, Janis, a tribute to the legendary Janis Joplin.
The personal life of the singer was very modest. For many years she lived with a single man. Her husband was lawyer Larry Ross Krutek. He passed away in 1996 due to cancer. The couple had no children, so Laura was left alone. Periodically meeting with drummer Tommy Baikos, but there was no talk of a new marriage.
In early 2004, the 52-year-old singer continued to play in Broadway musicals. But frequent headaches made themselves felt, knocking me out of my creative mood. There was no time for a medical examination, and, perhaps, the singer herself did not take this seriously, attributing it to fatigue. On the night of August 25/26, Laura Branigan died suddenly at her lakeside mansion in Wencester.
According to the doctors, the aneurysm struck the arteries of the ventricles of the brain, which led to almost instantaneous death. According to the will, the singer's body was cremated, and the ashes were scattered over the Long Island Sound.
The Eurodisco queen left at the height of her fame, leaving behind several records and concert recordings. She was a real star of the era, who managed to conquer the world with the help of light dance music filled with incredible energy and life.
