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Laura Branigan
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Miami Vice Performer
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Born
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July 3, 1952, Westchester County, New York
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Died
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August 26, 2004, East Quoque, New York (age 52, brain aneurysm)
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Active
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1973-2004
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Spouse
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Larry Kruteck (1978-1996, his death)
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Laura Ann Frances Branigan, (July 3, 1952[1][2] - August 26, 2004) was an American singer and songwriter whose song "Self Control" appeared in the episode "The Great McCarthy" of the show Miami Vice.
Career[]
Branigan was born in Westchester County, New York, of Irish ancestry. Her career started in the late 1970s, but her first album, Branigan was released in 1982, featured a song, "Gloria", that launched Branigan to stardom, it reached #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 (and spent 36 weeks on the chart, a record for a female solo artist at that time), went platinum, and earned her a Grammy nomination. Her followup, Branigan 2, featured the Top 10 single "Solitaire" and "How Am I Supposed To Live Without You" (co-written by Michael Bolton, who took his version to #1 in 1990). She also contributed "Imagination" to the Flashdance movie soundtrack. Her third album, Self Control, featured Branigan's last Top 10 single, the title track, and "The Lucky One". After several more albums, none of which had the same success as her first three albums, Branigan dropped out of music in 1994 to care for her dying husband, Larry Kruteck. His death from colon cancer in 1996 led her to attempt a comeback, appearing on several TV shows in the late 1990s, appearing as the singing Janis Joplin in the off-Broadway musical Love, Janis.
Death[]
Branigan reportedly was suffering from headaches for several weeks in 2004, but never sought treatment for them, and died at her home on Long Island, New York, on August 26, 2004 at the age of 52 from an undiagnosed brain aneurysm.