| this is so sad – gloria, solitaire, & self-control are top popbytes songs – laura you will surely be missed Laura Branigan, a singer whose high-volume vocals in the disco song “Gloria” propelled her into pop stardom, died in her sleep on Thursday night at her home in East Quogue, N.Y. She was 47. The cause was a brain aneurysm, said her brother Mark Branigan. After touring as a backup singer with Leonard Cohen, Ms. Branigan released her first album, “Branigan,” in 1982. It included “Gloria,” which became a hit, lasting on the pop charts for 36 weeks. It earned her a Grammy nomination for best female pop vocalist, the first of four nominations in her career. NYTIMES.com |  |