Laura Branigan

One of the premier pop belters of the ’80s, Laura Branigan (born in Mount Kisco, NY, in 1952) had a powerful alto that added emotional heft to her songs of love and wanting. Her debut album, Branigan came out in 1982; one of its singles, an English-language reworking of the storming Italian pop song “Gloria,” became a defining pop hit of the period. Branigan 2, arriving a year later, was led by the steadily building vocal showcase “Solitaire”; it also contained the Michael Bolton-penned ballad “How Am I Supposed to Live Without You.” In 1984 Branigan released Self Control, which leaned further into synth pop with singles like the searching title track and the clamorous “The Lucky One.” In the ensuing years she continued to release albums at a reduced rate until dying of a cerebral aneurysm in 2004.