Background

Umberto Tozzi first recorded "Gloria" in 1979.^[2] The song stayed four weeks at number one in both Switzerland and—in a translated version—Spain. That same year, Tozzi's "Gloria" reached number four in Austria, number five in Belgium, number eight in West Germany and number 29 in the Netherlands.^[3]

"Gloria" is a love song,^[2][4] as is the first English rendering of the song,^[5] recorded by its original English-language lyricist, Jonathan King, in November 1979, reaching number 65 on the UK Singles Chart.^[6] Tozzi later recorded and performed King's translated version of "Gloria".^[7] He also re-recorded the song with Trevor Veitch's and Laura Branigan's English lyrics; this version appears on his 2002 album The Best of Umberto Tozzi.

In 2011, the song was brought up to date with a set of new house mixes by Alex Gaudino and Jason Rooney.^[8] The music video stars Umberto and Natasha Tozzi.^[9]

Tozzi's original version of "Gloria" appeared on the respective soundtracks to the 2013 films The Wolf of Wall Street and Gloria.^[10][11] It was also played during the Parade of Nations in the 2019 Summer Universiade Opening Ceremony as Italy, the host nation of the Universiade at the time, entered the stage.^[12]

Lyrical content

In Jonathan King's English lyrics, Tozzi, who takes the role of the song's main character, tells that he is dreaming about an imaginary woman named Gloria. He describes his living days as misery, but when he dreams of Gloria, he says his nights are liberty. The protagonist describes Gloria as his queen imagination that comes from his fascination, not from any kind of fantasy. He further elaborates that he has always set Gloria free from him, just as he has set freedom from reality. He then tells that his friends think he is crazy, but he argues his point that they have never met Gloria (so far, he has no proof of her actual existence); but one day when he finds her, he says his friends will talk about Gloria's beauty and her loyalty. To accomplish the goal of realizing his dreams despite everyone else's protests, the protagonist sets all his life to search for Gloria until he meets her in reality, and then promises to hold her, to touch her, and to keep her because he loves Gloria.^[5]

Track listings

Personnel

• Umberto Tozzi – vocals, chorus
• Greg Mathieson – conductor, piano, keyboards
• Barry Morgan – drums
• Mats Björklund – guitar
• Les Hurdle – bass
• Filarmonica Di Monaco – strings
• Euro Cristiani – chorus

Charts

Certifications

Background

Atlantic Records' managing director Doug Morris suggested that Laura Branigan work with producer Jack White, who suggested that she record an English version of Tozzi's hit "Gloria". Branigan recalled that on hearing the Tozzi track, "We gave it the American kick and rewrote the lyrics and off she went."^[30] Branigan's remake of "Gloria" was produced by White and co-produced by Greg Mathieson, who had been the arranger of, and the keyboardist on Tozzi's original song, while also being the primary keyboardist on the Branigan album.

Branigan told People magazine that she and her producers had at first attempted an English version of Tozzi's "Gloria" in the romantic mode of the original, changing the title to "Mario", but that it seemed ineffective. Ultimately, Branigan recorded an English re-invention of "Gloria" as a character study of, in her words, "a girl that's running too fast for her own steps," the cover lyrics of which were written by Trevor Veitch, the contractor for the Branigan album, to which he also contributed guitar work; Branigan also did her part in co-writing of the cover song's lyrics.

In 2003, Branigan characterized "Gloria" as "Certainly my signature song. And I always get the same reaction wherever I go, and whenever I perform it ... I have to end every show with that song, and people just go crazy."^[31]

Branigan later released a hi-NRG re-recording of the song just a few months before her death. "Gloria 2004" was released with several remixes on 26 April 2004.

Commercial performance

"Gloria" attained its highest profile via a re-working featured on the 1982 album Branigan, the first released album by Branigan. Although another selection, "All Night with Me", was chosen as the album's lead single, Branigan also performed the cover song during her promotional television appearances at the time of the album's release,^[32] and the track was chosen as the album's second single in June 1982, first becoming a disco favorite, and gradually accruing radio support to enter the pop charts in July. The single reached number two on the Billboard Hot 100 on 27 November 1982, behind Lionel Richie's "Truly", and remained there the following two weeks, through 11 December—when Richie had been supplanted by Toni Basil's "Mickey".^[33]

"Gloria" earned Branigan a nomination for the Best Pop Vocal Performance Female Grammy Award for the year 1982. The song remained in the Top 40 for 22 weeks, and its total Hot 100 residency of 36 weeks established a new record for a single by a solo female act.^[34] The song also topped Cash Box magazine's chart.^[35] Certified platinum for sales of one million in the United States alone, "Gloria" was also an international success, most notably in Australia where it held the top position for seven consecutive weeks, from 7 February to 21 March 1983. "Gloria" also reached number one in Canada, number four in Ireland, number six in New Zealand and the United Kingdom, and number nine in South Africa.^{[citation needed]}

Notable inclusions

The song was shown in the movie Flashdance, but was not included on the movie's soundtrack.

The song was also used in the 2015 videogame Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain.^[36]

In January 2021 the song was heard playing during Donald Trump's "Save America" rally, as captured in a video shared by Donald Trump Jr. The backstage video went viral after rally participants attacked the United States Capitol. Branigan's legacy manager Kathy Golik responded to the video, calling it "absolutely appalling to hear 'Gloria' being played in the background of a widely-circulating video of Pres. Trump [...] given the tragic, unsettling, & shameful happenings that occurred at the US Capitol."^[37]

Track listings

Personnel

Charts

Certifications

Early years

English singer-songwriter Jonathan King released his version in 1979 which peaked at No. 65 on the UK Singles Chart.^[66]

A Czech rendition of "Gloria", titled "Dívka Gloria", was a local success for Vítězslav Vávra in 1980;^[67] as well as for the Estonian rendering of "Gloria" recorded by Mait Maltis in the same year. In 1982, Sheila released a French language version with lyrics by Claude Carrère and Jean Schmitt; the single, "Glori, Gloria" rose to number 8 in France on 15 January 1983.^[68] Also in 1982, Lena Valaitis had a single release of "Gloria" with new German lyrics written by Michael Kunze, and production by Jack White. In 1983, Carola Häggkvist recorded a Swedish rendering of "Gloria"—with lyrics by Ingela Forsman—for her album Främling,^[69] and Mona Carita recorded a Finnish version of the song for her album Mikä Fiilis!

"Gloria" has been used internationally in television commercials for products as diverse as beer and flour; while another version of the song, amended into an advertising jingle with lyrics to suit the product, and soundalike vocalist to Branigan, was used in an Australian TV commercial for the 1984 Mitsubishi Cordia.^[70]

Prior to the commercial success of Branigan's version in the United Kingdom, British singer Elkie Brooks recorded her version of "Gloria", which was unreleased prior to inclusion in the 1986 album The Very Best of Elkie Brooks. Australian singer Julie Anthony also recorded "Gloria" for her 1983 covers album What a Feeling.

Later years

Debbie Reynolds sings a snippet of "Gloria" in the "Lows in the Mid-Eighties" episode of the NBC sitcom Will & Grace (broadcast on 23 November 2000), performing the song as the character "Bobbi Adler" in a sequence set in 1985. Australian Young Divas included "Gloria" on their self-titled album in 2006.^{[citation needed]}

David Civera recorded a Spanish rendering of "Gloria" for his album A ritmo de clasicos in 2011, the same year that Sergio Dalma recorded another Spanish version of "Gloria" on his album Via Dalma II; the album lasted five weeks at number 1 in Spain, and earned quadruple-platinum status. Airing in December 2011, Sergio Dalma also performed the song on an RTVE special called Via Dalma, where Tozzi was also among the guests.^[71] In 2012, Mexican singer Gloria Trevi recorded a version of the song and released it as the first single for her eponymous, Gloria Live album.

On 12 June 2019, while in St. Louis, Phish covered the song following the St. Louis Blues' win over the Boston Bruins in the 2019 Stanley Cup Finals.^[72] The Blues would play the song after every win in 2019. In 2021 Angel Olsen released a cover of the song on her EP Aisles.^[73]