Laura Nyro

Laura Nyro was born on October 18, 1947 in The Bronx, New York, USA as Laura Nigro. She was married to David Bianchini.

She performed at the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival. Her performance was not as well-received as those by Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix, and rumors persisted for years that Nyro had been booed offstage. A recording of her set surfaced in the late 1990s, that proved otherwise.

A short-lived relationship with Harindra Singh produced her only child, a son Gil Bianchini (a.k.a. musician Gil-T; b. 1978), whom she gave the surname of her ex-husband.

In late 1996, Nyro, like her mother before her, was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. After the diagnosis, Columbia Records prepared a double-disc CD retrospective of material from her years at the label. The company involved Nyro herself, who selected the tracks and approved the final project. She lived to see the release of Stoned Soul Picnic: The Best of Laura Nyro (1997), and was reportedly pleased with the outcome. She died of ovarian cancer in Danbury, Connecticut, on April 8, 1997, at 49, the same age at which the disease had claimed the life of her mother. Her ashes were buried beneath a maple tree on the grounds of her house in Danbury.

Inducted into the Connecticut Women's Hall of Fame in 2001.

Her biography is in: "American National Biography". Supplement 1, pp. 456-457. New York: Oxford University Press, 2002.