Laura Nyro (born Laura Nigro) (October 18, 1947 â April 8, 1997) was an American songwriter and singer, one of the most influential musicians to emerge in the 1960s.
She blazed the trail for â and directly influenced â future female singer-songwriters like Joni Mitchell, Carly Simon, Phoebe Snow, and Rickie Lee Jones, among many others. Nyroâs style was a distinctive hybrid of Brill Building-style New York pop, mixed with elements of jazz, folk, rhythm and blues, and rock. Her lyrics were sophisticated, first as a reflection of youth angst in her initial period (1966-1971) with later works concentrating on animal-rights issues, motherhood, and a growing concern for the human condition. She possessed a beautiful, angelic voice which could register tenderness, rage, and playfulness with equal ability. Nyro was also blessed with an instinctive sense of song arrangement and vocal arrangement skills, which revealed itself not only in her own material, but in her recordings of, as she called them, âthe teenage heartbeat songs of my youthâ and the occasional pop standard. These songs were interpreted by Nyro wit...
