Laura Nyro started off as a songwriter to the stars—penning hits for acts like The Fifth Dimension, Barbra Streisand and Blood, Sweat & Tears. But as a solo performer, Nyro was a magnetic presence with a bewitching voice and jazz-tinged piano style, finding cult stardom (and celebrity fans like Todd Rundgren and Carole King) via LPs like New York Tendaberry and Eli and the Thirteenth Confession. An R&B-flavoured album recorded with soul trio LaBelle, Gonna Take A Miracle, gave her a new audience, but she retired quietly by the mid-'70s. She died in 1997 at the age of 49.