A 1982 cover version by American singer Laura Branigan, with different English lyrics, peaked at number two on the US Billboard Hot 100 and has been certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).

[5] In 2011, the song was brought up to date with a set of new house mixes by Alex Gaudino and Jason Rooney.

The first English rendering of the song[26] was recorded by its original English-language lyricist Jonathan King in November 1979, which reached number 65 on the UK Singles Chart.

[28] 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.

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.

[36] "Gloria" earned Branigan a nomination for the Best Pop Vocal Performance Female Grammy Award for the year 1982.

[38] Certified platinum for sales of over two 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.

"[39] The National Hockey League's (NHL) St. Louis Blues began using Branigan's cover version of "Gloria" as its unofficial victory song when they went on a franchise-record 11-game winning streak during the 2018–19 season; on January 6, a couple of Blues teammates were at a bar with a DJ, and according to defenceman Joel Edmundson, "this one guy looked at the DJ and said, 'Keep playing "Gloria"!'

The following day, goaltender Jordan Binnington made his first start for the Blues that season and won the game with a shutout.

"Gloria" reappeared on the iTunes singles chart thanks to the trend, reaching number three after the Blues won the Stanley Cup.

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.

[70] Also in 1982, Lena Valaitis had a single release of "Gloria" with new German lyrics written by Michael Kunze, and production by Jack White.

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.