Donna Summer

Donna Summer
Summer in a 1977 publicity photo for Once Upon a Time
Summer in a 1977 publicity photo for Once Upon a Time
Background information
Birth nameDonna Adrian Gaines
Also known as
  • Donna Gaines
Born(1948-12-31)December 31, 1948
Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
DiedMay 17, 2012(2012-05-17) (aged 63)
Naples, Florida, U.S.
Genres
Occupations
  • Singer
  • songwriter
DiscographyDonna Summer discography
Years active1968–2012
Labels
Spouses
  • Helmuth Sommer
    (m. 1973; div. 1976)
  • (m. 1980)
Children3, including Brooklyn and Amanda Sudano
Websitedonnasummer.com
Signature

Donna Adrian Gaines (December 31, 1948 – May 17, 2012),[2] known professionally as Donna Summer, was an American singer and songwriter. She gained prominence during the disco era of the 1970s and became known as the "Queen of Disco", while her music gained a global following.[3][4]

Influenced by the counterculture of the 1960s, Summer became the lead singer of a psychedelic rock band named Crow and moved to New York City. In 1968, she joined a German adaptation of the musical Hair in Munich, where she spent several years living, acting, and singing.[5] There, she met music producers Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte, and they went on to record influential disco hits together such as "Love to Love You Baby" and "I Feel Love", marking Summer's breakthrough into international music markets. Summer returned to the United States in 1976,[6] and more hits such as "Last Dance", "MacArthur Park", "Heaven Knows", "Hot Stuff", "Bad Girls", "Dim All the Lights", "No More Tears (Enough Is Enough)" with Barbra Streisand, and "On the Radio" followed.

Summer amassed a total of 32 chart singles on the US Billboard Hot 100 in her lifetime, including 14 top-10 singles and four number-one singles. She claimed a top-40 hit every year between 1976 and 1984, and from her first top-10 hit in 1976, to the end of 1982, she had 12 top-10 hits (10 were top-five hits), more than any other act during that period. She returned to the Hot 100's top five in 1983, and claimed her final top-10 hit in 1989 with "This Time I Know It's for Real". She was the first artist to have three consecutive double albums reach the top of the US Billboard 200 chart and charted four number-one singles in the US within a 12-month period. She also charted two number-one singles on the R&B Singles chart in the US and a number-one single in the United Kingdom.[7] Her last Hot 100 hit came in 1999 with "I Will Go with You (Con te partirò)". While her fortunes on the Hot 100 waned in subsequent decades, Summer remained a force on the Billboard Dance Club Songs chart throughout her entire career.

Summer died in 2012 from lung cancer, at her home in Naples, Florida.[8] In her obituary in The Times, she was described as the "undisputed queen of the Seventies disco boom" who reached the status of "one of the world's leading female singers."[3] Moroder described Summer's work on the song "I Feel Love" as "really the start of electronic dance" music.[9] In 2013, Summer was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.[10] In December 2016, Billboard ranked her sixth on its list of the "Greatest of All Time Top Dance Club Artists".[11]

  1. ^ Krettenauer, Thomas (2017). "Hit Men: Giorgio Moroder, Frank Farian and the eurodisco sound of the 1970s/80s". In Ahlers, Michael; Jacke, Christoph (eds.). Perspectives on German Popular Music. London: Routledge. ISBN 978-1-4724-7962-4.
  2. ^ Huey, Steve. "Donna Summer Biography". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved April 14, 2016.
  3. ^ a b "Obituaries: Donna Summer". The Times. London: News Corporation. 2012. p. 53.
  4. ^ "Donna Summer, queen of disco, dies at 63". Entertainment & Arts. BBC News Online. May 17, 2012. Retrieved May 17, 2022.
  5. ^ "Donna Summer Biography – Facts, Birthday, Life Story". Biography.com. Retrieved May 17, 2012.
  6. ^ "Hot stuff: Donna Summer, born 65 years ago". Deutsche Welle. December 31, 2013. Retrieved June 25, 2021.
  7. ^ Sweeney, Eamon (May 16, 2014). "14 of the best sunshine-filled songs that scream Summer". Irish Independent. Retrieved February 25, 2015.
  8. ^ Sherman, Catherine (May 21, 2012). "Donna Summer's Lasting (Real Estate) Legacy". Zillow.com. Archived from the original on January 1, 2014. Retrieved April 13, 2013.
  9. ^ "President Obama leads Donna Summer tributes". BBC News Online. May 18, 2012. Retrieved May 20, 2012.
  10. ^ Anderson, Kyle (December 11, 2012). "Public Enemy, Rush, Heart, Donna Summer was inducted into Rock and Roll Hall of Fame". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on December 12, 2012. Retrieved July 27, 2023.
  11. ^ "Greatest of All Time Top Dance Club Artists". Billboard. Retrieved March 21, 2017.