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Donna Summer (born LaDonna Adrian Gaines on December 31, 1948) is an American Grammy Award-winning singer best known for a string of disco music hits in the 1970s that earned her the title "Queen of Disco" and also one of the few disco artists to have longevity on the charts into the late-1980s. Summer was a rarity in the 1970s disco scene because her career began before the disco explosion and continued afterward. Even though she is one of the best-known artists of the disco era, Summer has covered different genres including R&B, rock and roll and gospel music, earning her Grammy Awards in those categories. Her work is still critically acclaimed, and she remains one of the few disco artists accepted by modern rock critics. It has been estimated that Summer's album and single sales total more than 100 million, easily making her part of the list of best-selling music artists.

Biography

Early life and career

Born in the Dorchester neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, Summer began performing in her church's choir at the age of ten. She later joined a rock group called Crow. A few months before graduating from high school, Summer dropped out and joined the German productions of Hair, Godspell, and Show Boat over the next few years. She eventually settled in Europe, joining the Viennese Folk Opera and participating in numerous musicals.

In 1971, Summer released "Sally Go 'Round the Roses", her first solo recording. The single was unsuccessful, however, and Summer had to wait until 1974 to launch a solo career. After resettling in Munich, Germany, Summer married Helmut Sommer ("Summer" is an anglicization of his last name) and did various musical jobs in studios and theaters for several years, including the pop group FamilyTree from 1974-75.

Success and notoriety

While singing back-up for groups such as Three Dog Night, she met producers Giorgio Moroder and Pete Belotte. With these producers, Summer signed a contract in the Netherlands and issued her first album, Lady of the Night, which included the overseas hit, "The Hostage", which hit #1 in France, Belgium, and Holland and #2 in Germany. In the late summer of 1975, Summer penned a song that was being shopped around to various German pop singers notably Penny McLean. Moroder was astounded with Summer's orgasmic vocals and her imaginative moans and groans and told Summer to release the single as her own. Summer reluctanly agreed and the song, titled "Love To Love You Baby", was released. While originally a modest success in Europe, it reached America and the hands of Casablanca president Neil Bogart, who was so ecstatic over the demo that he requested Moroder to produce a twenty-minute version of the song. Summer and Moroder cut a seventeen-minute version and with that, Casablanca signed Summer and issued the single in November, 1975.

The single would become Summer's first big hit in America reaching #2 on the pop singles chart in February, 1976 and becoming her first #1 dance single. The seventeen-minute version gave birth to the so-called "maxi-single". The album was also released in 1975 and was soon certified gold. The song and subsequent others were branded "raunchy" by some rock critics and was even banned by some radio stations ("Love to Love You" in particular) for its graphic content. Between 1976 and 1977, Summer released a variety of albums that focused on concepts rather than singles-ready albums. Albums like A Love Trilogy, I Remember Yesterday and Four Seasons of Love set Summer, Moroder and Belotte apart from other disco producing teams at the time. Her 1977 hit, "I Feel Love" became a landmark recording for Summer, reaching #6 on the US pop chart and #1 in the UK. The song was arguably the first song to use techno and electronic sounds in dance music (the synthecizer effects were by Patrick Cowley); however, more importantly, the song's modern, trance-like sound engaged an entire generation to experiment with synthesizers. In 1978, Summer acted in the marginal disco flick, Thank God It's Friday, and released the hit single, "Last Dance". Written by Paul Jabara, the song became another monumental hit for Summer reaching #3 and resulted in her first Grammy win while Jabara took home the Oscar after the song was nominated for Song of the Year. That same year, she released her first live album, Live and More. A double-album, it was also Summer's first #1 album and included her first #1 pop single, "MacArthur Park".

In 1979, she released the landmark album, Bad Girls. Unlike other disco albums, it mixed rock, blues, and soul into electronic dance beats. It yielded three top ten singles and two number-one hits including "Hot Stuff" and "Bad Girls". The former track won Summer a Grammy for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance. It was Summer's second #1 album and her most successful album, selling over 7 million copies worldwide. Once again, Summer's music was years ahead of its time, and elements of Bad Girls would surface in the 1980's from such artists as the Eurythmics, New Order, Depeche Mode, Pet Shop Boys, Madonna, Bronski Beat, and a slew of other New Wave and techno bands. Donna Summer is the first woman ever to have two songs on Billboard's top three of the Hot 100 during the same week with "Bad Girls" and "Hot Stuff". Just a few months later, she accomplished the same feat again with "No More Tears" and "Dim All the Lights" both in the Top Three during the same week. Her second compilation, Greatest Hits On the Radio, Vol. I & II, was her third #1 U.S. album. With this, Summer became the first artist to have three consecutive #1 double-albums. In 1980, she left Casablanca after suing the company for "undue influence, misrepresentation and fraud". Casablanca was sold to PolyGram and Neil Bogart resigned that year, allowing Summer to sign with Geffen Records.

The Wanderer and She Works Hard for the Money

Her first Geffen release, 1980's The Wanderer, was a full-fledged rock release. Though two of the songs were hits on the dance charts, songs like the title track, the accompanying singles "Who Do You Think You're Foolin'?" and "Cold Love" saw Summer reaching the same audience that contemporaries like Blondie and Pat Benatar were dominating. A second release, I'm A Rainbow, was halted mid-way by Geffen because he believed Summer needed fresh production. Reluctantly, Summer left Moroder and released her self-titled 1982 album with production from Quincy Jones, who got her back in the top ten of the pop, R&B, and dance charts with "Love's In Control (Finger on the Trigger)". A second single, "State of Independence" (one of the main inspirations for "We Are the World"), became a sizable international hit. In 1983, she scored her biggest triumph since Bad Girls with the release of the She Works Hard for the Money single and album. Both songs focused on a pro-feminist anthem and was a staple on BET and MTV, making her the first black female artist to have a video air in heavy rotation by the latter channel. That album was rejected by Geffen and Summer gave the album to PolyGram to settle her legal dispute with them. Released on Mercury Records, the success of the She Works Hard for the Money album permanently poisoned Summer's relationship with Geffen. A second single, "Unconditional Love", was also an early MTV favorite. Her subsequent Geffen releases, however, didn't fare as well. 1984's Cats Without Claws and 1987's All Systems Go stalled with only minor hit singles. Summer left Geffen in 1988 to sign with Atlantic.

Later career

Summer regained her hit luster again in 1989 with her Another Place and Time album. This was a collaboration with England's Top Pop/Dance Production Team Stock Aitken Waterman. The album went platinum based on the success of the single, "This Time I Know It's For Real", which became her fourteenth top ten U.S. pop hit. A second single, "I Don't Want to Get Hurt" was a Top Ten UK hit. In 1991, she released Mistaken Identity, which was an attempt at incorporating new jack swing and urban adult contemporary R&B into her music. The album failed to chart. In 1992, Summer received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

In 1995, a re-release of "I Feel Love" as a dance remix, became a hit again in the UK reaching #6 there.

In 1998, Summer was the first artist to receive a Grammy award for Best Dance Recording for her first Giorgio Moroder collaboration in over a decade, "Carry On".

In 1999, Summer starred a televised live concert on the VH1 network entitled 'Donna Summer - Live and More Encore. The special earned the network their highest ratings of the year, second only to their annual Divas concert. Performing a string of her classics and new singles, she also sung "Dim All the Lights" as a tribute to Rod Stewart. Summer acknowledges that she wrote the song for Stewart but recorded it herself. A CD and DVD of the special was released, returning the singer back to the US albums chart. Summer scored two #1 dance hits that year with "I Will Go With You" and "Love Is the Healer". During that year, Summer recorded the title track for Pokémon: The Movie 2000 entitled The Power Of One.

In 2003, Donna Summer released a greatest-hits compilation called The Journey, which rocketed into the UK Top 10 in the following year, thanks to her appearance on ITV1 show Discomania - in which she co-presented & sang a number of her hits: a medley of "Hot Stuff" & "Bad Girls", "MacArthur Park", "Last Dance" & a duet with Westlife on "No More Tears (Enough is Enough)" - which appeared on the Discomania soundtrack album.

Current Work

On September 20, 2004, Donna was among the first artists to be inducted into the newly formed Dance Music Hall of Fame in New York City. She was inducted in two categories: 1) Artist Inductees, along with fellow disco legends The Bee Gees and Barry White and 2) Record Inductees for her classic hit "I Feel Love". Summer added to her credits in October 2004, when she performed "God Bless America" during the seventh-inning stretch at Game 2 of the 2004 World Series at Boston's Fenway Park. Two of her most recent singles, "I Got Your Love" and "You're So Beautiful" reached the Top Ten on Billboard's dance chart. Today, Summer and her family make their home in Nashville, Tennessee. In July 2006, Summer has joined forces with Pure Tone Music, an A&R consulting and full service independent music company, located just outside of New York City, and Donna Summer's official web site has announced an upcoming CD on the Burgundy label to be released in Spring, 2007. She is touring extensively in mid-2006, and fans are buzzing about a show-stopping performance of singer-songwriter Sade's "Pearls." Summer has hinted that her upcoming album will be more political, and is currently fundraising for the incumbent Democratic governor of Tennessee.

Personal

In 1972, she married her first husband, Helmut Sommer, and permanently moved to Germany after settling there to do plays there. With Helmuth, Donna gave birth to her first child, Mimi. The couple divorced in 1976 but before then, Donna anglicized Sommer into Summer and began her professional singing career in 1974 as Donna Summer. In 1979, she collaborated with the disco group Brooklyn Dreams for the hit, "Heaven Knows". While at the session recording the single, she met their frontman Bruce Sudano. The duo began a romance that culminated in their July 16, 1980 marriage and later the birth of daughters Brooklyn and Amanda. Today, Mimi and Amanda sing alongside their mother while Brooklyn has been seen acting in TV shows, including the since-canceled My Wife and Kids. Summer is still married to Sudano. Today, she is a grandmother of three.

Controversy

During her lengthy career, Summer has dealt with controversy both professionally and personally. Her first hit, "The Hostage" was banned in Germany, and other radio stations banned her music for being sexually suggestive, with "Love to Love You Baby" being an example.

In 1991, during the height of the Gulf War, Summer's song "State Of Independence" was banned from US radio play alongside many other songs that were deemed to have an imflammatory effect on the population.

Rumors persisted that Summer was in fact a man in drag and not a woman, a rumour Summer addressed in 1989 on The Arsenio Hall Show. A far more painful incident came in the early 1980's with reports that she had made anti-gay remarks associated with the AIDS epidemic. Her songs were banned for a number of years in some gay establishments over these rumours.

Summer has long denied such allegations, and finally taking legal action against a newspaper who had printed the rumors during a review of a concert. Summer announced tearfully, "I never said anything that was written about me in that article". To make amends, Summer has since played for AIDS benefits and has donated proceeds to AIDS research. Even in 2006, she is still asked about the rumors, recently by a Canadian newspaper. Summer responded, “So many people in my audiences are gay. I can’t live my life trying to assure people of anything. You have to live knowing who you are. I think that my actions and the person that I am speak louder than somebody else’s misgivings or lies about me,” says Summer now. “They print all kinds of things about people all the time but you can’t run after every single lie. You tell people the truth and if they choose to believe you, they do.”

Trivia

• Since 1975, every album released by Summer has placed a single in the Top Twenty of at least one Billboard chart.
• From 1975 - 1999, Donna Summer placed 14 album releases in the Top 50 of the Billboard 200 LP charts.
• Summer has a career total of (16)sixteen #1 songs in the U.S. on the various Billboard singles charts.
• Summer briefly experimented with recreational drugs as a teenager in Boston.
• Summer's influence for recording Love to Love You, Baby was Marilyn Monroe.
• Due to her living in Germany for the better half of the early 1970s, Summer speaks fluent German.
• Summer wrote the song, "Mimi's Song", for her eldest daughter and later donated proceeds to UNICEF.
• As a child and teenager, Summer was influenced by Mahalia Jackson, Aretha Franklin, Diana Ross and Janis Joplin.
• Summer was the only black member of her first band The Crow.
• Michael Jackson sang background and Eric Clapton played guitar in Summer's "State of Independence".
• Summer stated she tried to commit suicide a couple of times during her career heyday.
• Summer guest-starred in several episodes of Family Matters playing the role of Steve Urkel's (Jaleel White) relative, Aunt Oona.
• While recording for the hit, "No More Tears" with Barbra Streisand, Summer fell out of her stool after hitting a high note along Streisand who continued singing until stopping in time to ask a conscious Summer if she was alright. Summer stated she had partied the night before.
• Summer's "Love To Love You Baby" is one of the most covered and sampled lines used in R&B and hip hop, most notably in Beyoncé's "Naughty Girl" and TLC's "I'm good at being bad".
• In addition to her Grammy win for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance, Summer also won several Grammy's for her inspirational/gospel work.
• Summer was the first African-American artist to win a Grammy for rock music with "Hot Stuff".
• Summer has been eligible for induction to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame since 2000.
• Summer didn't perform "Love to Love You Baby" after her born-again conversion for 26 years and has since revived the song performing it at several venues.
• Summer's penned "Starting Over" would become a #1 country hit for Dolly Parton in 1981.
• Summer became the first African-American female artist to be played on MTV and was also one of the first to be played on heavy rotation following Michael Jackson and Prince.
• John Frusciante, guitarist of the rock group the Red Hot Chili Peppers has been performing a cover of the song 'I Feel Love' during the bands live shows since their 2003/2004 'Greatest Hits' tour.

• The longest note held by a woman, is found in "Dim All The Lights," Donna Summer's 1979 hit (16 seconds).
• She's known in Boston as the "Duchess of Dorchester".

Discography

For a detailed listing of albums and singles, see: Donna Summer discography.

UK Hit Singles

US Hit Singles

Netherlands Top 40 Hit Singles

Hit Albums

See also

• Best selling music artists - World's top selling music artists chart.
• List of number-one hits (United States)
• List of artists who reached number one on the Hot 100 (U.S.)
• List of number-one dance hits (United States)
• List of artists who reached number one on the U.S. Dance chart

External links

• DonnaSummer.com Official Donna Summer Web Site
• The Donna Summer and Giorgio Moroder Tribute
• The Donna Summer Tribute Site
• Donna Summer Internet
• Donna Summer Collection Singles
• Donna Summer at the Internet Movie Database
• Official Site of the Dance Music Hall Of Fame
• Donna Summer Online
• Official Burgundy Records Website
• "Wrongly Accused" Alleged anti-gay remarks discussion
• Timeline from Advocate