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Donna Summer

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Personal Information

Born LaDonna Andrea Gaines, on December 31, 1948, in Dorchester, MA; married Helmut Sommer, (divorced, 1974); married Bruce Sudano, July 15, 1980; children: (second marriage) Amanda Grace.

Career

Appeared in stage productions of Hair, Porgy & Bess, and other American musicals in Germany and Austria, late 1960s, early 1970s; recorded "The Hostage" (European release only), 1973; recorded "Love to Love You Baby" and eponymous album, 1975; signed to Casablanca Records, 1975; achieved several Top Ten hits and gold records during the late 1970s; signed to Geffen Records, 1980, Epic Records, 1999-.

Life's Work

Like no other performer, Donna Summer personified the disco era during its zenith in the late 1970s. Working with a team of legendary European record producers, Summer wrote and recorded a string of hits that made her one of the most successful artists of the decade. She collected numerous gold records and awards during her prime, but her career was plagued by contractual and management problems during the 1980s.

Born in suburban Boston in 1948, LaDonna Andrea Gaines was one of seven siblings in a working-class household where church attendance and academic achievement were the rule. She began singing as a child in the gospel choir of her church, and was an especially devoted fan of gospel legend Mahalia Jackson. As a teenager, Summer sang in a Boston band called Crow, and shocked her family when she decided to move to New York City in order to find work on Broadway. At the age of 18, Summer auditioned for a role in the popular hippie musical Hair. She won a spot in the touring company for the show, and moved to Europe.

Stage Career in Europe

Summer spent the next several years overseas. She appeared in several German and Austrian stage productions, met and married a fellow performer, Helmut Sommer--from whom she took her eventual recording name--modeled, and occasionally worked as a backup singer for recording artists. During a 1973 Munich recording session with the band Blood, Sweat & Tears, Summer met producers Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte, who were entranced by her voice. She accepted an invitation to work with them, and recorded "The Hostage," her debut single. "The Hostage "and two other recordings became minor hits in European dance clubs.

In 1975, Summer recorded a takeoff of a sexy, French hit from 1959, "Je T'Aime...Moi Non Plus." Her version of the song, entitled "Love to Love You Baby," featured a classic, speedy disco beat. The song was not a hit in Europe until Neil Bogart, an American record executive who had made a fortune with bubblegum pop records in the 1960s, suggested expanding the song to nearly 17 minutes in length. Summer was signed to Bogart's Casablanca Records, and the shortened version of the song reached No. 2 on the American charts by early 1976.

First Star of Disco Era

Summer has been called the first crossover artist in pop music history, an African American performer who began her recording career working in a genre that appealed to minorities--the denizens of the New York nightlife scene, in which African American, Latino, and gay culture thrived in its own unique mix. That underground popularity eventually attracted a more mainstream element. Record company executives began to realize that some of Summer's recordings that were marketed for the discotheque scene were selling briskly in mainstream record stores as well, even though they received no airplay on the radio.

The music industry journal Billboard created its disco chart in 1975. Summer soon began topping this chart, as well as the R&B and pop charts, with a string of hits. These hits included the 1976 releases A Love Trilogy, and the album Four Seasons of Love. The following year, she scored two more hits with the album I Remember Yesterday, and a double album, Once Upon a Time. All of these hits showcased Summer's smooth, rich voice. One of Summer's greatest hits, "I Feel Love," was released in mid-1977 as a single from I Remember Yesterday. It would be the first hit to use what became known as the "galloping bass line," a pounding, 140-beat-per-minute rhythm created by a drum machine. Such production techniques were rapidly adopted as a standard in disco music. Summer would also be remembered as the first female recording artist to successfully incorporate synthesizers into her work.

A String of Hit Records

During the late 1970s, Summer kept a nearly nonstop schedule of recording and performing, even spending nearly two straight years on tour. She was one of the most popular recording artists of her day. Her concerts sold out regularly, fans mobbed her, and her record sales were astronomical. In 1978, Summer appeared in a dismal feature film that tried to capitalize on the disco craze, Thank God It's Friday. Despite the film's failure at the box office, one of the songs from the soundtrack, "Last Dance" became a number one hit and earned Summer a Grammy award and an Oscar for Best Original Song. A number of her other hits found their way onto her 1978 double live album, Live and More, which was recorded from a series of shows at the Universal Amphitheater near Los Angeles. This was followed by her double studio album Bad Girls, which was released in the spring of 1979. Bad Girls spent six weeks on the American album charts, and was the best-selling album by a female artist in 1979. It also earned Summer a Grammy award for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance.

Bad Girls would be one of the last records that Summer recorded for Casablanca. In late 1979, Casablanca released a compilation of Summer's hits entitled, On the Radio--Greatest Hits, Volumes I and II. One of the songs on the album, Summer's duet with Barbara Streisand entitled "No More Tears (Enough Is Enough)," topped the charts. In early 1980, Summer sued to be released from her contract with Casablanca, citing undue influence and fraud. Later that year, she became the first artist to sign with the Geffen label, which was founded by rising entertainment executive David Geffen. Elton John and John Lennon soon joined Summer on Geffen's roster.

Moved in a New Direction

The year 1980 was marked by other notable changes in Summer's life. She wed musician Bruce Sudano, whose Brooklyn Dreams band had backed her on some tours, and announced that she was a born-again Christian. Her debut album on Geffen, The Wanderer, reflected this new spirituality. The album reached No. 3 on Billboard's charts, but its singles charted only in the 30s--a dismal showing compared to the string of gold records Summer had earned for her previous singles. The Wanderer was also the last album that Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte produced for Summer.

In 1982, Summer teamed with producer Quincy Jones and released the album Donna Summer. One of the singles from the album, "Love Is in Control (Finger on the Trigger)," was a Top Ten hit. She also recorded a cover song with Jones entitled "State of Independence." Jones was also able to convince a roster of music legends--Michael Jackson, Lionel Richie, and Stevie Wonder among them--to sing backup on the album. Jones later remarked that this experience had inspired his production of "We Are the World," the 1984 Ethiopian famine-relief recording. Under the settlement terms of her lawsuit against Casablanca, Summer was required to record one more album for the label, which was now a part of Polygram Records. The title track of the album She Works Hard for the Money, climbed to No. 3 on the U.S. charts in 1983.

Became a Successful Painter

Summer tried unsuccessfully to be released from her recording contract with Geffen Records. Sales of her 1987 album, All Systems Go, were so poor that a planned North American concert tour was canceled. In the late 1980s, Summer turned to art as a means of creative expression. She began to paint large, Expressionist-style canvases, many of which sold for several thousands of dollars. In 1994, Summer moved to Nashville with her husband and young daughter. She recorded an album of Christmas carols with the Nashville Symphony, and continued to paint.

In 1997, Summer appeared alongside Gloria Estefan and Chaka Khan at a benefit concert, Three Divas on Broadway. Her career was also bolstered by a pop-culture revival of the disco era during the late 1990s. In early 1998, Summer appeared at Carnegie Hall for a concert to benefit the Gay Men's Health Crisis Center in New York. "After nearly two hours of mature ovations and controlled excitement...the remarkably well-behaved audience could no longer be contained," wrote Larry Flick in Billboard. "As she [Summer] began a salacious, guitar-drenched rendition of 'Hot Stuff,' fans rushed down the red carpeted aisles toward the stage."

By the end of the 1990s, Summer was signed to a recording contract with Epic Records. The company released yet another of her many best-selling anthologies, VH1 Presents Donna Summer: Live & More--Encore! She was also working on tracks for a planned musical autobiography, Ordinary Girl. "I think women have incredible powers," she told Rolling Stone's Gina Zucker in 1999. "We can use both the intellectual side of the brain and the nurturing side, and we have to be proud of both."

Awards

Best Original Song Oscar, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, 1978, for "Last Dance"; Best Female R&B Vocal Performance Grammy, National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, 1979, for "Last Dance"; Best Female Rock Vocal Performance Grammy, 1980, for "Hot Stuff"; Best Inspirational Performance Grammy, 1984, for "He's a Rebel," and 1985, for "Forgive Me"; (with Giorgio Moroder) Best Dance Recording Grammy, 1998, for "Carry On."

Works

Selected discography

  • Love to Love You, Baby, Oasis, 1975.
  • A Love Trilogy, Oasis, 1976.
  • Four Seasons of Love, Casablanca, 1976.
  • I Remember Yesterday, Casablanca, 1977.
  • Live and More, Casablanca, 1978.
  • Bad Girls, Casablanca, 1979.
  • On the Radio--Greatest Hits, Volumes I and II, Casablanca, 1979.
  • The Wanderer, Geffen, 1980.
  • Donna Summer, Geffen, 1982.
  • She Works Hard for the Money, Polygram, 1983.
  • All Systems Go, Geffen, 1987.
  • Another Place and Time, Atlantic, 1989.
  • Christmas Spirit, Mercury, 1994.
  • VH1 Presents Donna Summer: Live & More--Encore!, Epic, 1999.

Further Reading

Periodicals

  • Billboard, September 3, 1994, p. 21; March 16, 1998; June 12, 1999, p. 9.
  • Rolling Stone, August 5, 1999, p. 27.

— Carol Brennan

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Artist: Donna Summer
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Home > Library > Entertainment & Arts > Pop Artists
Donna Summer

Similar Artists:

Evelyn "Champagne" King, Giorgio Moroder, Sister Sledge, Melissa Manchester, Gwen Guthrie, Gloria Gaynor, The Commodores, Chic, Irene Cara, Ashford & Simpson, Dee D. Jackson, Precious Wilson, Patrick Adams, Amanda Lear, Loleatta Holloway, Bee Gees, Barbra Streisand

Influenced By:

Theatre, Diana Ross, Judy Garland

Followers:

Irene Cara, Taylor Dayne, Mónica Naranjo, Madonna, Alexandra Burke, Ethan Lipton, Becky Baeling, Diane Richards, Exposé, Corona

Performed Songs By:

Donna Wyant, Tim Rice, Pete Waterman, Rod Temperton, Bruce Sudano, Mike Stock, Anthony Smith, Vangelis, Michael Omartian, Eve Nelson, Silvester Levay, Eddie Hokenson, Harold Faltermeyer, Joe Esposito, Keith Diamond, David Cole, Robert Clivillés, Pete Bellotte, Adrienne Anderson, Matt Aitken, Larry Henley, Jimmy Webb, Bruce Roberts, Keith Forsey, Paul Jabara, Greg Mathieson, Quincy Jones, Barry Manilow, Jon Anderson

Worked With:

Juergen Koppers, Jerry Hey, Gary Herbig, Jay Graydon, Jeff Baxter

Formal Connection With:

Greg Kurstin, Gary Unwin

Relationship With:

Bruce Sudano
See Donna Summer Lyrics
  • Born: December 31, 1948, Boston, MA
  • Active: '70s, '80s, '90s, 2000s
  • Genres: Rhythm & Blues
  • Instrument: Vocals
  • Representative Albums: "Endless Summer," "The Wanderer," "She Works Hard for the Money"
  • Representative Songs: "I Feel Love," "Hot Stuff," "Last Dance"

Biography

Donna Summer's title as the "Queen of Disco" wasn't mere hype -- she was one of the very few disco performers to enjoy a measure of career longevity, and her consistent chart success was rivaled in the disco world only by the Bee Gees. Summer was certainly a talented vocalist, trained as a powerful gospel belter, but then again, so were many of her contemporaries. Of major importance in setting Summer apart were her songwriting abilities and her choice of talented collaborators in producers/songwriters Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte, which resulted in a steady supply of high-quality (and, often, high-concept) material. But what was more, few vocalists could match the sultry, unfettered eroticism Summer brought to many of her best recordings, which seemed to embody the spirit of the disco era perfectly. The total package made Summer the ultimate disco diva, one of the few whose star power was even bigger than the music.

Summer was born LaDonna Andre Gaines on December 31, 1948, and grew up in Boston's Mission Hill section. Part of a religious family, she first sang in her church's gospel choir, and as a teenager performed with a rock group called the Crow. After high school, she moved to New York to sing and act in stage productions, and soon landed a role in a German production of Hair. She moved to Europe around 1968-1969, and spent a year in the German cast, after which she became part of the Hair company in Vienna. She joined the Viennese Folk Opera, and later returned to Germany, where she settled in Munich and met and married Helmut Sommer, adopting an Anglicized version of his last name. Summer performed in various stage musicals and worked as a studio vocalist in Munich, recording demos and background vocals. Her first solo recording was 1971's "Sally Go 'Round the Roses," but success would not come until 1974, when she met producers/songwriters Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte while working on a Three Dog Night record. The three teamed up for the single "The Hostage," which became a hit around Western Europe, and Summer released her first album, Lady of the Night, in Europe only. In 1975, the trio recorded "Love to Love You Baby," a disco-fied reimagining of Serge Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin's lush, heavy-breathing opus "Je T'aime...Moi Non Plus." Powered by Summer's graphic moans, "Love to Love You Baby" became a massive hit in Europe, and drew the attention of Casablanca Records, which put the track out in America. It climbed to number two on the singles charts, and became a dance-club sensation when Moroder remixed the track into a 17-minute, side-long epic on the LP of the same name.

In the wake of "Love to Love You Baby," albums (as opposed to just singles) became an important forum for Summer and her producers. The 1976 follow-up Love Trilogy contained another side-long suite in "Try Me (I Know We Can Make It Work)," and demonstrated Moroder and Bellotte's growing sophistication as arrangers with its lush, sweeping strings. Four Seasons of Love, released later in the year, was a concept album with one track dedicated to each season, and 1977's I Remember Yesterday featured a variety of genre exercises. Despite the album's title, it produced the most forward-looking single in Summer and Moroder's catalog, the monumental "I Feel Love." Eschewing the strings and typical disco excess, "I Feel Love" was the first major pop hit recorded with an entirely synthesized backing track; its lean, sleek arrangement and driving, hypnotic pulse laid the groundwork not only for countless Euro-dance imitators, but also for the techno revolution of the '80s and '90s. It became Summer's second Top Ten hit in the U.S., and she followed it with Once Upon a Time, another concept album, this one retelling the story of Cinderella for the disco era.

Summer's albums were selling well, bolstered by her popularity in the dance clubs, and she was poised to become a major pop hitmaker as well. Her acting turn in the 1978 disco-themed comedy Thank God It's Friday produced another hit in "Last Dance," which won her a Grammy for Best Female R&B Vocal (as well as an Oscar for songwriter Paul Jabara). Doubtlessly benefiting from the added exposure, the double-LP set Live and More became Summer's first number one album later that year. It featured one side of new studio material, including a disco cover of the psychedelic pop epic "MacArthur Park" that became her first number one pop single early the next year. Her 1979 double-LP Bad Girls featured more of her songwriting contributions than ever, and went straight to number one, as did the lusty singles "Bad Girls" and the rock-oriented "Hot Stuff," which made Summer the first female artist ever to score three number one singles in the same calendar year. Her greatest-hits package On the Radio also topped the charts, the first time any artist had ever hit number one with three consecutive double LPs; the newly recorded title track became another hit, and Summer's duet with Barbra Streisand, "No More Tears (Enough Is Enough)," became her fourth number one single.

At the peak of her success, Summer decided to leave Casablanca, and became the first artist signed to the new Geffen label. Sensing that the disco era was coming to a close, Summer attempted to modify her style to include more R&B and pop/rock on her first Geffen album, 1980's The Wanderer; the album and its title track were both hits. Not wanting to alienate her core audience, Summer returned to pure dance music on an attempted follow-up; however, Geffen deemed I'm a Rainbow not worthy of release (it was finally issued in 1996). Instead, Summer ended her collaboration with Moroder and Bellotte and teamed up with Quincy Jones for 1982's Donna Summer. "Love Is in Control (Finger on the Trigger)" was a significant hit, but none of its follow-ups did very well. With producer Michael Omartian, Summer moved back into post-disco dance music and urban R&B with 1983's She Works Hard for the Money; its title track was a smash and became a feminist anthem of sorts. However, with her career momentum slowing, it also marked the end of Summer's prime. Despite winning a gospel Grammy for "Forgive Me," Summer's 1984 follow-up Cats Without Claws flopped, as did the 1987 comeback effort All Systems Go. Hiring the British production team of Stock, Aitken & Waterman, Summer scored her last major success with the 1989 Top Ten single "This Time I Know It's for Real," from the album Another Place & Time; around the same time, she began denouncing her earlier, "sinful" disco material. 1991's lackluster, urban-styled Mistaken Identity effectively killed her career momentum, and none of her new '90s albums produced that elusive hit. However, she did make some noise on the dance charts with "Melody of Love," from the excellent 1994 retrospective Endless Summer, and reunited with Moroder for the 1997 non-LP single "Carry On," which won the inaugural Grammy for Best Dance Recording. Summer subsequently signed a deal with Sony, which primed her for re-establishment with the 1999 greatest-hits live album VH1 Presents: Live and More Encore!; it featured the new song "I Will Go With You (Con Te Partiro)," which had some success on the dance charts. The energetic and eclectic Crayons, her first proper studio album since Mistaken Identity, was released on the Burgundy label in 2008. ~ Steve Huey, All Music Guide
Discography: Donna Summer
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Journey: The Very Best of Donna Summer [Bonus Disc]

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Journey: The Very Best of Donna Summer [Bonus Disc]

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Chronicles

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I Will Go with You [Japan Bonus Track]

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Donna Summer Anthology

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Greatest Hits 2001

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Greatest Hits

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Back Off Boogaloo

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20th Century Masters - The Christmas Collection

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Donna Summer [Polygram]

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Show More Albums

Summer Collection

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VH1 Presents: Live & More Encore! [Bonus Tracks]

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Master Series

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Shout It Out [Magnum]

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I Will Go with You, Pt. 1 [UK CD Single]

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I Will Go with You, Pt. 2 [UK CD Single]

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Crayons

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Crayons [Circuit City Exclusive]

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Remixed and Early Greats

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20th Century Masters - The Millennium Collection: The Best of Donna Summer, Vol. 2

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Best 1200

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VH1 Presents: Live & More Encore! [CD & Video]

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VH1 Presents: Live & More Encore!

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VH1 Presents: Live & More Encore! [Video]

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Disco Queen

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Crayons [Bonus Track]

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Bad Girls [Deluxe Edition]

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Dance Collection

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Millennium Edition

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Gold

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Gold

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Endless Summer: Greatest Hits [Video]

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Best of Donna Summer

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20th Century Masters - The Millennium Collection: The Best of Donna Summer

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20th Century Masters - The DVD Collection: The Best of Donna Summer

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Universal Masters Collection

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I Got Your Love [Single]

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Ultimate Collection

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Collection

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I'm a Rainbow

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Shout It Out [Kala]

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She Works Hard for the Money [DVD]

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She Works Hard for the Money [DVD]

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Love Is the Healer

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Love to Love You Baby/I Remember Yesterday/A Love Trilogy

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Donna Summer [Solo UK]

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Endless Summer

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I Feel Love

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Nice to See You

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Shout It Out [Blue Moon]

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Christmas Spirit

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Mistaken Identity

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Another Place and Time

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I Don't Wanna Get Hurt

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All Systems Go

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She Works Hard for the Money

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Donna Summer [Geffen]

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Wanderer

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Walk Away: The Best of Donna Summer (1977-1980)

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On the Radio

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Bad Girls

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Live and More

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Once Upon a Time...

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I Remember Yesterday

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Four Seasons of Love

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Love Trilogy

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Love to Love You Baby

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Love to Love You Baby

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Lady of the Night

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Wikipedia: Donna Summer
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Donna Summer

Background information
Birth name LaDonna Adrian Gaines
Also known as Donna Gaines
Born December 31, 1948 (1948-12-31) (age 60) Boston, Massachusetts, United States
Origin Dorchester, Massachusetts, United States
Genres Pop, Dance,Disco R&B, rock, new wave
Occupations Singer, Songwriter, Actress
Instruments Vocals, Piano
Years active 1968 – present
Labels Casablanca, Geffen, Atlantic, Mercury, Epic, Burgundy
Associated acts Giorgio Moroder, Brooklyn Dreams

Donna Summer (born LaDonna Adrian Gaines; December 31, 1948)[1] is an American singer and songwriter who gained prominence during the disco era of music, earning the title "The Queen of Disco".

Summer was trained as a gospel singer before her introduction to the music industry and has always been known for her "powerhouse" vocal delivery. Though she is most notable for her disco hits, Summer's repertoire has expanded to include contemporary R&B, rock, pop, and gospel. Summer is one of the most successful recording artists of the 1970s and was the first artist to have three consecutive double albums hit number one on the Billboard charts. She also became the first female artist to have four number-one singles in a thirteen-month period. Summer's website claims that she has sold more than 130 million records worldwide.[2]

Contents

Biography

Early life and career

Born in the Dorchester neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, Summer was one of seven children raised by devout Christian parents. She sang in church, and in her teens joined a psychedelic rock group called The Crow, so named because Summer was the only black member of the group. At eighteen, Gaines left home and school to audition for a role in the cast of the Broadway musical, Hair. Unsuccessful in getting the part in the Broadway show (Melba Moore got the role), she was offered the European Tour when the show moved to Germany, where Summer also performed in the German versions of several musicals including Godspell and Show Boat. She settled in Munich and also performed with the Viennese Folk Opera and the pop band Munich Machine.

In 1971, Summer released a single in Europe titled "Sally Go 'Round The Roses", her first solo recording. The single was unsuccessful, however, and she had to wait until 1974 to launch a solo career. Summer married Austrian actor Helmuth Sommer ("Summer" is an Anglicization of his last name) that same year and gave birth to daughter Mimi the following year. Summer did various musical jobs in studios and theaters for several years, including the pop group FamilyTree from 1974 to 1975.

After her divorce from Sommer, she married her second husband, American musician Bruce Sudano, in 1980. They have two daughters named Brooklyn and Amanda. Sudano was a member of the 1970s groups Alive N Kickin' and The Brooklyn Dreams.

Early success and notoriety

While singing back-up for groups such as Three Dog Night, she met producers Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte. With these producers, Summer signed a contract in the Netherlands and issued her first album, Lady of the Night, which included the European hit, "The Hostage". The single made number one in France and Belgium, and number two in the Netherlands. Its follow-up, the title track of the album, also gained some degree of European success.

In the summer of 1975, Summer approached Moroder and Bellotte with an idea for a song. She had come up with the lyric "Love to love you, baby" as the possible title for the song. Moroder was interested in developing the new sound that was becoming increasingly popular (which later would become known as Disco), and used Summer's lyric to develop the song. He had the idea that she should moan and groan orgasmically, but Summer was reluctant. Eventually she agreed to record the song as a demo. She has stated that she was not completely sure of some of the lyrics, and parts of the song were improvised during the recording. Summer later stated on a VH1 "Behind the Music" program that she pictured herself as Marilyn Monroe acting out the part of someone in sexual ecstasy. Moroder was so astounded with Summer's orgasmic vocals that he insisted she release the single herself. The song, titled "Love to Love You", was released to modest success in Europe. When it reached America to the hands of Casablanca president Neil Bogart, he was so ecstatic over the demo that he asked Moroder to produce a twenty-minute version of the song. Summer, Moroder and producer Pete Bellotte cut a seventeen-minute version, renamed it "Love to Love You Baby", and Casablanca signed Summer and issued it as a single in November 1975. Casablanca distributed Summer's work in the US while other labels distributed it in different nations during this period.

"Love to Love You Baby" was Summer's first big hit in America, reaching number two on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in early 1976 and becoming her first Number-One Hot Dance Club Play chart hit. The single was quickly certified Gold with 1,000,000 copies in the US. The album (side one of which was completely taken up with the full-length version of the title track) was also released in late 1975 and was soon certified Gold for sales of over 500,000 US copies. The song was branded "graphic" by some music critics and was even banned by some radio stations for its explicit content. Time magazine reported that 22 orgasms were simulated in the making of the song, and some of the music press dubbed Summer "The First Lady of Love." Two successful, Gold-selling concept albums followed: A Love Trilogy which featured the single "Could It Be Magic" and Four Seasons Of Love which featured the uptempo "Spring Affair" as well as the ballad "Winter Melody" which was a top-30 hit in the UK - the first of Summer's singles to be aired on Radio 1 and a hit on the US R&B charts.

The 1977 album I Remember Yesterday, another concept album, found the Summer/Moroder/Bellotte team combining the Disco sound with musical elements of the past, present and future. The song representing the future, "I Feel Love" became a landmark recording, giving Summer another Pop and R&B hit reaching number 6 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart and number one in the UK. "I Feel Love" earned her a second US Gold Single as well. The song's use of electronic sounds was revolutionary and popularized synthesizers in dance, rock, and the burgeoning new wave.

Summer released a double album in 1977, Once Upon A Time, a concept album telling a modern-day Cinderella "Rags to Riches" story through the means of electronica. The album contained three top-forty hits: Fairy Tale High, Rumour Has It and I Love You.

Continued success in music

In 1978 Summer acted in the film Thank God It's Friday and released the single "Last Dance". The song brought Summer her third Gold US million-selling single, reaching number 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 and resulting in her first Grammy win. Written by the late Paul Jabara—who also co-wrote "No More Tears (Enough Is Enough)"—Jabara took home the Oscar after the song was nominated for Song Of The Year. Summer also recorded a side-long version of Serge Gainsbourg's "Je t'aime... moi non plus" which was very similar in style to "Love to Love You, Baby", initially shelved and later released as a part of the Thank God It's Friday soundtrack.

That same year, Summer released her first live album, another double album Live and More. This was Summer's first number-one album as well as her first to reach sales of two million, reaching Double Platinum status. It included her first number-one American Pop single, a cover of the Jimmy Webb-penned "MacArthur Park" - another Gold-certified US single - originally made famous by the late actor-singer Richard Harris. The studio part of the album included the tracks "One Of A Kind" and "Heaven Knows" which also featured vocals by Joe "Bean" Esposito of the Brooklyn Dreams (group member Bruce Sudano would later become romantically involved with Summer). "Heaven Knows" became another Gold Million seller in the US and another top-5 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 reaching number four.

Summer was a guest artist on KISS bassist Gene Simmons's 1978 eponymous solo album, on the track "Burning Up With Fever".

Bad Girls and the break from disco

In 1979, Summer released the landmark double album Bad Girls. Unusual for a disco album, it mixed rock, funk, blues and soul to electronic beats. It yielded two consecutive singles reaching Platinum status with sales of two million each: the number-one one hits "Hot Stuff" and "Bad Girls". The number-two hit "Dim All The Lights" would go Gold as another million seller. "Bad Girls" also became Summer's first number-one song on Billboard's R&B singles chart. With U.S. record sales at an all-time apex in 1979, Summer had a run of five straight U.S. Gold singles (three of which went on to Platinum status) that year alone. The single "Hot Stuff" won Summer a second Grammy, winning the first ever award for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance. (Interestingly, the Grammys had a Best Disco Recording Award only once, in 1980, won by Gloria Gaynor for "I Will Survive".)

Bad Girls became Summer's second number-one double album and the most successful album of her entire career, eventually selling over three million copies in the U.S. Summer and Bruce Sudano grew closer during the making of this album and became engaged. During this period, Summer had two songs in the top three of Billboard's 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 (Enough Is Enough)" and "Dim All the Lights". During the summer of 1979, she played eight sold-out nights at the Universal Amphitheater in Los Angeles.

Summer's first compilation album, On The Radio: Greatest Hits Volumes 1 & 2, was a global smash and her third straight number-one U.S. double album, also going on to sell over two million copies in the U.S. With this, Summer became the first artist to have three consecutive U.S. number-one double albums. The album also contained two new tracks — "No More Tears (Enough Is Enough)", the Platinum-selling number-one duet with Barbra Streisand, and the Grammy-nominated Top-5 U.S. Gold hit "On the Radio", a song written for the film Foxes. The Streisand-Summer duet was her fourth and final number-one pop hit in the U.S. — and her fourth number-one single in thirteen months.

Disagreements between Summer and Casablanca Records led to her exit from the label in 1980. Summer was offered a very lucrative deal by David Geffen and became the first artist to be signed to his new Geffen label in 1980.

The 1980s

Summer's first Geffen release, 1980's The Wanderer, was something of a departure, in some ways closer to a rock/new wave affair. The title track, and accompanying singles "Cold Love" and "Who Do You Think You're Foolin'?" saw Summer attempting to reach the same audience dominated by contemporaries like Blondie and Pat Benatar. The title track was another US million-selling hit, reaching number three on the Billboard Hot 100 and earning her yet another Gold single in the United States. The album peaked at number 13 on the US album charts and earned a Gold album certification in the US. Her next album, I'm a Rainbow, a double album featuring elements of Soul, R&B, British techno-pop and even synthesizer-based Disco, was shelved by Geffen (although two of the tracks would resurface during the 1980s on the Fast Times at Ridgemont High and Flashdance film soundtracks). Reluctantly, Summer left Moroder after seven years of collaboration, and began work with Quincy Jones.

In 1982 Geffen released the Gold-certified, self-titled Donna Summer, and the new production from Quincy Jones was again in the Top 10 of the Pop, R&B, and Dance charts with the Grammy-nominated "Love Is In Control (Finger On The Trigger)". A second single, "State of Independence", on which Michael Jackson sang background along with a veritable "who's who" of the music world, became a sizable international hit but a minor hit in the US, just missing the US Top 40. One more single from the album followed, "The Woman In Me", which was later recorded by Ann Wilson and Nancy Wilson of the rock group Heart. It peaked at number 33 on the Hot 100 and number 30 on the R&B chart.

In 1983 Summer scored her biggest triumph since Bad Girls with the release of the album, She Works Hard for the Money. The title track became one of her most played songs. The Grammy-nominated hit also became a pro-feminist anthem and was a staple on MTV, making her the first black woman to have a video air in heavy rotation on the channel. The single was also Summer's biggest ever R&B hit (number 1 for three weeks) and had frequent play on BET. It was released on PolyGram's Mercury Records to settle a legal dispute following PolyGram's absorption of Casablanca. It was Summer's sixth LP in a row to feature a Billboard Top Ten Hit. A second single from the She Works Hard For The Money album, the reggae-flavored "Unconditional Love" featured vocals by British band Musical Youth. It outsold the first single in the UK, but stopped short of the US Top 40, though it reached number 9 on the US Billboard R&B Chart

The next few years saw Summer's popularity amongst the younger record-buying market decline as the recordings of other singers such as Irene Cara, Laura Branigan and Madonna eclipsed her. 1984's Cats Without Claws peaked at number 40 on Billboard's Album Chart, releasing singles like a cover of The Drifters' There Goes My Baby and Supernatural Love. 1987's All Systems Go stalled at number 122 on the chart with no major hits. The first single, Dinner with Gershwin, was a sizable international hit as well as being a Top Ten US R&B hit, however it was not enough to heal the now difficult relationship with David Geffen. Summer left Geffen Records in 1988 to sign with Atlantic Records when he refused to release her next album.

Controversy

In the early 1980s, rumors began circulating that Summer had allegedly made anti-gay comments regarding the AIDS epidemic as being a punishment from God for homosexuality. The fallout from the alleged quote had a significant negative impact on Summer's career, which saw thousands of her records being returned to her record company by angered fans. However, Summer denied making any such remarks and many years later she filed a lawsuit against New York magazine when it reprinted the rumors as fact, just as Summer was about to release her latest album "Mistaken Identity" in 1991. [3]. According to an A&E Biography program in which Summer participated in 1995, the lawsuit was settled out of court with neither side discussing details of the settlement.

Apparently, after a 1983 concert in Atlantic City, Summer was talking to the fans, as she liked to do at this first-comeback point in her career. A man with AIDS asked her to pray for him, because he knew of her born-again Christian beliefs, and she said she would be delighted. Someone else piped up that she was being hypocritical. At that point, all accounts get fuzzy and overblown, but every witness says that the heated situation deteriorated, with many outraged patrons shouting as they left the auditorium. In more than one account, Summer said that AIDS appeared in the gay community because of its reckless lifestyle... but did not say that AIDS was God's punishment. She and the gay fan prayed together, she asked him to turn his life to Christ, and she embraced him. (a fairly courageous act at a time that most people would have run screaming from the room to get away from someone with HIV.[4]
—D.L. Groover, OutSmart magazine

Later career

Summer rebounded again in 1989 with the album Another Place and Time, a collaboration with British top dance-pop songwriting and production team Mike Stock, Matt Aitken and Pete Waterman known as Stock Aitken & Waterman. "This Time I Know It's For Real" became Summer's fourteenth Top 10 Billboard Pop hit in the US and returned her to Gold-single selling status. It was also a Top 5 hit in the UK, and a huge success on Adult Contemporary radio, holding at number two for four weeks. Another track, "I Don't Wanna Get Hurt", became another UK Top 10 hit. The follow-up single, "Love's About To Change My Heart", reached the UK Top 20 and became a US Top 5 Dance Chart hit, but stalled at number 85 on the Billboard Pop chart. The album itself peaked at number 17 in the UK, and peaked at number 53 in the US. There were plans for a second album with Stock, Aitken and Waterman, but disagreements between Summer and the producers led to the project being abandoned.

In 1991, she released the album Mistaken Identity, which incorporated New Jack Swing and Urban Contemporary into her music. The album was not a commercial success and sold less than 50,000 copies in the US, failing to even appear on the Billboard Album Chart (though it reached number 97 on the R&B Albums chart). However, Summer did score a Top Twenty R&B hit with "When Love Cries".

The following year, Summer received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The year also saw her collaborate with Giorgio Moroder for the first time in over a decade with the song "Carry On". First featured on his Forever Dancing album, the following year the track would be featured on the double album The Donna Summer Anthology. This compilation also featured Two exclusive remixes from the unreleased I'm a Rainbow album recorded back in 1981: Title track "I'm a Rainbow" and "Dont Cry for me Argentina".

In 1993, she participated in the Édith Piaf: Tribute album, with her cover for the song "La Vie En Rose".

A gospel-influenced Christmas album titled Christmas Spirit in 1994 became Summer's first Christmas album and her first full-length album in over three years, and a new compilation titled Endless Summer (both released by PolyGram) also contained two new tracks, "Melody of Love (Wanna Be Loved)" and "Anyway at all". The single "Melody of Love (Wanna Be Loved)" hit number one on the Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart and eventually became number one on the 1995 "Hot Dance Music/Club Play" Year end charts.[citation needed].

In 1995, a remix of "I Feel Love" (with newly recorded vocals) became a hit again in the UK, reaching number 8 there and number 9 on "Billboard's Dance Club Play" chart. The following year she would score another Top 20 hit there with a new remix of "State of Independence". In 1996, Summer's album I'm a Rainbow was finally released by Polygram's Mercury Records after a 15 year delay.

In 1994 and 1997 she played the role of "Aunt Oona from Altoona" on the television series Family Matters. She also sang "Last Dance" in her first episode.

1996 saw Summer collaborating in several others artists' projects:

"Does He Love You?" - a duet with Liza Minnelli for Minnelli's album Gently; "Whenever There Is Love" duet with Bruce Roberts for the Daylight Soundtrack (also recording a version in Spanish); "From A Distance" with Nanci Griffith And Raul Malo for the "One Voice" project; and "Someday" for the CD Mouse House Remixes (Song From Disney's The Hunchback Of Notre Dame OST).

In 1998, Summer was the first artist to receive a Grammy award for Best Dance Recording for her 1992 collaboration with Giorgio Moroder, "Carry On", after the song was remixed and released as a single in 1997. In 1999, Summer starred in a televised live concert on the VH1 network titled 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 sang "Dim All the Lights" as a tribute to Rod Stewart. Summer acknowledges that she wrote the song for Stewart but later kept the song and recorded it herself. She also performed an updated version of "No More Tears" with Australian pop diva Tina Arena. A live CD of the special (on the Epic label) and DVD were released, returning the singer to the U.S. albums chart, Reaching number 43 and selling just under half a million copies in the USA[citation needed]. Summer scored two number-one dance hits that year with "I Will Go with You (Con te partirò)" and "Love Is the Healer" (both found as new studio tracks on the live album). She also collaborated with the song "My Prayer For You" for the project Sing Me To Sleep, Mommy. During that year, Summer recorded the theme song for Pokémon: The Movie 2000, titled "The Power of One". Around this time, Summer also recorded the song "Dreamcatcher" for the Naturally Native Original Soundtrack.

In 2000, she continued collaborating with other artists in different albums: For the project Child of the Promise she delivered "When the Dream Never Dies" and the duet with Crystal Lewis, "I Cannot Be Silent". For The Mercy Project album, she recorded the song "Take Heart" and for Darwin Hobbs's Vertical CD, she duetted "When I Look Up".

In 2003, a Greatest-hits compilation called The Journey was released, which reached the UK Top 10 the following year. Here she included three new tracks: "That's The Way", "Dream A Lots Theme (I Will Live For Love)" and also a new track, "You're So Beautiful", in remixed form eventually reaching the US Top 5 on Hot Dance Music/Club Playchart.[citation needed]

On September 20, 2004, Summer 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, Artist Inductees (alongside fellow disco legends The Bee Gees and Barry White), and Record Inductees for her classic hit "I Feel Love". Summer added to her achievements 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.

In 2005, Summer returned once again to the US Top 5 Hot Dance/Club Play charts with the single "I Got your Love" reaching number 4.

Crayons

In 2008 Summer released, Crayons, on Sony BMG imprint Burgundy Records. Remixes of the track "I'm A Fire" reached #1[5] on the U.S. Dance Chart, as did the first official single, "Stamp Your Feet", which was released in April, 2008. The tracks became Summer's 19th and 20th number-one Billboard singles of her career and her 28th and 29th Top Ten Billboard singles. [6] In January 2009, "Fame" (The Game) reached number one on Billboard's Hot Dance Club Play chart making this her 21st number-one Billboard single and 30th Top Ten Billboard single.

The album Crayons debuted at #17, making this her all-time highest debut on the US Album Chart and her highest charting album since She Works Hard for the Money had reached number 9 twenty-five years earlier. The Adult Contemporary single "Sand on my Feet" would eventually reach number 30 on that chart in the Fall of 2008.

Awards and recognition

  • One NAACP Image Award.
  • One time Juno Award nomination for Best Selling International Single,"I feel Love".
  • Three double Platinum albums.
  • Eighteen of her albums went Gold.
  • Eleven Gold singles.
  • Six American Music Awards.
  • She was the first African American to receive Two nominations for "She works hard for the money" MTV Video Music Awards: one for "Best Female video" and one for "Best Choreography".
  • One Oscar Award for "Last Dance" song.
  • Two Golden Globe Award nominations (one win for "Last Dance" song).
  • Twelve Grammy Award nominations !
  • Summer has received five Grammy Awards. [7]
  • Summer placed a Top Forty hit on the Billboard Hot 100 in every year from 1976 ("Love to Love You Baby") to 1984 ("There Goes My Baby").
  • Summer is the first female artist to have four number-one singles in a 13-month period, and the first female artist to have five Billboard Hot 100 Top Ten hits in a calendar year.[citation needed]
  • Summer was the first artist to score three consecutive number-one double albums.
  • Summer was twice honored by the Dance Music Hall of Fame; once with her induction as a recording artist and again with the induction for her influential single "I Feel Love".[8]
  • Summer's music career has landed her as the eighth most successful female recording artist in history according to Billboard[citation needed].
  • Summer's career span of Billboard number-one Disco/Club Play hits spans from 1975's "Love to Love You Baby" through 2009's "Fame (The Game)".
  • Summer has been named as a nominee for 2010 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. [9]

Cover versions by other artists

Summer's recording of "I Feel Love" is one of the most sampled recordings.[citation needed] The song was sampled by Madonna, Whitney Houston, Bette Midler, Diana Ross, Moloko, Britney Spears, Robbie Williams, Mylo, David Guetta, Stuart Price, Moby and many more. "I Feel Love" was recorded by classical pop musician Vanessa-Mae for her 1998 album Storm. Even Italian company Gucci used a special version of it in his "Flora" perfume advertising, filmed by Chris Cunningham .

Discography

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

See also

References

 This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (February 2008)
(Find sources: Donna Summer – news, books, scholar)
  1. ^ allmusic ((( Donna Summer > Biography )))
  2. ^ Official website
  3. ^ http://www.ottawaxpress.ca/music/music.aspx?iIDArticle=15092
  4. ^ Groover, D.L. (2008). "Summer Fans, Some Are Not". OutSmart magazine. http://www.outsmartmagazine.com/cms-this_issue/200507--Summer+Fans,+Some+Are+Not.html. Retrieved 2008-07-14. 
  5. ^ Billboard- Updated Album Charts from the most Trusted Music Magazine
  6. ^ Billboard Music Charts - Latest Music News - Music Videos
  7. ^ GRAMMY Winners Search
  8. ^ Dance Music Hall Of Fame Announces Induction Ceremony
  9. ^ Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation Announces Nominees for 2010 Induction
  10. ^ a b http://www.everyhit.com - accessed 28 Jan 2007

[1]

External links and sources

v • d • e
Donna Summer discography
Studio albums

Lady of the Night (1974) · Love to Love You Baby (1975) · A Love Trilogy (1976) · Four Seasons of Love (1976) · I Remember Yesterday (1977) · Once Upon A Time (1977) · Bad Girls (1979) · The Wanderer (1980) · I'm a Rainbow (1981) · Donna Summer (1982) · She Works Hard for the Money (1983) · Cats Without Claws (1984) · All Systems Go (1987) · Another Place and Time (1989) · Mistaken Identity (1991) · Christmas Spirit (1994) · Crayons (2008) ·
Live albums

Live and More (1978) · Live & More Encore (1999)
Compilations
U.S. Top 40
Hit singles

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Did you mean: Donna Summer (Rhythm & Blues Artist, '70s-2000s), Donna Summer (album), Donna Summer (lyrics)


 

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