Donna Summer

This article is about the Pop/R&B/disco singer. For her 1982 album, see Donna Summer (album).

Donna Summer

LaDonna Adrian Gaines (born December 31, 1948), known by her stage name, Donna Summer is an American singer/songwriter who gained prominence and notoriety during the disco era of the 1970s with the majority of her early work produced by the team of Giorgio Moroder and Pete Belotte, earning the title "The Queen of Disco". She is a 5 time Grammy winner and has sold over 130 million records to date.

Summer was the first artist to have three consecutive double albums reach number one on the US Billboard chart and she had four number-one singles within a thirteen-month period.

Early life and career

Born on New Year's Eve 1948 in the Dorchester neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, Summer was one of seven children raised by devout Christian parents. Influenced by Mahalia Jackson, Summer began singing in the church at a young age. In her teens, she formed several musical groups including one with her sister and a cousin, imitating Motown girl groups such as The Supremes and Martha and the Vandellas in Boston.

In the late 1960s, Summer was influenced by Janis Joplin after listening to her albums as member of Big Brother and the Holding Company, and joined the psychedelic rock group the Crow as lead singer. Beforehand, Summer dropped out of school convinced that music was her way out of Boston, where she had always felt herself to be an outsider, even among her own family who ridiculed her for her voice and her looks. The group was short-lived, as they split upon their arrival in New York. In 1968, Summer auditioned for a role in the Broadway musical, Hair. She lost the part of Sheila to Melba Moore. When the musical moved to Europe, Summer was offered the role. She took it and moved to Germany for several years. While in Germany, she participated in the musicals Godspell and Show Boat. After settling in Munich, she began performing in several ensembles including the Viennese Folk Opera and even sang as a member of the pop group FamilyTree - "invented" and created by the German music producer Guenter "Yogi" Lauke & the Munich Machine. She came to the group in 1973 and toured with the 11-people pop group throughout Europe. She also sang as a studio session singer and in theaters. In 1971, while still using her birth name Donna Gaines, she released her first single, a cover of "Sally Go 'Round the Roses", though it was not a hit. In 1972, she married Austrian actor Helmuth Sommer and gave birth to their daughter Mimi Sommer in 1973. Citing marital problems caused by Sommer's frequent absences, she divorced him but kept his last name, changing the "o" to a "u".

Early success and notoriety

It was while singing background for the hit-making 1970s trio Three Dog Night that Summer met producers Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte. She eventually made a deal with the European label Groovy Records and issued her first album, Lady of the Night, in 1974. Though not a hit in America, the album found some European success on the strength of the song "The Hostage", which reached number one in France and Belgium and number two in the Netherlands. Summer's early material consisted of pop rock and folk rock material. She stated years later that had she not recorded disco, she would have been a black rock singer, but considering there was not a market for black rock singers, Summer thought it would be hard to get promoted as such.

In 1975, Summer approached Moroder with an idea for a song he and Bellotte were working on for another singer. She had come up with the lyric "love to love you, baby" as the possible title. Moroder was interested in developing the new sound that was becoming popular and used Summer's lyric to develop the song. Moroder persuaded Summer to record what she thought would be a demo track for another performer. Imagining herself in the shoes of someone else, she said later on that she had thought of how it would sound if Marilyn Monroe had sung it and began cooing the lyrics. To make herself feel comfortable recording the song, she requested the producers turn off the lights while she sat on the sofa inducing fake moans and groans. The original track was only three minutes. Moroder heard the playback of the song and felt Summer's version should be released. Released as "Love to Love You" in Europe, the song found modest chart success.

The song was sent to America and arrived in the office of Casablanca Records president Neil Bogart, who asked Moroder to produce a longer version of the song. Summer, Moroder, and Bellotte returned with a 17 minute version, including a soulful chorus and an instrumental break while Summer invoked more moans. Casablanca signed Summer in 1975 and the label released the song, now titled "Love to Love You Baby", in November. By early 1976, the song had reached number two on the Billboard Hot 100. The parent album of the same name sold over a million copies as a result. The song generated some controversy for its graphic nature of Summer's moans and was even banned from some radio stations because of it. Several news magazines, including Time reported that 22 orgasms were simulated in the making of the song. After several more modest singles and subsequent albums, including the concept albums Love Trilogy and Four Seasons of Love, which also went gold, Summer was deemed in the press as "The First Lady of Love", a title with which Summer was not totally comfortable. Her single Love's Unkind reached number 3 in the UK during 1977.

In 1977, Summer released another concept album, I Remember Yesterday. This album included her second top ten single, "I Feel Love", which reached number six in America and number one in the UK.

Another concept album, also released in 1977, was the double album, Once Upon a Time, which told of a modern-day Cinderella "rags to riches" story through the elements of orchestral disco and ballads. In 1978, Summer released a disco version of the Richard Harris ballad, "MacArthur Park", which became her first number one US hit. The song was featured on Summer's first live album, Live and More, which also became her first album to hit number one on the US Billboard 200 chart, and went platinum selling over a million copies. Other studio tracks included the top ten hit, "Heaven Knows", which featured the group Brooklyn Dreams accompanying her on background and Joe "Bean" Esposito singing alongside her on the verses. Summer would later be involved romantically with Brooklyn Dreams singer Bruce Sudano and the couple married two years after the song's release. Also in 1978, Summer acted in the film, Thank God It's Friday, playing a singer determined to perform at a hot disco club. The song, "Last Dance", written by Paul Jabara, reached the top three in the United States and resulted in the singer winning her first Grammy Award while Jabara won an Academy Award for its composition. Despite this success, Summer was struggling with anxiety and depression and became enthralled in a prescription drug addiction, which nearly consumed her in early 1979.

In 1979, Summer was a performer on the world-televised Music for UNICEF Concert. The United Nations organization Unicef had declared 1979 as the Year of the Child. Summer joined contemporaries like Abba, Olivia Newton-John, the Bee Gees, Andy Gibb, Rod Stewart, John Denver, Earth, Wind and Fire, Rita Coolidge and Kris Kristofferson for an hour's TV special that raised funds and awareness for the world's children. Artists donated royalties of certain songs, some in perpetuity, to benefit the cause.

Bad Girls and the break from disco

Following her recovery, Summer, Moroder and Bellotte worked on their next disco project. The result was Bad Girls, an album that had been in production for nearly two years. Summer based the concept of the album on a prostitute, as was made clear in the lyrics. The album became a success, spawning the number one hits "Hot Stuff" and Bad Girls. The ballad "Dim All the Lights" reached number two. With the Barbra Streisand duet "No More Tears (Enough is Enough)", Summer achieved four number one hits in a single year. "Hot Stuff" later won her a second Grammy in the Best Female Rock Vocal Performance, which was the first time the category was ever brought to the award's show. That year, Summer played eight sold-out nights at the Universal Amphitheater in Los Angeles.

Summer released her first hits set that same year, a double-album entitled On The Radio: Greatest Hits Volumes 1 & 2. The album reached number one in the US, becoming her third consecutive number one album. A new song from the compilation, "On the Radio", reached the US top five. After the release of the greatest hits album, Summer wanted to branch out and record other formats in addition to disco. This led to tensions between her and her label Casablanca Records. Sensing that they could no longer come to terms, Summer and the label departed ways in 1980, and she signed with Geffen Records, the label started by David Geffen. Summer's first release on Geffen Records was The Wanderer; it replaced the disco sound of Summer's previous releases with more of the burgeoning new wave sound and elements of rock, such as the material being recorded at this time by Pat Benatar. The title track was another top three gold hit and the album also went gold.

Summer's projected second Geffen release, I'm a Rainbow, was shelved by Geffen (though two of the album's songs would surface in soundtracks of the 1980s films Fast Times at Ridgemont High and Flashdance). Reluctantly, Summer departed company with Moroder after seven years working together. Geffen recruited Quincy Jones to produce her next album, resulting in 1982's Donna Summer. Despite earning US hits such as "Love Is in Control (Finger on the Trigger)", "State of Independence" and "The Woman In Me", the record was not a healthy experience for Summer, who fought repeatedly with Jones during the making of the album. Problems between Summer and Geffen increased after Summer was required to deliver one more album to Casablanca/PolyGram to fulfill her agreement with them as a part of a settlement deal. The label released the song and its accompanying album "She Works Hard For The Money" in 1983. The title track became a hit reaching number three on the US pop chart that year. The album also featured the reggae-flavored UK hit "Unconditional Love", which featured the group Musical Youth who were riding high on the success of the song "Pass the Dutchie". The performance of the album reportedly upset David Geffen as it had been successful, and was not released by his label.

In late 1984, with no more albums due to Casablanca, Summer returned on Geffen Records with Cats Without Claws. While the album included the top forty single "There Goes My Baby", the album failed to attain gold status of 500,000 copies sold, becoming her first album since her 1974 debut not to do so.

With her absence from the charts, other singers rushed in to fill the void. Laura Branigan found success continuing in a disco/dance power-belt singing style reminiscent of Donna, but such acts were soon seen as being "old-hat" when compared to the techno-pop and New Wave sounds of the Second British Invasion. Soul singers like Evelyn King and Aretha Franklin also experienced career revival and pop chart success in this period. By 1984, singers such as Kim Carnes, Cyndi Lauper, and the emerging Madonna had redirected the tastes of the record-buying public in the new decade of the 1980s.

In 1987, Summer returned with All Systems Go, which did not sell well, despite the modest success of the Brenda Russell composition, "Dinner with Gershwin". Following the album's release and subpar performance, Summer and Geffen Records parted in 1988, and Summer signed with Atlantic Records.

Controversy

In the mid 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 significantly 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. 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 courageous act at a time when most people would have run screaming from the room to get away from someone with the deadly disease. (In 1989, in The Advocate, Summer said, "A couple of the people I write with are gay, and they have been ever since I met them. What people want to do with their bodies is their personal preference. I'm not going to stand in judgment about what the Bible says about someone else's life. I've got things in my life I've got to clean up. What's in your life is your business.")

— D.L. Groover, OutSmart magazine

Later career and current work

In 1989, Summer released the album Another Place and Time on Atlantic Records. The album featured production from dance pop songwriter-producer team Stock Aitken & Waterman. Summer had a top 10(#7)pop hit with "This Time I Know It's For Real", which became her fourteenth and final gold hit to register on the Billboard Hot 100, it was also a number 3 chart hit in the U.K., her highest placed single there since "No More Tears (Enough is Enough)" ten years earlier. Although further singles from the album did not chart in the U.S. she had two more top 20 singles from the album in the U.K., "I Don't Wanna Get Hurt" (#7) and "Love's About To Change My Heart" (#20). In 1991, she released the new jack swing-driven Mistaken Identity, which did not sell well following its release. It did however, feature the #18 R&B hit "When Love Cries". In 1994, Summer released a gospel-influenced Christmas album titled Christmas Spirit. While no longer scoring hits on the pop chart, some of Summer's dance-heavy releases including "Carry On" (her first collaboration with Moroder in a decade) and "Melody of Love (Wanna Be Loved)" charted on the Dance Chart, with "Melody of Love" reaching number one on that chart.

While touring, Summer found work as an actor guest-starring on the sitcom Family Matters as Steve Urkel's (Jaleel White) Aunt Oona in 1994 and again in 1997. In 1998, Summer received a Grammy Award for Best Dance Recording, being the first to do so, after a remixed version of her 1992 collaboration with Giorgio Moroder, "Carry On", was released in 1997. In 1999, Summer taped a live television special for VH1 titled Donna Summer – Live and More Encore, producing the highest ratings that year second only to their annual Divas special. A CD of the recording was issued by Epic Records and featured two studio recordings, "I Will Go with You (Con te partirò)" and "Love Is the Healer". Summer continued to score top ten hits on Billboard's dance chart in the beginning of the new millennium. In 2004, Summer was inducted to the Dance Music Hall of Fame alongside The Bee Gees and Barry Gibb as an artist. Her classic, "I Feel Love", was also inducted that night.

In 2008, Summer released her first studio album of original music in 17 years with Crayons, which brought her modest chart success internationally upon its release on the Sony BMG imprint, Burgundy Records. The songs "I'm A Fire", "Stamp Your Feet" and "Fame (The Game)" reached number one on the Billboard dance chart. The ballad "Sand on My Feet" was released to adult contemporary stations and reached number thirty. The album entered the Billboard Top 20 at #17.

In 2009, she was asked to perform at the famous Nobel Peace Prize Concert in Oslo, Norway, in honor of U.S. President Obama. On 11 December she performed her biggest hits, backed by the Norwegian Radio Orchestra.

In August 2010, Summer released the single "To Paris With Love", co-written with songwriter Bruce Roberts and produced by Peter Stengaard. In October 2010, "To Paris With Love" reached #1 on the Billboard dance chart. "This marks 5 decades of number ones on the Billboard charts for Donna a unique and remarkable achievement. In addition, last week Donna taped and closed the show for the PBS Special David Foster and Friends. Highlights include a duet with Seal.".

On July 29, 2010, Summer gave an interview with allvoices.com where she was asked if she would consider doing an album of standards. She replied:

"I actually am, probably in September. I will begin work on a standards album. I will probably do an all-out dance album and a standards album. I'm gonna do both, and we will release them however were gonna release them. We are not sure which is going first."

On September 15, 2010, Summer appeared as a guest celebrity singing alongside rising star Prince Poppycock on the television show America's Got Talent.

On October 16, 2010, Donna Summer performed at a benefit concert at the Phoenix Symphony. The event included a remix of Beethoven's 5th Symphony, and other classical remixes. Before Donna Summer herself came on stage a local children's theatre performed "Don't Stop Believing".

Awards and recognition

• One NAACP Image Award.
• One time Juno Award nomination for Best Selling International Single,"I feel Love".
• Three Multi-Platinum albums in the US.
• Eleven of her albums went Gold in the US.
• Twelve Gold singles.
• Six American Music Awards.
• She was the first female African American to receive an MTV Video Music Awards nomination. ("Best Female Video" and "Best Choreography" for "She Works Hard For The Money")
• Academy Award for Best Original Song "Last Dance".
• Two Golden Globe Award nominations (one win for "Last Dance" Song and one nominated for "The Deep" John Barry's Song).
• Summer has received five Grammy Awards.
  • 1979 – Best R&B Vocal Performance (Female), Last Dance
  • 1980 – Best Rock Vocal Performance (Female), Hot Stuff
  • 1984 – Best Inspirational Performance, He's a Rebel
  • 1985 – Best Inspirational Performance, Forgive Me
  • 1998 – Best Dance Recording, Carry On
• Twelve Grammy Award nominations (total of seventeen).
  • 1979 – Best Pop Vocal Performance (Female), MacArthur Park
  • 1980 – Album of the Year, Bad Girls
  • 1980 – Best Pop Vocal Performance (Female), Bad Girls
  • 1980 – Best R&B Vocal Performance (Female), Dim All the Lights
  • 1980 – Best Disco Recording, Bad Girls
  • 1981 – Best Pop Vocal Performance (Female), On the Radio
  • 1982 – Best Rock Vocal Performance (Female), Cold Love
  • 1982 – Best Inspirational Performance, I Believe in Jesus
  • 1983 – Best Rock Vocal Performance (Female), Protection
  • 1983 – Best R&B Vocal Performance (Female), Love is in Control (Finger on the Trigger)
  • 1984 – Best Pop Vocal Performance (Female), She Works Hard for the Money
  • 2000 – Best Dance Recording, I Will Go with You (Con te Partiro)
• 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 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".
• Summer's music career has landed her as the eighth most successful female recording artist in history according to Billboard .
• Summer's career span of Billboard number-one Disco/Club Play hits spans from 1975's "Love to Love You Baby" through 2010's "[To Paris With Love]".
• Summer was nominated for 2010 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame but was not chosen.

Cover versions by other artists

Summer's recording of "I Feel Love" is one of the most sampled recordings. The song was sampled by Madonna, Whitney Houston, Bette Midler, Diana Ross, Moloko, Britney Spears, Robbie Williams, Darren Hayes, 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 .

• Summer's "Love to Love You Baby" was also sampled by Beyoncé Knowles "Naughty Girl" and by TLC on their original version of "I'm Good at Being Bad", but was removed, by request of Summer, on later editions.
• "I Feel Love" has been covered onstage by Madonna, the Red Hot Chili Peppers' John Frusciante, Kylie Minogue, Blondie, Basement Jaxx, and Finnish progressive rock band Kingston Wall. Venus Hum with Blue Man Group also performed this song with Japanese singer Kumi Koda for their album The Complex, and in 2006, Tracy Bonham stood in for Hum on the Blue Man Group tour, performing the song. Bronski Beat and Marc Almond released the track as a duet with an added bridge section and titled it "I Feel Love/Johnny Remember Me", reaching number 3 in the UK charts in April 1985. In 1992 U.K. alterna-pop group Curve recorded a version for the NME's 40th anniversary compilation Ruby Trax, which became an instant underground classic.
• The song "Future Lovers" from Madonna's 2005 album, Confessions on a Dance Floor features a bass line very similar to the one of "I Feel Love", which was performed in a medley with "Future Lovers" as the opening song of Madonna's 2006 Confessions Tour.
• "I Feel Love" was covered by French Canadian artist Jorane for her 2004 album The You and the Now. LA based band Dengue Fever covered this song on their album Radio Dance Floor. "Future Lovers" contains a sample of "I Feel Love". Kylie Minogue's team also sampled this for her 2002 KylieFever. Kylie performed "Light Years" which contains elements of "I Feel Love".
• Summer's "Starting Over Again" was a number one hit on the Hot Country Songs chart for Dolly Parton in 1980; it also was a top-forty hit for Parton on the Billboard Hot 100. Reba McEntire named her 1995 album after the song, and her version hit number 17 on the country singles chart in 1996. (McEntire stated in the album's liner notes that her recording of the song was intended as something of a tribute to Summer and Parton, both artists whom she admired.)
• Summer's "On the Radio" was covered by country artist Emmylou Harris for her 1983 album White Shoes. British singer and actress Martine McCutcheon recorded a version that reached number 7 in the UK charts in February 2001. An acoustic rendition was released by alt. rock band Hypnogaja in January 2010.
• Summer's "Sunset People" was covered by E.G. Daily on her Wild Child album (1985).
• Summer's "Dim All the Lights" was a Top 40 Dance hit for Laura Branigan in 1995, appearing on her The Best of Branigan album.
• Summer's "Last Dance" and "On the Radio" were covered by Tejano/pop singer Selena, most famously at one of her last shows at the Houston Astrodome, on February 26, 1995.
• Summer's "All Through the Night" was covered in 1982 by KC and The Sunshine Band on their Painter album, and in 1995 by supermodel Naomi Campbell for her album Baby Woman, featuring Luther Vandross on backing vocals.
• Summer's "Bad Girls" was recorded by British Jazz and US pop singer Juliet Roberts in 1998, and again in 2000 by Cheryl Chase for the Nick film Rugrats in Paris: The Movie.
• Summer's "Love Is in Control" was covered by pop singer Sheena Easton on her 2000 disco album Fabulous.
• In 1985 Dusty Springfield reached number 83 on the UK charts with a cover of "Sometimes like Butterflies".
• Summer's "Heaven Knows" was recorded by Faith Evans for inclusion on the soundtrack for the film, The Fighting Temptations.
• Summer's "The Woman In Me" was recorded by Heart in the early 1990s.
• Summer's "She Works Hard For The Money" was often performed by Millie Jackson during her mid-1980s concerts. "She Works Hard For The Money" was covered by Kris Allen during an American Idol Season 8 episode and recorded by Allen for the American Idol Season 8 CD.
• Summer's "Last Dance" and "She Works Hard For The Money" are often included in concerts given by Mary Wilson.
• Jeffree Star covered her song "Bad Girls" for the upcoming movie called "Turn The Beat Around" for MTV.
• Monica Naranjo Fuego de pasion "Love's About To Change My Heart".
• In 2010, Keri Hilson portrayed Summers in her music video for her hit-single, Pretty Girl Rock.

Donna Summer concert tours

• Once Upon A Time Tour (1977–1978)
• Bad Girls Tour (1979)
• The Wanderer Tour (1981)
• Hard For The Money Tour (1983)
• The Rainbow Tour (1984)
• Silver Girl Tour (1986)
• All Systems Go Tour (1987)
• Endless Summer Tour (1995)
• Mid Summer Nights Dream Tour ( 1996–1997)
• Live & More Encore Tour (1999)
• Greatest Hits Tour (2005)
• Crayons Tour (2008)

Discography

Main article: Donna Summer discography

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

See also

• Brooklyn Dreams
• Best selling music artists

External links

• Official website
• Donna Summer Video Search
• Donna Summer at IMDb