Donna summers picture and biography
See All of Donna Summer's Best Throwback Photos from Her Younger Years
A New Sound
The Queen of Disco initially made her name singing backup for the rock band Three Dog Night in the early '70s. The gig got her in the studio and in front of impressed producers who offered her a solo record deal in 1974.
Summer's groovy debut album Lady of the Night made her an instant star — especially in Europe — though the best of her career was still yet to come.
Summer Time
Summer broke onto the American scene in 1975 with “Love to Love You Baby,” the sexually-charged single off her album of the same name. The song remained at no. 2 on Billboard's Hot 100 charts for two weeks, becoming the singer's first top 40 hit.
Hit Maker
She soared through the latter half of the decade with several more monster hits; her songs “I Feel Love," “Bad Girls," “Hot Stuff" and her cover of "MacArthur Park” were just a few anthems that soundtracked the disco scene over which Summer reigned.
Decorated Career
Summer took home five Grammy Awards over the course of her lifetime, starting with her win for best female R&B performance with "Last Dance" in 1978. She won her fifth and final Grammy for "Carry On," her duet with longtime collaborator Giorgio Moroder.
Lady of Many Talents
"Last Dance" featured in the 1978 film Thank God It's Friday, which starred Summer as an aspiring disco singer alongside Jeff Goldblum. In addition to the Grammy win, the song also took home a Golden Globe and an Oscar for Best Original Song.
Raising a Family
By the early '80s, Summer was more than a singer – she was also a mother to three daughters. She welcomed her eldest, Mimi Dohler, with her first husband, Helmuth Sommer, in 1973.
Six years later, the couple split and Summer married Bruce Sudano, with whom she shares daughters Brooklyn and Amanda Sudano, born in 1981 and 1982, respectively.
Strong-Willed Songbird
Donna Summer
(1948-2012)
Who Was Donna Summer?
Singer-songwriter Donna Summer, known as the "Queen of Disco," was born on December 31, 1948, in Boston, Massachusetts. She died on May 17, 2012 at age 63, after a years-long battle with cancer.
Early Life
Donna Summer was born Donna Adrian Gaines on December 31, 1948, in Boston, Massachusetts. Her father, Andrew Gaines, was a butcher and her mother, Mary Gaines, was a schoolteacher. From nearly the moment she learned how to talk, Donna sang ceaselessly. "From the time she was little, that's all she really did," her mother recalled. "She literally lived to sing ... She used to go through the house singing, singing. She sang for breakfast and for lunch and for supper."
Summer's debut performance came one Sunday when she was 10 years old, when a singer scheduled to perform at her church did not show up. The priest, who knew from her parents Summer's fondness for singing, invited her to perform instead—expecting, at the least, an amusing spectacle. But to everyone's surprise, the voice that bellowed out of Donna Summer's tiny body that Sunday morning was overwhelmingly powerful and beautiful.
"You couldn't see her if you were beyond the third row," her father remembered. "But you could hear her." Summer recalled, "I started crying, everybody else started crying. It was quite an amazing moment in my life & and at some point after I heard my voice come out I felt like God said to me, 'Donna, you're going to be very, very famous.' And I just knew from that day on I was going to be famous."
Summer attended Jeremiah E. Burke High School in Boston, where she starred in the school musicals and was very popular. She was also something of a troublemaker as a teenager, sneaking out to parties to circumvent her parents' strictly enforced curfew. In 1967, at the age of 18, only weeks before her high school graduation, Summer auditioned for and was cast in a
Michael Ochs Archives // Getty Images
Donna Summer: The life story you may not know
Donna Summer was a pop icon, five-time Grammy winner, and legendary songbird who scored 42 single hits on Billboard's Hot 100. Songs like "Love to Love You Baby" and "Hot Stuff" illuminate her tremendous songwriting and singing talent. Anyone growing up in the disco era is familiar with her music, but not many know her story behind the headlines.
To celebrate the late great Queen of Disco ahead of what would have been her 74th birthday on Dec. 31, Stacker scoured news and biography sites to highlight 25 facts about Donna Summer that help paint a fuller picture of her life beyond the disco ball. Summer spoke German fluently, took up painting later in life, and battled depression, even surviving an attempt to end her life. Did you know that a sleeping bathroom attendant was the inspiration for "She Works Hard for the Money" or that she had a role in the TV series "Family Matters"?
Play your favorite Donna Summer songs as you breeze through our slideshow. You will discover fascinating facts behind the lyrics and life of Donna Summer.
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1948: Born in Boston
The Queen of Disco was born LaDonna Adrian Gaines on Dec. 31, 1948, in Boston. Her first six years were spent in the Mission Hill projects.
1948: Large loving family
Summer's father was a butcher, and her mother was a teacher. The couple had seven children, including the Grammy-winning singer. Their home on Parker Hill Avenue still attracts faithful fans to this day.
1958 : Debut performance
Summer's first performance was at age 10 at church. Her priest summoned Summer to the stage when the singer slated to perform was a no-show. The audience was in awe of Summer's powerful voice and talent. The seminal moment forecasted her fame.
1960s: High school musicals
Summer w 20 July 2022, 10:16 By Thomas Curtis-Horsfall Donna Summer was the undisputed 'Queen Of Disco'. Here's all you need to know about the pioneering star: Donna Summer was an American singer and songwriter who helped popularise disco worldwide, becoming a global star and one of the most influential artists in the genre. Iconic songs like 'I Feel Love', 'Love To Love You Baby', 'Hot Stuff' and 'Bad Girls' brought Summer to prominence during the disco boom of the 1970s. A frequent collaborator with Italian synth composer Giorgio Moroder, Donna Summer went on to sell over 100 million records worldwide making her one of the best-selling artists of all time. During her commercial peak from 1975-1984 she had 12 top 10 hits on the Billboard charts (10 of which reached the top 5) more than any other artist of that era. Summer won a total of five Grammy Awards, and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2013, a year after her death. She is considered to have changed the face of dance music, and remains immensely influential with pop artists to this day. Donna Summer (real name LaDonna Adrian Gaines) was born on New Year's Eve, 31st December 1948 in Boston, Massachusetts. Her father Andrew Gaines was a butcher, and her mother was a schoolteacher. She was the third of seven children. Right before she graduated high school, Donna Summer left Boston for New York where she joined blues rock band Crow, who broke up soon after. After securing the part in the counterculture musical Hair, Summer moved to Munich and had a brief but unsuccessful stint as a solo singer under the name Donna Gaines. Whilst in Munich working as a part-time model, Summer met Giorgio Moroder and P Donna Summer facts: Queen Of Disco's life, career, family, and death revealed
Who was Donna Summer?
How old is Donna Summer and where was she born?
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