There’s a good reason that Donna Summer is known as the Queen of Disco. A truly iconic singer and performer, Donna is behind some of the most beloved disco hits of the 70s and 80s, she has lived on through her music, and in 2024 she was honoured with a posthumous Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.
Here, we take a look back at her career beginnings, how she became famous and her legacy. Find out all about Donna Summer right here on Greatest Hits Radio…
Who was Donna Summer?
Born LaDonna Adrian Gaines, singer Donna Summer gained prominence during the late 70s disco era, where her music gained a global following, earning a total of 42 hit singles on the US Billboard Hot 100 within her lifetime, with 14 of those falling in the top-ten.
How did Donna Summer become famous?
Donna Summer’s performance debut emerged at just ten-years-old, when she replaced a vocalist who failed to appear at church. In 1967 she flew to New York City, where she joined the blues rock band Crow, however the group shortly dissolved.
She moved over to Germany after landing the role of Sheila in the Munich production of the musical Hair, where she eventually became fluent in German.
Her initial success however began when she met two German based producers; Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte during a recording session at Musicland Studios. The trio forged a working partnership and in 1974 Donna signed to their Oasis label.
She eventually gained a record label deal with the European-distributed label Groovy Records. It was here that her stage name Donna Summer emerged, following a spelling error on the record cover.
Donna became the first artist to achieve having three consecutive double albums reach No. 1 on Billboard’s album chart: ‘Live and More’, ‘Bad Girls’ and ‘On the Radio: Greatest Hits Volumes I & II’. She became a cultural icon, with her prominence in the dance charts and has since become an inspiration to many pop stars including Madonna.
When did Donna Summer pass away?
After a years-long battle with cancer, Donna sadly passed away on May 17, 2012 aged 63. She will forever be remembered as perhaps the greatest singer in disco history. However, she was so much more, she was a vocalist of incredible range and power.
Not long before her passing, she had announced that her foremost life aspiration was not related to singing but that of love, “What I aspire to in my life, truly, is to be loving.”
You can hear Donna Summer on the Greatest Hits Radio playlist.
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