Donna Summer, born Ladonna Adrian Gaines on December 31, 1948, was an American singer, songwriter, and actress who became known as the “Queen of Disco” during the 1970s. With a powerful voice, incredible stage presence, and timeless hits, Summer quickly rose to fame, leaving an indelible mark on the music industry. Throughout her career, she sold over 100 million records worldwide, making her one of the best-selling artists of all time. In this article, we will take a closer look at the life and career of this iconic disco diva, exploring her early life, rise to stardom, iconic hits, awards and achievements, personal life, philanthropy, and her enduring legacy.
Early life and musical beginnings
Donna Summer was born in Boston, Massachusetts, and grew up in a loving, religious household. Her mother was a schoolteacher, and her father worked as a butcher. Summer was one of seven children, and from a young age, she...
Early life and musical beginnings
Donna Summer was born in Boston, Massachusetts, and grew up in a loving, religious household. Her mother was a schoolteacher, and her father worked as a butcher. Summer was one of seven children, and from a young age, she...
- 4/29/2023
- by Music Martin Cid Magazine
- Martin Cid Music
Sometimes, when a documentary has a great subject, it can explore that subject with an intimacy that’s arresting, only to treat other aspects of the story with a kind of cavalier casualness. “Love to Love You Donna Summer” is that kind of documentary. Co-directed by Roger Ross Williams and Brooklyn Sudano (who is Summer’s daughter), it’s full of home movies and photographs and archival footage of Donna Summer, and it creates an eye-opening portrait of the ambitious yet deeply disconsolate woman she was. We see her when she was growing up in Boston, where she sang gospel in church and felt a gift passing through her, knowing that she was going to be famous, or when she moved to Munich in 1968, at 19, to be in the German production of “Hair”, or later on, after she’d become a pop star, at home with her daughters, lost in the empty mirror of fame.
- 3/15/2023
- by Owen Gleiberman
- Variety Film + TV
Donna Summer could hit notes more thrillingly beautiful than any other pop singer of her time, or since. I’m not sure even Whitney Houston, as great as she was, quite reached the glistening heights that culminate “Last Dance” (though she comes very close in “I Will Always Love You”). Mariah Carey (no relation to me) performs impressive vocal acrobatics, yet to my ear she can’t match the bell-like shimmer of Donna in the higher registers. And Donna in the lower registers – well, the voice thrums with visceral resonance.
Related Story Berlin: ‘Love To Love You, Donna Summer,’ From Roger Ross Williams & Summer’s Daughter, Brooklyn Sudano, Provides Complex Portrait Of Pop Superstar Related Story Rutina Wesley On Playing Maria In 'The Last Of Us': "It's Terrifying Playing A Character That's Been Established" Related Story Berlin Review: Giacomo Abbruzzese's 'Disco Boy'
In the documentary Love to Love You,...
Related Story Berlin: ‘Love To Love You, Donna Summer,’ From Roger Ross Williams & Summer’s Daughter, Brooklyn Sudano, Provides Complex Portrait Of Pop Superstar Related Story Rutina Wesley On Playing Maria In 'The Last Of Us': "It's Terrifying Playing A Character That's Been Established" Related Story Berlin Review: Giacomo Abbruzzese's 'Disco Boy'
In the documentary Love to Love You,...
- 2/21/2023
- by Matthew Carey
- Deadline Film + TV
The documentary Love to Love You, Donna Summer, about one of the world’s greatest pop stars, constitutes a kind of duet – between two filmmakers. The film, making its world premiere in Berlin, comes from directors Roger Ross Williams and Brooklyn Sudano, daughter of the subject of the film, the legendary Donna Summer.
Related Story Berlin Review: ‘Love To Love You, Donna Summer’ Offers Moving Portrait Of Brilliant Singer Who Struggled With Fame And Faith Related Story Rutina Wesley On Playing Maria In 'The Last Of Us': "It's Terrifying Playing A Character That's Been Established" Related Story Berlin Review: Giacomo Abbruzzese's 'Disco Boy'
“I was such a huge, massive fan of Donna’s and nothing made me feel the way she made me feel on the dance floor,” Williams, the Oscar-winning director of Music By Prudence, tells Deadine. “I thought, I want to make a music documentary.
Related Story Berlin Review: ‘Love To Love You, Donna Summer’ Offers Moving Portrait Of Brilliant Singer Who Struggled With Fame And Faith Related Story Rutina Wesley On Playing Maria In 'The Last Of Us': "It's Terrifying Playing A Character That's Been Established" Related Story Berlin Review: Giacomo Abbruzzese's 'Disco Boy'
“I was such a huge, massive fan of Donna’s and nothing made me feel the way she made me feel on the dance floor,” Williams, the Oscar-winning director of Music By Prudence, tells Deadine. “I thought, I want to make a music documentary.
- 2/21/2023
- by Matthew Carey
- Deadline Film + TV
The risk when an immediate family member is involved in a tribute to an important figure from the pop-culture firmament is that the story they choose to tell might not be the one fans want to hear. That’s an issue — at least for this erstwhile disco baby — with HBO’s Love to Love You, Donna Summer. Directed by Roger Ross Williams with Summer’s daughter, Brooklyn Sudano, the doc is stuffed with great archive material. But it largely squanders an ideal platform through which to reaffirm the subject’s vital place in pop music history and reclaim disco as a genre whose influence has never waned.
Some of that is kinda, sorta here, but it’s so faint it’s almost apologetic. We’re constantly reminded that Summer was ambivalent about being crowned the Queen of Disco, because she felt it marginalized her vocal gifts for gospel, R&b and soul,...
Some of that is kinda, sorta here, but it’s so faint it’s almost apologetic. We’re constantly reminded that Summer was ambivalent about being crowned the Queen of Disco, because she felt it marginalized her vocal gifts for gospel, R&b and soul,...
- 2/21/2023
- by David Rooney
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
This was a particularly sad week for the musical world. We lost four greats: Chuck Brown, the godfather of Go-Go; country-rock pioneer Doug Dillard; supreme disco diva Donna Summer; and Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, who did more to promote art song than anyone else in the recording era.
Chuck Brown was the most innovative of them, and the funkiest. Born in 1936, he paid his dues as a guitarist in various R&B bands in the '60s. His funk band The Soul Searchers made two classic albums for Sussex, We the People (1972) and Salt of the Earth (1974). "Ashley's Roachclip" on the latter includes a drum break that became one of the sampled breaks in hip-hop; "Blow Your Whistle" from the same LP is also much-sampled.
It's debatable when Go-Go originated as a separate style; originally, it denoted merely party music or a dance club. But in live performance, in Brown's home territory in and around Washington D.
Chuck Brown was the most innovative of them, and the funkiest. Born in 1936, he paid his dues as a guitarist in various R&B bands in the '60s. His funk band The Soul Searchers made two classic albums for Sussex, We the People (1972) and Salt of the Earth (1974). "Ashley's Roachclip" on the latter includes a drum break that became one of the sampled breaks in hip-hop; "Blow Your Whistle" from the same LP is also much-sampled.
It's debatable when Go-Go originated as a separate style; originally, it denoted merely party music or a dance club. But in live performance, in Brown's home territory in and around Washington D.
- 5/19/2012
- by SteveHoltje
- www.culturecatch.com
-- Like the King of Pop or the Queen of Soul, Donna Summer was bestowed a title fitting of musical royalty – the Queen of Disco.
Yet unlike Michael Jackson or Aretha Franklin, it was a designation she wasn't comfortable embracing.
"I grew up on rock `n' roll," Summer once said when explaining her reluctance to claim the title.
Indeed, as disco boomed then crashed in a single decade in the 1970s, Summer, the beautiful voice and face of the genre with pulsating hits like "I Feel Love," "Love to Love You Baby" and "Last Dance," would continue to make hits incorporating the rock roots she so loved. One of her biggest hits, "She Works Hard for the Money," came in the early 1980s and relied on a smoldering guitar solo as well as Summer's booming voice.
Yet it was with her disco anthems that she would have the most impact in music,...
Yet unlike Michael Jackson or Aretha Franklin, it was a designation she wasn't comfortable embracing.
"I grew up on rock `n' roll," Summer once said when explaining her reluctance to claim the title.
Indeed, as disco boomed then crashed in a single decade in the 1970s, Summer, the beautiful voice and face of the genre with pulsating hits like "I Feel Love," "Love to Love You Baby" and "Last Dance," would continue to make hits incorporating the rock roots she so loved. One of her biggest hits, "She Works Hard for the Money," came in the early 1980s and relied on a smoldering guitar solo as well as Summer's booming voice.
Yet it was with her disco anthems that she would have the most impact in music,...
- 5/18/2012
- by AP
- Huffington Post
Disco Icon Donna Summer has died Thursday. She was 63.
According to MSNBC, Summer succumbed to her battle with breast cancer. She was recording an album at the time of her death.
Born in Boston, Massachusetts on December 31, 1948, the singer quickly became the symbol of the Disco era and was known as the Queen of Disco in the 1970s. Her musical career was launched in Munich, Germany during stage productions of "Hair" and "Porgy & Bess." Producers Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte gave Summer her first hit with "Love to Love You Baby."
Summer briefly flirted with the movie industry with her roles as Nicole Sims in the 1978 flop "Thank God It's Friday" or "T.G.I.F." The film was a dud but her battle cry, "Last Dance," won an Oscar for Best Song. Prior to that, Summer received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Original Song for "Down Deep Inside" for 1977's "The Deep.
According to MSNBC, Summer succumbed to her battle with breast cancer. She was recording an album at the time of her death.
Born in Boston, Massachusetts on December 31, 1948, the singer quickly became the symbol of the Disco era and was known as the Queen of Disco in the 1970s. Her musical career was launched in Munich, Germany during stage productions of "Hair" and "Porgy & Bess." Producers Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte gave Summer her first hit with "Love to Love You Baby."
Summer briefly flirted with the movie industry with her roles as Nicole Sims in the 1978 flop "Thank God It's Friday" or "T.G.I.F." The film was a dud but her battle cry, "Last Dance," won an Oscar for Best Song. Prior to that, Summer received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Original Song for "Down Deep Inside" for 1977's "The Deep.
- 5/17/2012
- by Manny
- Manny the Movie Guy
'Love to Love You Baby' singer dies on Thursday (May 17) after long battle with cancer.
By Gil Kaufman
Donna Summer
Photo: Fotos International/Getty Images
Donna Summer, the powerhouse singer known as the "Queen of Disco," died on Thursday (May 17) in Florida after a battle with cancer, according to The Associated Press.
The five-time Grammy winner who set dance floors ablaze in the 1970s with such anthems as "Last Dance," "Hot Stuff" and her most iconic hit, "I Feel Love," was 63 years old. In a genre that was filled with many one-hit wonders and fly-by-night studio acts that were unable to keep the disco inferno stoked after scoring hits, Summer was a lifer, consistently charting even after the dance craze faded in the late 1970s.
For photos of Donna Summer through the years, click here.
Unlike many of her contemporaries, Summer set herself apart with strong vocals backed by her songwriting skills,...
By Gil Kaufman
Donna Summer
Photo: Fotos International/Getty Images
Donna Summer, the powerhouse singer known as the "Queen of Disco," died on Thursday (May 17) in Florida after a battle with cancer, according to The Associated Press.
The five-time Grammy winner who set dance floors ablaze in the 1970s with such anthems as "Last Dance," "Hot Stuff" and her most iconic hit, "I Feel Love," was 63 years old. In a genre that was filled with many one-hit wonders and fly-by-night studio acts that were unable to keep the disco inferno stoked after scoring hits, Summer was a lifer, consistently charting even after the dance craze faded in the late 1970s.
For photos of Donna Summer through the years, click here.
Unlike many of her contemporaries, Summer set herself apart with strong vocals backed by her songwriting skills,...
- 5/17/2012
- MTV Music News
Today? Today is a very good day. News has come that one of the single greatest film masterpieces ever is on its way to Blu-ray high definition, and it has us grinning from ear-to-metallic-ear!
Harry over at Ain't it Cool just broke the glorious news that Kino will be releasing Fritz Lang's highly influential landmark film Metropolis onto Blu-raylater this year.
For thousands of people around the globe, Moroder’s Metropolis was their introduction to the films of Fritz Lang, and many have been waiting to see this film re-released -- with improved sound and image quality. This is it!
This “version” of Metropolis comes with music by Freddie Mercury, Pat Benatar, Bonnie Tyler, Moroder, and many other famous 1980s acts, and we’re confident that interest is very high on this title. Metroopolis is Kino Lorber’s all-time best selling film – by a wide margin – and just the...
Harry over at Ain't it Cool just broke the glorious news that Kino will be releasing Fritz Lang's highly influential landmark film Metropolis onto Blu-raylater this year.
For thousands of people around the globe, Moroder’s Metropolis was their introduction to the films of Fritz Lang, and many have been waiting to see this film re-released -- with improved sound and image quality. This is it!
This “version” of Metropolis comes with music by Freddie Mercury, Pat Benatar, Bonnie Tyler, Moroder, and many other famous 1980s acts, and we’re confident that interest is very high on this title. Metroopolis is Kino Lorber’s all-time best selling film – by a wide margin – and just the...
- 8/12/2011
- by Uncle Creepy
- DreadCentral.com
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.