Donna Summer, the ‘Queen of Disco’ dies
Singer shot to fame in the 1970s disco era
Grammy-winning disco legend Donna Summer died yesterday after a battle with lung cancer, aged 63, her family and media reports said.
Known as the Queen of Disco, the singer, whose 1970s and 80s hits included I Feel Love, Love to Love you Baby and She Works Hard for the Money, died in Florida, the TMZ celebrity news website said.
TMZ reported that she died of lung cancer, citing sources as saying she believed she contracted it after inhaling toxic particles following the September 11, 2001 attacks in New York. TMZ reported that she had kept her illness quiet, and didn’t appear too sick only a couple of weeks ago, citing sources as saying she as focused on trying to finish a new album she had been working on.
Ms Summer shot to fame during the disco era of the 1970s with hits like MacArthur Park and Hot Stuff. In the 1980s her hits included She Works Hard for the Money and State of Independence.
The disco diva was born LaDonna Adrian Gaines into a large devoutly Christian family in Boston and started singing in the local church, before performing in a number of Motown-influenced groups in her teens. Ms Summer took her stage name after marrying Austrian actor Helmuth Sommer in 1972, anglicising her name after divorcing him. She spoke fluent German and the couple had a daughter, Mimi Sommer.
Tributes started pouring in within hours of death on Twitter, where it became one of the top trending topics, with “I Feel Love” as a separate
US singer Donna Summer performing on stage during the Nobel Peace Prize Concert in Oslo Spektrum in 2009.“RIP Donna Summers... You were truly a game changer...” tweeted singer Mary J Blige.
La Toya Jackson, sister of the late King of Pop Michael Jackson whose career took off with the Jackson Five at the same time, tweeted: “My condolence to Donna Summer’s family & love ones. She will be terribly missed. She was truly the Disco Queen!”
The singer won five Grammy awards during her spectacular career, including in 1980 for best rock female vocalist for the 1979 Hot Stuff, but also as recently as 1997 for best dance recording for Carry On.
She holds the record for most consecutive double albums to top the Billboard charts – three – and first female with four singles in a 12-month period, three solo and one with Barbra Streisand, according to theIMDb website.
She married singer Bruce Sudano in 1980, and they had two daughters.