Donna Summer dead at 63
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA (BDCi) – Recording artist Donna Summer, the “Queen of Disco”, died Thursday morning after battling cancer, a representative confirmed.
She was 63 years old. Summer was in Florida at the time of her death, according to TMZ.
The five-time Grammy winner first rose to fame in the mid-70s, thanks to “Love to Love You Baby.” The song, with Summer’s whispered vocals and orgasmic groans, supported by heavily synthesized backing tracks, helped define the mid-70s disco trend and hit No.2 in 1976.
Summer followed the song with such hits as “I Feel Love”, “Last Dance” and a disco-filled version of the Richard Harris hit “MacArthur Park,” which outdid Harris’ version by hitting No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot 100 singles chart. It was Summer’s first of four chart-toppers.
However with her 1979 album “Bad Girls,” Summer broke out of the disco mold as the genre, which had become renewed by the success of the “Saturday Night Fever” soundtrack, was feeling a backlash.
“Bad Girls” demonstrated Summer’s vocal and stylistic range and produced tow No. 1 hits, “Hot Stuff” and “Bad Girls,” as well as a Top 10 ballad, “Dim All The Lights.”
However, Summer had some trouble adjusting to the changing times. Her next album, “The Wanderer,” went for more of a rock feel. It produced a Top 10 hit in the title track fared relatively poorly on the charts. It wasn’t until 1983’s “She Works Hard for the Money,” which became a ubiquitous video as well as a big radio hit, that summer’s fame approached its late 70s zenith.
Summer married Brooklyn Dreams singer Bruce Sudano back in 1980. They had two daughters together. She is survived by three children and four grandchildren.
By: Natania Levine
Courtesy: ktla.com
Photo: beaumontenterprise.com
17 May 2012
10:37 a.m. P.D.T