A Bite of Donna Summer 🍪
Fall in love with the Queen of Disco
Monday Bites are bite-sized musician spotlights & playlists by Grace Lilly.
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• 3 min read •
A few years ago
My friend posted a video on Instagram of her son dancing to a song I’d never heard before but loved instantly. I couldn’t get it out of my head for weeks.
The song was “State of Independence” by Donna Summer. Like the rest of Summer’s music, it’s absurdly catchy and dripping in her syrupy smooth voice — one that Quincy Jones described as “the heartbeat and soundtrack of a generation.”
With the voice of an angel, sensual magnetic energy, and irresistibly danceable tracks, it’s no wonder she became one of the biggest stars in music history.
In fact, Donna was so prolifically successful that she challenges the very nature of this bite-sized series. Her career is almost impossible to summarize because she made hit after hit (after hit…).
She had a top-40 hit every year for 9 years in a row (1976-1984), and from 1976 to 1982, she had 12 top-10 hits (10 were top-five hits), more than any other act during that period.
That’s one iconic queen.
Donna Summer
The basics
🤝 American singer and songwriter
🤝 b. 1948 (Boston, Massachusetts) - d. 2012 (Naples, Florida)
🤝 Known as the “Queen of Disco”
Why you should know her: A cultural icon and a record-breaking pioneer, ranked at number 122 on Rolling Stone’s list of the 200 Greatest Singers of All Time
If you like
✨ Diana Ross
✨ Charli XCX
✨ Madonna
✨ ABBA
✨ Beyoncé
✨ Earth, Wind, and Fire
Known for
🏆 Her powerful voice, songwriting ability & stage presence — considered the first true diva of the modern pop era
🏆 Credited for the start of electronic dance music for her work on the song “I Feel Love”
🏆 5 Grammy Awards, 6 American Music Awards
🏆 The only artist in history to have 3 consecutive No. 1 platinum double albums
🏆 The first artist to have charted four No. 1 singles in the US within a 12-month period
🏆 11 gold albums, 32 chart singles on the US Billboard Hot 100, 2 platinum singles, 12 gold singles, 16 number one singles
🏆 Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame & ranked 6th on Billboard’s list of the “Greatest of All Time Top Dance Club Artists”
🏆 The first Black woman to be nominated for an MTV Video Music Award
Bite-sized facts
🍪 Born Donna Adrian Gaines, started singing as a gospel-belter at church at 10 years old; later sang in high school musicals
🍪 Influenced by 1960s counterculture, moved to New York City and became the lead singer of a psychedelic rock band called Crow
🍪 Moved to Munich in 1968 to perform in a German adaptation of the musical Hair; lived there for years, became fluent in German & released her first single in German
🍪 Started going by Donna Summer after a misprint on the cover of her demo tape
🍪 Broke into international success with influential disco hits like “Love to Love You Baby” and “I Feel Love”
Made a 17-minute version of “Love to Love You Baby” for nightclubs at the request of the Casablanca Records president who had played the original shorter version at one of his industry parties, where it was so popular with his guests that they insisted that it be played on repeat
Casablanca signed Summer after hearing the extended version, releasing the single in November 1975
🍪 She later successfully branched out into other genres, segued to a pop-rock sound — mixed elements of new wave, rockabilly, and gospel music for her first non-disco album, The Wanderer
🍪 Remained a force on the Billboard Dance Club Songs chart throughout her entire career — had a No. 1 song at age 62 in 2010 just two years before her death
🍪 In her obituary, described as the “undisputed queen of the Seventies disco boom" who reached the status of “one of the world's leading female singers”
🍪 There’s a Broadway musical about her life, Summer: The Donna Summer Musical, performances started in 2018
In film & TV
📺 Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982): features her song “Highway Runner”
📺 Flashdance (1983): features her song “Romeo”
📺 Family Matters: Played Steve Urkel’s Aunt Oona in season five's “Aunt Oona” (1994) and season eight's “Pound Foolish” (1997)
Songs & dates
♫ 1974 “The Hostage” and “Lady of the Night” off her debut studio album Lady of the Night make the album a hit in Europe
♫ 1977 Her single “I Feel Love” becomes a certified Gold hit, off her certified Platinum concept album I Remember Yesterday (becomes a preserved recording at the Library of Congress' National Recording Registry in 2012)
♫ 1978 Wins her 1st Grammy for “Last Dance” from the film Thank God It's Friday that she acted in; reaches No. 3, the soundtrack and single hit Gold
♫ 1978 “MacArthur Park” becomes her first No. 1 Hit, the single goes Gold and tops the charts for 3 weeks
♫ 1979 Gets 5 big hits: "Hot Stuff,” “Bad Girls,” “Heaven Knows,” "Dim All the Lights,” and “No More Tears (Enough Is Enough)”
♫ 1983 “She Works Hard for the Money” becomes a women’s rights anthem, reaches No. 3 in the US, the album of the same name becomes certified Gold
♫ 2008 Releases three No. 1 singles — “I'm a Fire,” "Stamp Your Feet" and "Fame (The Game)” off her album Crayons (peaked at No. 17 in US)
She said
⭐ “If you've never been to one of my concerts, I want you to know that it is OK to scream and yell.”
⭐ “I'm just an ordinary person that did some extraordinary things.”
⭐ “Well, I'll say I have an incredible ability to fantasize - I really do. I don't have to have things tangible to be able to see them, and therefore I enjoy so many things, because they're in my mind.”
We love Donna
Dolly Parton
💗 “Donna, like Whitney, was one of the greatest voices ever. I loved her records. She was the disco queen and will remain so. I knew her and found her to be one of the most likable and fun people ever.”
Beyoncé
💗 “Donna Summer made music that moved me both emotionally and physically to get up and dance. You could always hear the deep passion in her voice. She was so much more than the queen of disco she became known for, she was an honest and gifted singer with flawless vocal talent. I've always been a huge fan and was honored to sample one of her songs.”
My Donna Summer Playlist
I gathered my fav Donna songs, from me to you with love. Like & save on Spotify and listen all week 💗
Where to start
Performing live
Hear Donna’s incredible live voice as she sings her certified-gold hit single “I Feel Love” in 1977
〰️
“She Works Hard for the Money” Music Video
Directed by Brian Grant, this music video made Donna one of the first Black artists, and the first Black female artist, to have her video played in heavy rotation on MTV. It was nominated for Best Female Video and Best Choreography at the 1984 MTV Music Video Awards.
〰️
The Donna Summer Special
Donna’s nationally televised special, which aired on ABC network on January 27, 1980.
Down the rabbit hole
If you wanna dive even deeper:
Love to Love You, Donna Summer (2023)
This documentary that had its world premiere at the 73rd Berlin International Film Festival explores never-before-seen home video footage and interviews with friends, family and colleagues of the late Donna Summer. Her music takes her from the avant-garde scene in Germany to the glitter and bright lights of dance clubs in New York.
Directed by filmmaker Roger Ross Williams and Brooklyn Sudano, daughter of Donna Summer. Watch on HBO Max, Amazon, Youtube, or Hulu .
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Absolutely the Queen! Donna is amazing!