LOS ANGELES: Grammy-winning disco legend
Donna Summer, who steamed up the charts in the 1970s and 80s with
raunchy hits like “Love to Love You Baby” and “Hot Stuff,” died
Thursday aged 63, her family said.
Known as the Queen of Disco, the singer whose hits also included
“I Feel Love” and “She Works Hard for the Money,” died in Florida
from lung cancer, the TMZ celebrity news
website said.
“Early this morning, we lost Donna Summer Sudano, a woman of
many gifts, the greatest being her faith,” said a family
statement.
“While we grieve her passing, we are at peace celebrating her
extraordinary life and her continued legacy. Words truly can’t
express how much we appreciate your prayers and love for our family
at this sensitive time.”
Tributes started pouring in within hours of death on Twitter,
where it became one of the top trending topics, along with “I Feel
Love.”
“She was truly the #Disco Queen!” said La Toya Jackson, adding
“She will be terribly missed,” while singer Mary J Blige tweeted:
“RIP Donna Summers!!!!!!!!!??. You were truly a game
changer!!!”
Harry Casey, lead singer and “KC” of fellow disco greats KC and
the Sunshine Band, said he was stunned.
“I saw her several months ago at a performance, she looked
great, she sang great, her performance was amazing. We got together
backstage and had some good laughs and walked down memory lane.
“I’m just in shock. I had no idea anything was wrong.”
US President Barack Obama also mourned the “Queen of Disco”,
saying the music industry had lost a legend.
“Michelle and I were saddened to hear about the passing of Donna
Summer,” Obama said in a statement.
“A five-time Grammy Award winner, Donna truly was the ‘Queen of
Disco.’ Her voice was unforgettable, and the music industry has
lost a legend far too soon.
“Our thoughts and prayers go out to Donna’s family and her
dedicated fans.”
In Hollywood, flowers were placed on her sidewalk star on the
storied Hollywood Walk of Fame, across the street from the
world-famous Grauman’s Chinese Theatre.
Summer, who also became something of an icon in the gay
community, shot to fame during the disco era of the 1970s with hits
like “MacArthur Park,” “Hot Stuff” and “Bad Girls.”
The orgasmic-sounding “Love to Love You Baby,” released in 1975,
was one of the first disco songs to be released in extended form,
giving full vent to Summer’s erotic moans and groans.
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.
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.
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 #1 singles in a 12-month period, three solo and one with
Barbra Streisand, according to the IMDb website.
“Hot Stuff” also got a boost from being used in the 1997 hit
movie “The Full Monty,” as the track to which a group of unemployed
British steel workers performed a striptease act.
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 was focused on trying to finish a new
album she had been working on.
It cited sources as saying Summer believed she developed lung
cancer after inhaling toxic particles following the September 11,
2001 Al Qaeda attacks in New York.
She married singer Bruce Sudano in 1980, and they had two
daughters together, according to TMZ.
-AFP/ac
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RIP
