Donna Summer (1948-2012)

Donna Summer, a singer of enormous range and talent, passed away today after a bout with cancer. She was 63.

While she was known as ‘The Queen Of Disco, Summer’s musical roots were in theater, starring in the European productions of Hair, Godspell and Showboat. She also did a stint with the Viennese Folk Opera and singing background vocals for Three Dog Night. By the time she met producers Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellote, she was a seasoned studio & theater pro.

Donna Summer’s collaborations with Moroder and Bellote ranks right up there with The Beatles with George Martin, Dionne Warwick with Burt Bacharach-Hal David, The Supremes & Holland-Dozier-Holland, The Temptations and Norman Whitfield, Al Green with Willie Mitchell, on and on. Add Neil Bogart of Casablanca Records – the closest thing the music business had to P.T. Barnum – into the mix, the game was ready to change.

And change it did. ‘Love To Love You Baby’ gave birth to the 12 inch single. ‘I Feel Love’ laid the foundation for house, techno and dubstep– while recording the ‘Berlin trilogy’ albums with David Bowie, Brian Eno accurately predicted that ‘I Feel Love’ would ‘change the sound of club music for the next 15 years’. The team of Summer, Moroder and Bellote also did conceptual albums dealing with a love affair as it relates to the four seasons (Four Seasons Of Love), a suite that fused elements of music from the 40s, 50s, 60s and the future (I Remember Love), and an update on Cinderella (Once Upon A Time).

To relegate Donna Summer to being just a ‘disco singer’, terribly underrates her tremendous versatility. Summer could effortlessly sing rock (‘Hot Stuff’), New Wave (‘The Wanderer’), electronic music (‘I Feel Love’), pop (‘This Time I Know It’s For Real’), reggae (‘Unconditional Love’), jazz (‘Live & More’ featured songs by George Gershwin and Duke Ellington), New Jack R&B (‘Dinner For Gershwin’), the whole nine.

Donna Summer was also an accomplished composer. With a few exceptions (‘Last Dance’ and ‘Macarthur Park’ being the more notable ones), Summer wrote or co-wrote the majority of her hits including gems such as ‘Dim All The Lights’, ‘On The Radio’ (which was featured in the film Foxes) and the post-feminist anthem ‘She Works Hard For The Money’. This wasn’t some manufactured pop-disco diva princess. Donna Summer was the real deal.

Her influence can be felt from everyone from No Doubt to Lady Gaga and Beyonce.  A global superstar of the highest order, Donna Summer is survived by her husband Bruce Sudano and daughters Brooklyn, Amanda and Mimi.

Rest peacefully Donna…