Last Dance for Donna Summer, the Queen of Disco

Donna Summer Top 20 Songs

Donna Summer, dubbed the Queen of Disco, was born LaDonna Gaines on December 31, 1948 in Boston. Singing in church prompted her to pursue music as a career in the late 1960s. Her first single, “Sall Go ‘Round the Roses,” was released in 1971 under her birth name after she had performed in some musicals in Europe, including a production of Hair in Germany. That same year she married actor Helmuth Sommer and even after their divorce in 1975, she kept an anglicized version of the name. Her first chart hit was “the breathy, sexualized” BB #2 “Love to Love You Baby” in 1975. She charted more than 30 songs on the Billboard Hot 100 over three decades, but was at her peak in the latter half of the 1970s. “Her collaborations with producer Giorgio Moroder…broke ground for dance music and have been hugely influential on electronic music in the decades since.” RS She took four songs to #1 in 1978 and 1979. She also had three consecutive #1 albums from 1978 to 1980. Even though her career waned in the post-disco era, she still made several trips to the top ten in the 1980s. She had 14 top ten hits total and collected five Grammys over the years. Summer died on 5/17/2012 after a battle with lung cancer. She believed it came from inhaling particles following the 9/11 attacks in New York. She was survived by her husband Bruce Sudano (who she married in 1980) and their daughters Brooklyn and Amanda. She also had a daughter, Mimi, with her first husband, and had four grandchildren. Links: DMDB Encyclopedia entry for Donna Summer Dave’s Music Database: “Acts’ Profile Pages and Best-of Lists”

Awards:

Top 20 Songs Dave’s Music Database lists are determined by song’s appearances on best-of lists, appearances on compilations and live albums by the featured act, and songs’ chart success, sales, radio airplay, streaming, and awards. Songs which topped the Billboard Hot 100, R&B charts, and UK charts are noted. 1. Hot Stuff (1979) #1 2. Last Dance (1978) 3. Bad Girls (1979) #1, #1 RB 4. I Feel Love (1977) #1 UK 5. MacArthur Park (1978) #1 6. Love to Love You Baby (1975) 7. No More Tears (Enough Is Enough) (with Barbra Streisand, 1979) #1 8. On the Radio (1980) 9. She Works Hard for the Money (1983) #1 RB 10. Heaven Knows (1979) 11. Dim All the Lights (1979) 12. This Time I Know It’s for Real (1989) 13. The Wanderer (1980) 14. Love Is in Control (1982) 15. There Goes My Baby (1984) 16. Unconditional Love (with Musical Youth, 1983) 17. Cold Love (1980) 18. Winter Melody (1976) 19. The Woman in Me (1982) 20. Dinner with Gershwin (1987) Resources and Related Links: DMDB Encyclopedia entry for Donna Summer Dave’s Music Database: “Acts’ Profile Pages and Best-of Lists” BB Billboard.com Donna Summer, Queen of Disco, Dead at 63 by Billboard Staff (5/17/2012) Entertainment Weekly Donna Summer has died at 63 by Leah Greenblatt (5/17/2012) RS RollingStone.com Donna Summer Dead at 63 by Rolling Stone (5/17/2012) Spinner.com Donna Summer Dead: Disco Legend Dies After Cancer Battle at 63 by Dan Reilly (5/17/2012) First posted 5/17/2012; last updated 12/30/2023.

Gloria Gaynor hit #1 with “I Will Survive”

I Will Survive Gloria Gaynor

Writer(s): Dino Fekaris, Freddie Perren (see lyrics here) First Charted: December 16, 1978 Peak: 13 US, 11 CB, 3 GP, 11 HR, 2 RR, 9 AC, 4 RB, 14 UK, 1 CN, 5 AU, 1 DF (Click for codes to singles charts.) Sales (in millions): 2.0 US, 1.02 UK, 14.0 world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 229.7 video, 866.42 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: With its message of “of defiance and freedom,” FB “I Will Survive” became an anthem for both feminism and gay rights, AMG but for Gloria Gaynor it was a personal statement. Unlike the song’s narrator, she was happily married, SF but she was overcoming major obstacles, including the death of her mother, a career in freefall, and a literal fall from the stage. AMG Gaynor was crowned the Queen of Disco in the wake of her 1974 hit “Never Can Say Goodbye,” but subsequent failed singles left her career fighting for survival. In the spring of 1978, a tumble off the stage left her bedridden for nine months with a severe spinal injury. AMG Once out of the hospital, this declaration of resilience was just the kind of recovery she needed. The song is “equal parts dancefloor juggernaut and Broadway show-stopper,” AMG so full of “attitude and sass that it veers dangerously close to pure camp” AMG but Gaynor gives it an authenticity that lifts it above its melodramatic qualities. Originally this was a B-side for what Gaynor said was “the company president’s pet project so there was no way I could get the record flipped.” KL She persuaded club DJs to play the song and it became a favorite of the famed Studio 54 in New York. TB Polydor Records then promoted the song as “More than a hit – it’s a way of life.” AMG The song gained new life when it emerged as a hit again fifteen years after its original release. In 1994, it was featured in the drag-queen comedy The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert and topped the charts in Australia, AMG showing that it was truly a song built to survive. Resources: DMDB Encyclopedia entry for Gloria Gaynor AMG All Music Guide review by Jason Ankeny FB Fred Bronson (2003). The Billboard Book of Number One Hits (5th edition). Billboard Books: New York, NY. Page 498. KL Jon Kutner and Spencer Leigh (2005). 1000 UK Number One Hits: The Stories Behind Every Number One Single Since 1952. London, Great Britain: Omnibus Press. Page 246. SF Songfacts TB Thunder Bay Press (2006). Singles: Six Decades of Hot Hits & Classic Cuts. Outline Press Ltd.: San Diego, CA. Page 179. Last updated 11/27/2022.