15 Amazing Facts About Donna Summer 

Singer Donna Summer. Photo By The White House – Wikimedia Commons

15 Amazing Facts About Donna Summer   

LaDonna Adrian Gaines, popularly known as Donna Summer, was an American singer and songwriter. She was the undisputed Queen Of Disco. Donna became famous in 1976 with the disco hit ‘Love to Love You Baby’.

She had three number-one hits in 1979 with Hot Stuff, Bad Girls, and No More Tears (Enough Is Enough), a duet with Barbara Streisand.

This singer excelled in different genres and won Grammys for her work in R&B, rock, gospel, and dance music. She won five Grammys in all and was nominated 18 times.  

She is considered to have changed the face of dance music and remains immensely influential with pop artists to this day. Beyonce mentions her as her influence and Bruce Springsteen is her great admirer. Here are 15 amazing facts about Donna Summer. 

1. Donna Grew Up In Boston 

Donna was born on 31st December 1948 in Boston, Massachusetts. Her parents, Andrew and Mary Gaines, were devout Christians who worked as a butcher and a schoolteacher respectively.

They had seven children, six daughters, and a son, and Donna was their third. She was raised in the Boston neighborhood of Mission Hill. 

The first time Donna performed was at church when she was ten years old. She was called upon to sing in place of a vocalist who had failed to show up.  

She attended Boston’s Jeremiah E. Burke High School where she was one of the most popular students. She performed in school musicals but she did not graduate from the institution.

2. Her Family Made Fun Of Her Voice

Donna Summer. Photo By Szyszka2812 – Wikimedia

Although The world loved Donna and saw her as a sexy fashionista of the disco era, her family didn’t have faith in her abilities. They made fun of her look and her voice especially because disco music was not popular those days. 

Donna followed in the musical footsteps of the Motown girl groups of the sixties. together with her cousin and sister, Donna formed a group that was more of the same as other popular singing groups like The Supremes and Martha Reeves, and The Vandellas. 

Apart from singing in Boston churches as a child, Donna was hired to sing professionally at Boston’s Psychedelic Supermarket in 1967.

3. She Spoke Fluent German 

Donna moved to New York City before graduating from High school. She joined a band called Crow but it was dissolved soon after. She got a role in a musical called Hair, which made her move to Munich in 1968 even though her parents were not happy with the move.

She learned German and became fluent, singing various songs in the language, and participating in several other musicals. Within three years, she moved to Vienna, Austria, and continued with her singing career. It was here that she met and married her first husband.

4. Donna Was A Back-Up Singer In The 70s

Donna had singing gigs as a background vocalist for the rock group ‘Three Dog Night’ in the early 1970s. She caught the eye of two record producers when she was singing back up.

The producers helped her secure a deal with a European label. Her first album, “Lady of the Night” was released in 1974. It wasn’t released in the U.S. but it was a success in Europe.

5. She Cheated On Her First Husband With A Painter 

Donna Summer. Photo By Harry Wad – Wikimedia

Donna married an Austrian actor Helmuth Sommer in 1973 and gave birth to their daughter Natalia Pia Melanie Sommer (Mimi) the same year. Their marriage did not last. She divorced him three years later after he found out about her affair with a German surrealist painter.

Donna retained his last name Sommer but Anglicized it as ‘Summer’ thus her stage name, Donna Summer.

Read 10 interesting facts about Hieronymus Bosch, a Dutch painter.

6. Donna Was A Mother To Three Daughters   

Apart from her daughter Mimi, whose father was the Austrian actor Helmuth Sommer, Donna later got two more daughters.

After her marriage failed, this singer didn’t give up on love. She got married to Brooklyn Dreams singer Bruce Sudano in July 1980. The following year, she gave birth to their daughter Brooklyn, and thereafter to Amanda. The Sudano daughters became singers, just like their parents

 7. Her Music Was Epic 

Donna’s music was epic. Her songs have been used in very many movies as soundtracks. She recorded 17 studio albums throughout her career and sold more than 130 million records worldwide.

She was ranked position 37 on VH1’s Greatest Women of Rock N Roll and in 2010, she was inducted into the Hollywood Bowl Hall of Fame. 

8. One Of Her Songs Was Banned 

A young Donna Summer. Photo By Francesco Scavullo – Wikimedia Commons

Donna had a 16-minute song called “Love To Love You Baby”. It was the first extended-release single, and the mother of all dance maxi-singles. It was her first mega-hit that she sang with actress Marilyn Monroe in mind. 

In a bid to make the song interesting, she made sensual sounds throughout the cut and also had the recording studio’s lights turned off.  Little did she know that she was inviting trouble. The song got banned from several radio stations in the U.S. and was termed controversial. 

9. Donna Was An Award Winner 

This talented singer had bagged very many awards including, five Grammy Awards out of twelve nominations, two Golden Globes, six American Music Awards, and one NAACP Image Award.

Donna was the first African-American female to receive an MTV Video Music Awards nomination.  Although she was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, she was not selected. 

In 1998, Summer became the very first recording artist to receive a Grammy for “Best Dance Recording.” 

10. She Was Accused Of Making Anti-gay Remarks 

Donna was accused of hating the LGBTQ community. This was back in the 80s when AIDS was widely misunderstood and was wiping out people in a devastating manner.

It was said that she made some anti-gay remarks, and this accusation affected her musical career negatively. Though Donna had changed her ways and was now a born-again Christian, she denied having said that AIDS was a punishment from God for the immoral lifestyles of homosexuals.  

11. She Was Not Only A Singer But An Actor Too  

In the 1990s, Donna had a recurring role on the ABC-TV hit comedy show “Family Matters”. She was acting as Steve Urkel’s Aunt Oona. Needless to say, she pulled it off effortlessly.

Read about Esai Morales the actor, Here.

12. Donna Has A Star On The Hollywood Walk of Fame 

Donna Summer. Photo By Harry Wad – Wikimedia Commons

The Disco Queen has a star on the walk of fame. It is located on the South side of the 7000 block of Hollywood Boulevard. Donna was honored with the star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on 18th March 1992. 

This is where her fans met and placed flowers in her memory after she passed on.

13. She Struggled With Mental Health 

Just like many other artists past and present, Donna battled depression and anxiety and developed a dependency on prescription drugs that stayed with her for several years. 

In her memoir, “Ordinary Girl: The Journey,” the songstress states that she attempted suicide several times and even experienced a nervous breakdown in 1979. 

She loved painting as a hobby and it was like therapy to her. 

14. She Died From Lung Cancer 

Donna had a genetic predisposition to cancer of the lungs. The death certificates of the singer’s mother and younger sister show that they also died of lung cancer. 

The singer was diagnosed with Lung cancer and later died of it on 17th May 2012 at her home in Naples, Florida. She was 63 years old at the time.

Apart from the genetic predisposition, Donna was a smoker during her younger years. She was also exposed to second-hand smoke while performing in clubs, although she believed that she had gotten lung cancer from inhaling the toxic fumes and dust from the 11th September 2001 terrorist attacks in New York City. 

The Disco Queen’s final resting place is at the Harpeth Hills Memory Gardens cemetery in Nashville, Tennessee. Fans paid tribute to her by leaving flowers and memorabilia on her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

A few days after her death, her album sales increased by 3,277%, according to Nielsen SoundScan. Billboard magazine reported that the week before she died, Summer sold about 1,000 albums. After her death, that number increased to 26,000. 

Another great musician who passed on in 2012 is Etta James.

15. Donna Was Inducted Into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Posthumously

Donna Summer. Photo By Szyszka2812 – Wikimedia

Donna was inducted into the Dance Music Hall of Fame as an artist, alongside the Bee Gees and Barry Gibb in 2004.

On 11th December 2012, after four prior nominations and 6 months after her death, Donna was announced to be one of the 2013 inductees to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and was inducted on 18th April 2013, at Los Angeles’ Nokia Theater. 

Another singer you can read about is Bad Bunny.