Known as the “Disco Queen,” singer Donna Summer died Thursday at 63 after a struggle with cancer, according to multiple media reports.
Summer was known for hits such as “Love to Love You Baby,” “I Feel Love” and “Last Dance.” Summer was the first artist to have three successive double albums reach No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard Chart, according to ABC News, this which I believe enabled her to be a five-time Grammy award-winner.
A Boston native, Summer had her first performance when she was 10 at a local church when a scheduled singer did not show up, according to a Donna Summers biography.com profile.
After graduating high school, Summer was cast in the Broadway production “Hair.” The Broadway production brought her to Germany where she met producer Giorgio Moroder, who later helped launch Summer’s career, according to a Donna Summers biography.com profile.
While in Germany, Summer recorded her first solo album, “Lady of the Night,” which became a Germany success but flunked in the U.S.In 1975, Summer released her first big hit “Love to Love You Baby,” which escalated on the Billboard’s Top 100 chart to No. 2, making her an overnight sensation. Summer’s popularity started to dwindle by the 1980s and her last hit to make Billboard’s top 10 was “This Time I Know It’s For Real” in 1989, according to a Donna Summers biography.com profile.
Even as Summer released her last album in 2008 titled “Crayons,” the “Disco Queen” will forever be remembered as a musical revolutionary.
