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Donna Summer (born LaDonna Andrea Gaines on
December 31, 1948) is an United States|American
pop music singer best known for a string of disco
music hits in the 1970s that earned her the title
"Queen of Disco".

Summer was a rarity in the 1970s disco scene
because her career began before the disco
explosion and continued afterward.  Even though
she is one of the best-known artists of the disco
era, Summer has covered different genres including
R&B, rock and roll and gospel music, earning her
Grammy Awards in those categories. Her work is
still critically acclaimed and remains one of the
few disco artists accepted by modern rock critics.

Born in Boston, Massachusetts, Summer began
performing in her church's choir. She later joined
a rock group called the Crow.  A few months before
graduating from high school, Summer dropped out
and joined the Germany|German productions of Hair
(musical)|Hair, Godspell, and Show Boat over the
next few years. She eventually settled in Europe,
joining the Viennese Folk Opera and participating
in numerous musicals.

After resettling in Munich, Germany, Summer
married Helmut Sommer ("Summer" is an
anglicization of his last name) and did various
musical jobs in studios and theaters for several
years.  In 1971, Summer released "Sally Go 'Round
the Roses", her first solo recording.  The single
was unsuccessful, however, and Summer had to wait
until 1974 to launch a solo career.  


In that year, she, Giorgio Moroder and Pete
Bellotte (who met assisting Three Dog Night in the
studio) worked together to produce "The Hostage",
a European hit.  Lady of the Night, Summer's first
LP, was released in 1974 with moderate success in
Europe.

Summer recorded "Love To Love You Baby", which was
a huge European hit.  Casablanca Records soon
began distributing the album in the United States,
and it became a sensation there as well.  This was
followed by an album, Love to Love You Baby,
critically acclaimed then and now, notable for
including a seventeen-minute version of the title
track.  This established a pattern that made
Summer unusual in the disco world: she focused
just as much, if not more, on full-length albums
instead of singles.

Continuing to work with Moroder and Bellotte, Love
Trilogy (1976) and the concept album Seasons of
Love (1976) were hits, though not as popular as
Love to Love You Baby.  I Remember Yesterday
(1977) included the memorable hit single "I Feel
Love", the first hit song recorded with an
entirely synthesized backing track.  This song,
which became a major hit, is enormously
influential in the development of disco,
electronica and techno music, thanks to Moroder's
innovative production.

Once Upon a Time was released soon after I
Remember Yesterday; it was another concept album,
concerning the fairy tale of Cinderella.  After
acting (and releasing a Grammy
Award|Grammy-winning song on the soundtrack) in
the comedy Thank God It's Friday, Summer released
a live album Live and More, which became another
smash hit album and included a cover of "MacArthur
Park (song)|MacArthur Park".  Summer's songwriting
was showcased on Bad Girls (1979), which included
a hit single in the title track, as well as "Hot
Stuff", which won Summer the Grammy for Best
Female Rock Vocalist. When a greatest hits album,
On the Radio, became a #1 hit, Summer was the
first artist with three consecutive #1 double
albums.

Summer then decided to leave Casablanca and sign
to Geffen Records, then just starting up. Her
first Geffen album was The Wanderer (1980), which
included more rock and roll and R&B influences. 
The follow-up album, I'm a Rainbow, was not
released until 1996 because Geffen did not think
it was good enough.  Instead, Geffen had Summer
drop Moroder and Bellotte, her longtime
songwriters, and paired her with music sensation
Quincy Jones on the self-titled album Donna
Summer, which produced the dance hit "Love Is in
Control (Finger on the Trigger)", a Top 40 hit
"Woman in Me" and the Vangelis penned "State of
Independence", which became a huge hit in Europe
with its New Age feel and star chorus that
included Christopher Cross and Michael Jackson.
This song was the inspiration for Quincy Jones to
later create with Michael Jackson "We Are the
World".

Summer continued her work with Geffen, later
releasing the smash hit She Works Hard for the
Money, which included a well-remembered hit in the
title track.

Summer's career was not without controversy. In
the 1980s, the singer, a born-again Christian, was
accused of making comments critical of
homosexuality, thus alienating a large part of her
fan base. However, Summer has often said in
interviews that she never made the homophobic
remarks attributed to her. Although her career
began to slow down in the mid-1980s, it was
revamped in 1989 with her Stock Aitken Waterman
collaboration Another Place and Time album. The
first single, "This Time I Know It's for Real", 
became a huge hit, first in Europe and later in
the United States, and brought her back to the top
of the charts. A new remix of "I Feel Love" was a
big UK hit all over again in 1995.

In 1991, Summer released the ill-fated LP Mistaken
Identity, which included songs criticizing racism
(the title track) and the first Gulf War ("Let
There Be Peace"). Throughout the 1990s, Summer has
continued to work; she recorded a duet with Liza
Minnelli ("Does He Love You?") and  produced
numerous dance hits such as "Melody of Love",
which became the Billboard number one dance hit of
the year; "I Will Go with You", the dance version
of the beautiful Andrea Bocelli song "Con Te
Partirò"; and "You're So Beautiful", a club
anthem she co-wrote with legendary DJ Tony Moran.
As well as her #1 U.S dance chart hit "Love is a
Healer.  
In  2003, Donna Summer released a greatest-hits
compilation  called The Journey, which rocketed
into the UK Top 10 in the following year, thanks
to her appearance on ITV1 show Discomania.

Summer added to her credits in October 2004, when
she performed "God Bless America" during the
seventh-inning stretch at Game 2 of the 2004 World
Series at Boston's Fenway Park.

As of 2005, Summer has received 5 Grammy Awards
and 6 American Music Awards, as well as 24 gold
and platinum certifications in the United States
and 19 gold and silver certifications in Great
Britain. Also in the summer of 2005 Donna will
tour for the first time in 5 years and opened her
first official Web site (
http://www.donnasummer.com/ ).  Over 100 million
copies of her records have been sold worldwide.

Today, Summer and her family make their home in
the Conejo Valley in Southern California.

==Discography==
Notes: US Top data: Billboard Hot 100 and Hot
Dance Music/Club Play for singles, Billboard 200
for albums; UK Top data for singles and albums is
from UK Singles Chart.

===Main albums===
*1974 Lady of the Night#1 in Every Country
(Worldwide Sales: 560.3 mil)
*1975 Love to Love You Baby #1 in Every Country
(2x in Malaysa)(Worldwide Sales: 710.9 mil.) 
*1976 A Love Trilogy (US Sales: 100.1 mil.) (#1
US)
*1976 Four Seasons of Love (US Sales: 311 mil.)
(#2 US)
*1977 I Remember Yesterday (US Sales: 250.7 mil.)
(#1 US,#3 UK)
*1977 Once Upon a Time (US Sales: 210.3 mil.) (#2
US,#2 UK)
*1978 Live and More (US Sales: 400 mil.) (#1 US,#1
UK)
*1979 Bad Girls (album)|Bad Girls (US Sales: 800
mil.) (#1 US,#2 UK)
*1980 Walk Away (US Sales: 10.9 mil.) (#5 US)
*1980 The Wanderer (US Sales: 300.2 mil.) (#1 US)
*1982 Donna Summer (US Sales: 200.2 mil.) (#2
US,#1 UK)
*1983 She Works Hard for the Money (US Sales: 600
mil.) (#1 US,#28 UK)
*1984 Cats Without Claws (US Sales: 200.5 mil.)
(#4 US)
*1985 The Summer Collection Sales 100. mil (#7 US)
*1987 The Dance Collection 500 mil
*1987 All Systems Go (US Sales: 205.5 mil.) (#1
US)
*1989 Another Place and Time (US Sales: 450 mil.)
(#3 US,#1 UK)
*1990 The Best of Donna Summer 100 mil (#24 UK)
*1991 Mistaken Identity (US Sales: 310.5 mil.) (#2
US)
*1993 Anthology 898 mil
*1994 Christmas Spirit 999 mil
*1996 I'm a Rainbow (originally set for release in
1981) 802 mil
*1999 Live and More... Encore (US Sales: 400 mil.)
(#3 US)

===Compilations===
*1978 Greatest Hits 342 mil (#4 UK)
*1979 Greatest Hits On the Radio Vol. I & II (US
Sales: 500 mil.) (#1 US,#2 UK)
*1994 Endless Summer (US Sales: 175.5 mil.) (#2
US,#2UK)
*1998 Greatest Hits
*2003 The Journey: The Very Best of Donna Summer
(US Sales: 780.9 mil.) (#1 US,#6 UK)
*2004 Gold 888. mil

===Singles===
*1971 Sally Go 'Round the Roses 
*1975 Love to Love you Baby (#2 US,#4 UK, #1 US
Dance)
*1975 Need a Man Blues (#7 US)
*1976 Could Be Magic  (#2 US,#4 UK, #3 US Dance)
*1976 Wasted/Come With Me (#7 Disco US)
*1976 Four Seasons of Love (#1 Club US)
*1976 Try Me, I Know We Can Make It (#8 US,#1
Disco US) 
*1977 (Theme from "The Deep")Down Deep Inside (#3
US,#5 UK, #3 US Dance)
*1977 I Remember Yesterday (#1 UK, #1 US Dance as
part of album of the same title)
*1977 Can't We Just Sit Down (#2 R&B US)
*1977 I Feel Love (#2 US,#1 UK, #3 US Dance)
*1977 Love's Unkind (#6 US) 
*1977 Once Upon a Time (#1 Club US)
*1977 Spring Affair(#5 US, #1 US Dance as part of
"Four Seasons Of Love" album)
*1977 Winter Melody (#3 US,#2 UK, #1 US Dance as
part of "Four Seasons Of Love" album)
*1978 I Love You  (#3 US)
*1978 Last Dance (#2 US, #1 US Dance)
*1978 Mac Arthur Park (#1 US,#5 UK, #1 US Dance as
part of "Mac Arthur Park Suite" medley)
*1978 Rumour Has It (#3 US)
*1979 Bad Girls (#1 US,#14 UK, #1 US Dance)
*1979 Dim All the Lights (#2 US,#29 UK, #54 US
Dance)
*1979 Sunset People  (#37 US,#1 Hot Dance US)
*1979 No More Tears(Enough Is Enough)(with Barbra
Streisand) (#1 US, #3 UK #1 US Dance)
*1979 Heaven Knows (#4 US,#34 UK, #1 US Dance as
part of "Mac Arthur Park Suite" medley)
*1979 Hot Stuff (#1 US,#11 UK, #1 US Dance)
*1980 On the Radio (#5 US,#32 UK, #8 US Dance)
*1980 Walk Away (#36 US)
*1980 The Wanderer(#3 US, #8 US Dance as part of
album)
*1981 I'm a Rainbow (#33 US)
*1981 Cold Love (#33 US)
*1981 Who Do You Think You're Foolin' (#40 US) 
*1982 Love Is In Control(#10 US,#18 UK, #3 US
Dance)
*1982 State of Independence (#41 US,#14 UK)
*1982 I Feel Love (remix) (#21 UK)
*1983 She Works Hard For the Money (#3 US,#25 UK,
#3 US Dance) 
*1983 Unconditional Love (#43 US,#14 UK)
*1983 The Woman In Me (#33 US)
*1984 Cats Without Claws (#43 US)
*1984 Love Has a Mind of Its Own (#70 US)
*1984 Supernatural Love (#75 US, #39 US Dance)
*1984 There Goes My Baby (#21 US)
*1987 All Systems Go (#48 US)
*1987 Dinner with Gershwin (#48 US,#13 UK, #13 US
Dance)
*1987 Only The Fool Survives (#85 US)
*1989 Breakaway (#31 Hot Dance US)
*1989 Love's About Change My Heart (#85 US,#20 UK,
#3 US Dance)
*1989 When Love Takes Over You (#85 US)
*1989 This Time I Know It's For Real (#7 US,#3 UK,
#5 US Dance)
*1989 I Don't Wanna Get Hurt (#7 US,#7 UK)
*1991 When Love Cries (#77 US)
*1991 Friends Unknown (#76 US)
*1991 Work That Magic (#77 US)
*1994 Melody of Love (#1 Hot Dance US,#21 UK)
*1994 Any Way At All 
*1995 I Feel Love (remix) (#8 UK, #9 US Dance) 
*1996 State Of Independence (remix) (#13 UK)
*1997 Carry On (#25 Hot Dance US)
*1999 I Will Go With You (#79 US, #1 US Dance)
*1999 Love Is the Healer (#1 Hot Dance US)
*2000 The Power of One (#2 Hot Dance US)
*2004 Dream-A-Lot's Theme (#20 Hot Dance US)
*2004 You're So Beautiful (Ultimate Club Mix) (#5
Hot Dance US)
*2005 I Got Your Love (Just released)

==Other Meanings==
*Donna Summer is also the recording name of Jason
Forrest, an experimental music|experimental and
breakcore musician. He is a fan of his more famous
namesake's music.

==See also==
*Best selling music artists - World's top selling
music artists chart.
*List of number-one hits (United States)
*List of artists who reached number one on the Hot
100 (US)
*List of number-one dance hits (United States)
*List of artists who reached number one on the US
Dance chart

==External links==
*http://www.donnasummer.com/ Official Donna Summer
Site
*http://demetz.net/Moroder-Summer/index.html The
Donna Summer and Giorgio Moroder Tribute
*http://pub15.bravenet.com/sitering/show.php?usern
um=1215130285 The Donna Summer Web Ring
*http://www.donna-tribute.com/ The Donna Summer
Tribute Site
*http://people.delphiforums.com/raulcm/Pandora.htm
Pandora's Box: A tribute to Donna Summer's Life
and Music
*http://www.donnasummer.it/ Donna Summer Time
*http://www.donnasummer.org/ Donna Summer Internet