Queen Of Disco Donna Summer Dies At Age 63

From the age of eight, Summer sang in church choirs and city-wide choruses, and by her early twenties, was performing in musical theatre in Germany, winning parts in such highly-acclaimed shows as Hair, Showboat, Godspell, and Porgy and Bess as well as performing with the Viennese Folk Opera. She released her first single, a cover of the Jaynett’s girl-group classic, “Sally Go Round The Roses,” in 1971. While singing backup, she met producers Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte who produced her first single, “Hostage,” which became a hit in the Netherlands, France, and Belgium. In 1975, Moroder and Bellotte produced the international hit, “Love to Love You Baby,” which rose to No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and triggered Summer’s triumphant return to the United States as a key figure of the then-emerging disco genre. “Love To Love You Baby” paved the way for such international hits as “MacArthur Park,” “Bad Girls,” “Hot Stuff,” “Dim All The Lights,” “On The Radio,” and “Enough Is Enough,” as well as the Grammy and Academy award winning theme song “Last Dance,” from the film “Thank God It’s Friday,” which remains a milestone in Donna’s career.