A diva in the truest sense of the word. Born December 31, 1948 as
LaDonna Adrian
Gaines, she moved to Germany at the age of 17, starring in musicals such as
Porgy and Bess. She married Austrian Helmuht
Sommer at the age of 25 and had one daughter with him, the lovely Mimi Summer. She later divorced
Helmut Summer, but kept his name as her stage name. She met producer
Giorgio Moroder, who she would continue to work with throughout her career. In 1974, she recorded her first album, Lady of the Night. And in 1975, she recorded the controversial hit "Love to Love You Baby." The full-length song supposedly includes 21 orgasmic moans. She recorded a number of albums after 1975, very quickly, one after the other. These include Four Seasons of Love, I Remember Yesterday and Once Upon a Time (one of my personal favorites). In 1979 with the release of
Bad Girls, she became the first female artist to score back to back triple-platinum double albums. Her career suffered in the 80s, her most notable success being
1983's She Works Hard for the Money. She married husband Bruce Sudano in 1980, and had two daughters with him, Brooklyn and Amanda.
Yeah, in case you didn't know, Donna Summer is a gilf and kind of a big deal.