On May 14, I applauded a contestant at Windy City Gay Idol for drawing the microphone away from his mouth while singing. I told him it offers a great visage, but I have only seen two sirens do that flawlessly and still have their voice hit the mic; Sinead O'Connor and Donna Summer. Three days later, Summer lost her bout with lung cancer. She was 63. The vocal powerhouse was a private person to the extent that many did not know she was ill.
Summer will be remembered for her disco-era staples like "On the Radio," "Last Dance" and "MacArthur Park," thus earning the moniker "The Queen of Disco." Her enduring hits were the soundtrack in nightclubs and live on at wedding receptions. Not just another disco diva, Summer wrote a large share of her own material while collaborating with Giorgio Moroder, Pete Bellotte and Harold Faltermeyer.
The dance charts provided her a home. Her last Top 40 pop hit was 1989's "This Time I Know It's for Real." The follow-up sessions with the hit production team Stock Aitken Waterman were troubled. Some of the material from these ultimately would go to Lonnie Gordon, most notably the hit "Happenin' All over Again."
There were rumors that Summer made anti-gay comments and claimed that AIDS was a divine punishment in the '80s. This soured my interest in familiarizing myself more with her catalog. Summer insisted the quotes were not true and asked for forgiveness to her loyal LGBT fan base. In 1998, she performed at Carnegie Hall, raising $400,000 for the AIDS-related organization Gay Men's Health Crisis.
Her multiple retrospectives show how influential her music is. Legions of artists have tapped Summer's vaults for samples or for remakes. The impressive list includes Blondie, Dolly Parton, violinist Vanessa Mae and the group TLC as well as duets of kd lang with Andy Bell and Marc Almond with Bronski Beat. House vocalist Juliet Roberts and openly gay singer Jeffree Star both have done fantastic versions of "Bad Girls."
In the liner notes to David Bowie's Sound and Vision, when Brian Eno first heard how "I Feel Love" had only a synthesized backing track, he said to Bowie, "I have heard the sound of the future." The sequencing on "I Feel Love" is used on Kylie Minogue's 2000 album track "Light Years" and Madonna's "Future Lovers" from 2005. Even Summer's own tunes "Now I Need You," "Work That Magic," and "Love Is a Healer" feature a pulsating groove similar to the one on "I Feel Love."
The late singer said that she would no longer perform her breakthrough hit, the overly sensual "Love to Love You Baby," because of her strong religious beliefs. Beyoncé sampled this track on the popular 2004 single "Naughty Girl." When I saw Summer at the Taste of Chicago shortly thereafter, "Love to Love You Baby" returned to her repertoire. In 2011, she recorded a new version of it for an ad for the Diesel perfume Loverdose.
Critics reference Summer's trademark sound when somebody releases material that blends dance music with pop melodies and a strong vocal. Such is the case with Madonna's Confessions on the Dancefloor and Janet Jackson's single "Together Again."
Summer's impressive list of hits has spilled over into pop culture. On RuPaul's Drag Race, Manila Luzon's theatrical performance of the chart-topper "MacArthur Park" left the judges awestruck. Even fellow contestant Alexis Mateo said, "I'm looking at Manila and I'm going, 'Wow—this is Broadway.'" During the show's next season, Chicago's The Princess eliminated Lashauwn Beyond after a fierce interpretation of "Bad Girls."
On South Park, Eric Cartman performs a hilarious take of the women's-liberation anthem "She Works Hard for the Money" for an audition.
American Idol had contestants trying to tackle Summer's catalog on several occasions. She even made appearances to sing and mentor the hopefuls.
Few know that Summer had struggles with depression, survived an abusive relationship, had an addiction to prescription medications in the '70s and attempted to kill herself by jumping out of a window, but was saved by a hotel maid.
The first time that a Grammy was given for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance, Summer won it for the hit "Hot Stuff." Similarly, she won the Grammy for the new category for Best Dance Recording for "Carry On" in 1998. Although Summer is not in the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame yet, she was inducted in the initial class for the Dance Music Hall of Fame.
Undoubtedly, the "Heaven Knows" singer will forever be tied to disco. She also ventured into making music in other genres. She was also an avid painter and wrote her autobiography Ordinary Girl: The Journey, which Villard published in 2003. Her memoirs were set to become a musical containing new material next to her beloved hits in 1999 but this was delayed repeatedly. She teamed with Junior Vasquez on the song "My Life" for the piece.
In a 2010 interview with Allvoices.com, Summer said she was planning on working on a dance album and a collection of standards. Her last single, "To Paris with Love," was her 16th visit to the summit on the club charts. The 2003 retrospective The Journey and 1999's Live & More Encore serve as ideal keepsakes of the late talent's remarkable career.
