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Donna Adrian Gaines was born
on December 31, 1948 in Boston (Mass.) but we could say her story
began a few years later, when she sang solo for the first time
in a church choir. She realized she was singing beautifully and
noticed she had brought tears to the eyes of the whole congregation,
which included her father. Something clicked within her heart.
Not casually her first musical idol became legendary gospel singer
Mahalia Jackson.
Growing up, her love for music
was such that she often played hookey to take singing lessons
or to visit record stores. Her parents tried to make her behave
properly, but music was all that mattered to Donna. At home,
with her sisters, she sang like Barbra Streisand, or the Supremes,
or Dionne Warwick. Later she sang in a Boston psychedelic rock
band called THE CROW. In 1967 she went to New York to audition
for a part in HAIR, and got a part in the German cast of the
show just a few weeks before graduating
In Germany,
after acquiring some experience in the music theatre field (GODSPELL,
SHOWBOAT, THE ME THAT NOBODY KNOWS) she got noticed by Giorgio
Moroder and Pete Bellotte, a newly formed producer/writer team
with whom, in a couple of years' time, she managed to become
an international superstar.
Her first big hit
was LOVE TO LOVE YOU BABY, a highly erotic recording which launched
her sexy diva image, taking full advantage of her good looks.
Donna played the game and sang tracks like TRY ME, COULD IT BE
MAGIC and SPRING AFFAIR - hoping the public would also pay attention
to her musical gifts. Almost at the same time she divorced from
Helmut Sommer, an Austrian actor who had given her her first
daughter, in addition to her stage name. Since 1977 she cut a
string of recordings which can be easily described as historic.
Sure, it wasn't completely her own work, yet we must keep in
our minds that without her unique vocal skills it would've been
impossible for Moroder & co. to materialize their wild musical
dreams.
Some critics, probably biased by some
of her sexy material, thought Donna's voice was not that great:
irrefutable proofs of bravura like LAST DANCE and MAC ARTHUR
PARK seemed to arrive to prove them wrong. The official awards
arrived too: gold records, platinum records and the first Grammy,
for LAST DANCE (a song that let its author Paul Jabara win an
Oscar). Donna was crowned "The Queen of disco" but
was far from being satisfied: she wanted to show she could sing
any kind of music, rock and roll included. HOT STUFF let her
win a Grammy in the Best Female Rock Vocal Performance category.
Soon the sexy image she had
never felt comfortable in wearied her, so Donna decided to get
rid of it. In 1979 (BAD GIRLS) she aimed at having her talent
as a songwriter considered. The next year, with THE WANDERER,
she was ready to open her heart and go through spiritual themes
which reflected her "born again" Christian condition.
She married again, with Bruce Sudano of the Brooklyn Dreams,
and this time it's for real. In 1981 she
wanted to offer a more personal, free-from-the-trends image of
herself, but her record company thought it was a commercial hazard
and decided to put an end to the Summer/Moroder/Bellotte association.
At this point Donna began her wandering from one
great music producer to another (Quincy Jones, Richard Perry,
Keith Diamond, but most of all Michael Omartian) succeeding in
showing she wasn't the singing puppet with no resources of her
own many had thought she was during the first part of her career.
Under Omartian's direction she got two Grammys for
Best Inspirational Vocal Performance (HE'S A REBEL and FORGIVE
ME) and, in 1994, she recorded a stunning Christmas album (CHRISTMAS
SPIRIT). In 1998 a quick reunion with Moroder let her win a Grammy
in the Best Dance Recording category - two years later she got
nominated again thanks to her electrifying version of Andrea
Bocelli's CON TE PARTIRO' (I WILL GO WITH YOU).
Today
Donna Summer can afford the luxury to include both the Gershwins
and Stock, Aitken & Waterman in her shows, write pop songs
in Nashville and climb the dance charts with the same ease. During
most of the 90's she's been quite absent from the recording market,
but her voice and style have become synonymous with beauty, power
and passion: the modern way, her modern way, has become
a classic.
Apart from an ambitious musical project
she's been working on for a very long time, the new millennium
finds Donna writing a remarkably candid memoir (ORDINARY GIRL,
out in October 2003) and getting ready for a major, much deserved
comeback. The album of the rebirth, entitled CRAYONS, is released
in May 2008 and celebrates all the colors and nuances of music
that have made Donna Summer an absolutely unique artist.
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