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.
