RIP Donna Summer

[Deafens Proner]

Disco queen Donna Summer has passed away at 63. The singer reportedly suffered complications from lung cancer. Her family has released a statement, saying they are "at peace celebrating her extraordinary life and continued legacy." She's survived by her husband and children. Born on New Year's Eve in 1948, Donna was influenced by Michael Jackson, The Supremes, and Janis Joplin growing up in Boston. Donna eventually moved to Germany to star in Hair, when the Broadway musical moved to Europe, and she picked up fluent German. She would marry and divorce a German man, Helmuth Sommer, but she kept his name in a way, changing hers from Donna Gaines to Donna Summer.

Even if you didn't grow up going to disco clubs, you probably know the words to many of her iconic songs, which include, "Last Dance," "Hot Stuff," and "Love to Love You Baby."

[Zagnorch P. Welinskivich II, Esq.]

Oddly enough, I'm more bummed by her passing than I was by Whitney Houston's.

She might not have been on the top tier of the 70s/80s pop-diva hierarchy, but I always dug her.


A few of my Donna Summer faves:

[Zagnorch P. Welinskivich II, Esq.]

Just read an MSN article where Donna Summer believed that her cancer most likely stemmed from debris from the 9/11 attacks:

http://now.msn.com/entert...18-donna-summer-9-11.aspx