LaDonna Adrian Gaines — better known as Donna Summer — was born 73 years ago today.
A singer, songwriter and painter, Summer gained prominence during the disco era of the late 1970s. She was the first artist to have three consecutive double albums reach #1 on the U.S. album chart and charted four #1 singles in the U.S. within a 12-month period.
Summer has reportedly sold over 130 million records, making her one of the world's best-selling artists of all time. While influenced by the counterculture of the 1960s, she became the front singer of a psychedelic rock band named, Crow, and moved to New York City.
Joining a touring version of the musical, Hair, she left New York and spent several years living, acting and singing in Europe, where she met music producers, Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte. She returned to the United States, in 1975 with mass commercial success of the song, Love to Love You Baby.
Over the following years, Summer followed this success with a string of other hits, such as "I Feel Love," "Last Dance," "MacArthur Park," "Heaven Knows," "Hot Stuff," "Bad Girls," "Dim All the Lights," "No More Tears (Enough Is Enough)" and "On the Radio."
Diagnosed with lung cancer (not related to smoking), Summer died on May 17, 2012, at her home in Naples, Florida.