17 May 2012, American singer, songwriter, and actress, Donna Summer, passed away from lung cancer, at her home in Naples, Florida.
She gained prominence during the disco era of the 1970s and became known as the "Queen of Disco", while her music gained a global following.
Summer was the first artist to have three consecutive double albums reach No. 1 on Billboard's album chart: Live and More, Bad Girls and On the Radio: Greatest Hits Volumes I & II. She became a cultural icon and her prominence on the dance charts, for which she was referred to as the Queen of Disco, made her not just one of the defining voices of that era, but also an influence on pop artists from Madonna to Beyoncé. Unlike some other stars of disco who faded as the music became less popular in the early 1980s, Summer was able to grow beyond the genre and segued to a pop-rock sound.
Summer amassed a total of 42 hit singles on the US Billboard Hot 100 in her lifetime, with 14 of those reaching the Top 10.
She sold over 100 million records worldwide, making her one of the best-selling music artists of all time. She won five Grammy Awards. In her obituary in The Times, she was described as the "undisputed queen of the Seventies disco boom" who reached the status of "one of the world's leading female singers.
In 2013, Summer was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In December 2016, Billboard ranked her sixth on its list of the "Greatest of All Time Top Dance Club Artists".
Today we give tribute to the Queen of Disco, Donna Summer.
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