Editing Donna Summer (section)

==Personal life==
[[File:Donna Summer Bruce Sudano Giorgio Moroder Beverly Hills.jpg|thumb|Photo from 2007, with (left to right) Francisca Gutierrez, wife of Summer's longtime collaborator [[Giorgio Moroder]], Summer, her husband [[Bruce Sudano]], and Moroder]]

Summer was raised in the [[African Methodist Episcopal Church]].<ref>[http://www1.whdh.com/news/articles/entertainment/music/12007498685651/friends-family-mourn-the-loss-of-donna-summer/ Whdh.com] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131105231112/http://www1.whdh.com/news/articles/entertainment/music/12007498685651/friends-family-mourn-the-loss-of-donna-summer/ |date=November 5, 2013 }}</ref>

Summer is reportedly a distant cousin of fellow singer [[Bobby Brown]], whose family was raised at the [[Roxbury, Massachusetts|Roxbury]] area of Boston in the 1960s and 1970s.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0113140/bio/|title=Bobby Brown - Biography - IMDb|work=[[IMDb]]|accessdate=May 15, 2025}}</ref>

She married Austrian actor Helmuth Sommer in 1973, and gave birth to their daughter Natalia Pia Melanie "Mimi" Sommer,<ref>{{cite web |last=Badger |first=Sylvia |title=Donna Summer's daughter weds amid flowers, lace |url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/1995/06/30/donna-summers-daughter-weds-amid-flowers-lace/ |work=The Baltimore Sun |date=June 30, 1995 |access-date=May 26, 2012 |archive-date=July 23, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120723105643/http://articles.baltimoresun.com/1995-06-30/features/1995181168_1_donna-summer-wedding-reception-wedding-party |url-status=live }}</ref> the same year; Summer then began performing under the name "Donna Sommer", which later changed to "Donna Summer" after her name was referred to as such as her first single "The Hostage" was released in 1974. In 1976, after three years of marriage, they divorced. 

Summer married [[Brooklyn Dreams (group)|Brooklyn Dreams]] singer-guitarist [[Bruce Sudano]] on July 16, 1980.<ref>"Singer Donna Summer Gives Birth," ''(Bridgewater, NJ) The Courier-News'', January 9, 1982, p. A2.</ref> They had two daughters together, [[Brooklyn Sudano]] and [[Amanda Sudano]].<ref>{{cite news|last1=Malan|first1=Jamie|title=Johnnyswim Confirms a Fall Tour|url=https://m.axs.com/johnnyswim-confirms-a-fall-us-tour-103445|website=AXS|access-date=22 July 2017}}</ref> The couple would remain married until Summer's death.

Summer was also one of the founding members of [[Oasis Church (Los Angeles)|Oasis Church]] in Los Angeles.<ref>{{cite news|title=Mosaic Oasis|newspaper=The New York Times|date=December 12, 2015 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/13/fashion/mosaic-oasis-hillsong-churches-los-angeles.html|last1=Marikar |first1=Sheila }}</ref>

Summer and her family moved from the [[Sherman Oaks]] area of Los Angeles to [[Nashville, Tennessee]], in 1995,<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-18187083 |title=Disco star Donna Summer's funeral held |work=BBC News |date=May 24, 2012 |access-date=August 20, 2014}}</ref> where she took time off from show business to focus on painting, a hobby she had developed in the 1980s.