Editing Donna Summer (section)

==Music career==
===1974–1976: Initial success===
[[File:Van Oekel's Discohoek van de VPRO, dec. 1974 - 01.jpg|thumb|left|Summer at Van Oekel's Discohoek, 1974]]
While working as a model part-time and backing singer in Munich, Summer met producer [[Giorgio Moroder]] and [[Pete Bellotte]] during a recording session for [[Three Dog Night]] at [[Musicland Studios]]. The trio forged a working partnership and Donna was signed to Moroder's Oasis label in 1974. A demo tape of Summer's work with Moroder and Bellotte led to a deal with the European-distributed label Groovy Records. Due to an error on the record cover, Donna Sommer became Donna Summer; the name stuck. Summer's first album, ''[[Lady of the Night (album)|Lady of the Night]]'', was released in 1974. Unlike the records she would be known for, most of the material on the album had elements of [[symphonic rock]] and [[pop music|pop]]. Though the album itself didn't chart, it spawned two singles, "[[The Hostage (song)|The Hostage]]" and the [[Lady of the Night (song)|title track]]. Both songs hit the top ten in various European countries including the Netherlands, Sweden, Germany and Belgium. "The Hostage" was removed from radio playlists in Germany because of the song's subject matter: a high ranking politician that had recently been kidnapped and held for ransom.<ref name="CLbio">{{cite web|url=http://www.classicbands.com/summer.html |title=Donna Summer |publisher=Classicbands.com |access-date=August 20, 2014}}</ref> One of her first TV appearances was in the Dutch television show, ''[[Van Oekel's Discohoek]]'', which started the breakthrough of "The Hostage", and in which she gracefully went along with the scripted absurdity and chaos in the show.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bashakker.nl/2013/discoverhaal-donna-summervan-oekel-varagids/|title =Disco verhaal Donna Summer van Oekel|last=Hakker|first=Bas|date=19 November 2013|language=nl|access-date=26 October 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1Abfmg3k7g|title=Van Oekel's Discohoek: Donna Summer -The Hostage (video)
|website=[[YouTube]]
}}</ref>

[[File:I Feel Love - Cash Box ad 1977.jpg|thumb|upright|''[[Cashbox (magazine)|Cashbox]]'' advertisement, August 20, 1977]]
After noticing that [[disco]] was rising in Europe during the year ''Lady of the Night'' was issued, Moroder and Belotte began to produce a disco song that had yet to have words, until Summer passed on an idea for a song to Moroder that was to be given to another artist, called "[[Love to Love You Baby (song)|Love to Love You]]", inspired by the successful re-release of [[Jane Birkin]] and [[Serge Gainsbourg]]'s "[[Je t'aime... moi non plus]]". It was decided then that Summer recorded a [[demo recording|demo]] of the song with Summer performing the song in a heavily accentuated [[Marilyn Monroe]] type voice.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.billboard.com/pro/donna-summer-love-you-baby-hot-100-200-rewinding-charts/|title=Donna Summer's 'Love to Love You Baby' Debuted Today in 1975|date=November 1, 2017|work=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]|accessdate=May 14, 2025}}</ref> However, upon hearing playback, Moroder changed his mind and decided that the Summer version should be released instead. In 1975, Moroder sent the song to several American record labels, hoping to seek a deal and soon grabbed the attention of [[Neil Bogart]], president of [[Casablanca Records]]. Upon playing the song at extravagant industry parties, the song was so popular that it was played repeatedly throughout the night. The impresario soon demanded that Moroder produce a longer version for [[nightclubs|discothèques]]. A 16-minute version was soon sent and Bogart tweaked the title, changing it from "Love to Love You" to "Love to Love You Baby". Oasis was soon given a distribution deal with Casablanca in July 1975 and the [[Love to Love You Baby (album)|album of the same name]] was released the following month. The singles wouldn't receive a full commercial release until November where it was issued in the United States, with the shorter 7" version playing on radio and the 16-minute version playing in discos.

The song became Summer's first entry into the [[Billboard Hot 100|''Billboard'' Hot 100]] and peaked at number two on the chart in February 1976 and became her first [[RIAA certification|gold-certified single]]. The album would also be certified gold for selling over a million copies alone in the US. The song generated controversy due to Summer's moans and groans, which emulated lovemaking, and some American stations, like those in Europe with the initial release, refused to play it.<ref name="telegraph2"/> Despite this, "Love to Love You Baby" found chart success in several European countries, and made the Top 5 in the United Kingdom despite the BBC ban. Almost immediately afterwards, Casablanca ordered a series of albums to follow its success. In 1976, Summer issued two more albums — ''[[A Love Trilogy]]'' and ''[[Four Seasons of Love]]'' — which, despite it charting lower than ''Love to Love You Baby'', would also be certified gold in the United States. Summer's immediate single follow-ups after "Love to Love You Baby" — a cover of [[Barry Manilow]]'s "[[Could It Be Magic#Donna Summer cover version|Could It Be Magic]]", "[[Try Me, I Know We Can Make It]]", "[[Spring Affair]]" and "[[Winter Melody]]", the latter being her first ballad, recorded under the [[soul music|soul]] style and her first US release where she was belting, rather than singing in [[soprano]] — failed to reach the top 40 of any global chart including the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. During this era, Summer appeared on the dance shows, ''[[American Bandstand]]'' and ''[[Soul Train]]''. 

===1977–1979: Breakthrough success===
[[File:Donna Summer 1977.JPG|thumb|left|upright|Summer in a recording studio in September 1977]]
In 1977, Summer released the [[concept album]], ''[[I Remember Yesterday]]''. The futuristic-sounding "[[I Feel Love]]" returned Summer to the top ten of the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, peaking at number six, while becoming her first and only number one single in the UK.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://ultimateclassicrock.com/donna-summer-i-feel-love/|title=How Donna Summer Created the Sound of the Future on 'I Feel Love'|work=Ultimate Classic Rock|date=July 2, 2022|accessdate=May 14, 2025}}</ref> The single became her second to go gold while ''I Remember Yesterday'' was also a certified hit and was her first since ''Love to Love You Baby'' to crack the top 20 of the [[Billboard 200|''Billboard'' 200]]. This success helped Summer to receive her first [[American Music Award]] nomination for [[American Music Award for Favorite Soul/R&B Female Artist|Favorite Soul/R&B Female Artist]]. Another concept album, ''[[Once Upon a Time (Donna Summer album)|Once Upon a Time]]'', was quickly followed and much like Summer's previous albums before it also was certified gold for selling over a million copies. ''Once Upon a Time'' hit number one on the ''Billboard'' [[Dance Club Songs|National Disco Action]] chart while the single, "[[I Love You (Donna Summer song)|I Love You]]" barely cracked the top 40 in the US while reaching number 10 in the UK. Most of Summer's singles chart successes during this era was in the UK, with Summer having top 20 hits there with songs such as "[[Down Deep Inside]]" as the theme song for the 1977 film ''[[The Deep (1977 film)|The Deep]]'', "[[I Remember Yesterday (song)|I Remember Yesterday]]" and "[[Love's Unkind]]", which peaked at number three.

By 1978, having fully resettled in the United States after splitting time between there and Munich, where much of her albums had been recorded, Summer accepted her first film role for the disco-themed ''[[Thank God It's Friday (film)|Thank God It's Friday]]''. Summer would contribute three songs to its soundtrack, including the [[Paul Jabara]]-composed "[[Last Dance (Donna Summer song)|Last Dance]]", which returned Summer to the top ten of the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, peaking at number three, also reaching number 5 on the [[Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs|Hot Soul Singles]] chart and topped the National Disco Action chart, her second single to do so. The song became one of Summer's [[signature song]]s and won the singer her first [[Grammy Award]] for [[Grammy Award for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance|Best Female R&B Vocal Performance]] while Jabara won the [[Golden Globe Award|Golden Globe]] and [[Academy Award]] for the composition. It would also be the first of eight consecutive top five hit records Summer would have in the next two years.

On November 11, 1978, Summer scored her first number one single on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 with her rendition of the [[Jimmy Webb]] ballad, "[[MacArthur Park (song)|MacArthur Park]]", which topped the chart for three weeks and became her fourth gold-certified single; it would be Webb's only number one hit on the Hot 100.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=http://www.billboard.com/charts/hot-100/1978-11-11 |title=Billboard Hot 100 |magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]] |date= November 11, 1978 |issn=0006-2510}}</ref> On that same day, Summer's first [[live album]], ''[[Live and More]]'', topped the ''Billboard'' 200, Summer's first album to do so. Summer became just the [[List of artists who have achieved simultaneous number-one single and album in the United States|fourth solo black artist to simultaneously have the number one single and album in the US]]. ''Live and More'' became her first album to be certified platinum in the US. Before the end of the year, Summer released a collaborative song with [[Brooklyn Dreams (group)|Brooklyn Dreams]] singer [[Joe "Bean" Esposito]] on the song "[[Heaven Knows (Donna Summer song)|Heaven Knows]]", which would peak at number four on the Hot 100 in early 1979. On January 9, 1979, Summer performed the ballad "Mimi's Song" on the globally-televised [[Music for UNICEF Concert]] special, which aimed at raising funds and awareness for children across the globe.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/january-9/pop-luminaries-gather-at-the-u-n-for-the-music-for-unicef-concert|title=Pop Luminaries gather at the U.N. for the Music for UNICEF Concert - January 9, 1979|work=[[History Channel]]|accessdate=May 13, 2025}}</ref> On January 12, Summer won three American Music Awards, all in the disco category, at the [[American Music Awards of 1979|6th annual ceremony]].

===1979–1980: ''Bad Girls'' and fallout with Casablanca===
[[File:Donna Summer (1980 ABC special "Bad Girl" promo photo).jpg|thumb|upright|Summer performing "Bad Girls" during ''[[The Donna Summer Special]]'', 1980]]

At the tail-end of 1978, Summer, Moroder and Belotte began working on her seventh studio album, ''[[Bad Girls (Donna Summer album)|Bad Girls]]''. Noting the rise of [[punk rock]] and [[heavy metal music]], the producers and Summer sought to go for a [[rock music|rock]]ier edge on some of the songs while other songs leaned into Summer's R&B roots. [[Harold Faltermeyer]], with whom Moroder had collaborated on the film, ''[[Midnight Express (film)|Midnight Express]]'', was brought in to be the [[arrangement (music)|arranger]] of the album. Released on April 25, 1979, ''Bad Girls'' became an immediate success. The first single, the rock-leaning dance number "[[Hot Stuff (Donna Summer song)|Hot Stuff]]" became Summer's second number one single on the Hot 100, followed by the [[funk rock]]-leaning [[Bad Girls (Donna Summer song)|title track]], the latter of which helped Summer make history as the first female artist of the [[rock and roll|rock era]] to send two songs simultaneously to the top five of the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and later topped the Hot 100 itself for a five-week run. On June 16, the album became Summer's second number one on the ''Billboard'' 200; on that same date, "Hot Stuff" had returned to number one on the Hot 100.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=http://www.billboard.com/charts/hot-100/1979-06-16 |title=Billboard Hot 100 |magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]] |date=16 June 1979 |issn=0006-2510}}</ref> The album would be Summer's longest-running number one album at six weeks. It also became Summer's first to top the [[Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums|Top Soul LPs]] chart, with the title track also becoming Summer's first to top the [[Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs|Hot Soul Singles]] chart. The album would go on to be certified double-platinum in the United States for sales of over two million copies in the US and sell four million units worldwide.<ref name="ussales">{{cite news |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/gallery/donna-summer-death-career-pictures-326135/4-bad-girls/|title=Donna Summer: The Disco Queen's Life and Career in Pictures|newspaper=[[The Hollywood Reporter]]|date=May 17, 2012|access-date=September 23, 2021|quote=It became the best-selling album of Summer's recording career, selling 4 million copies worldwide, (...)|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210923045921/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/gallery/donna-summer-death-career-pictures-326135/4-bad-girls/|archive-date=September 23, 2021|url-status=live}}</ref> At the time, it was the most successful album by a black female artist in history until the releases of [[Tina Turner]]'s ''[[Private Dancer]]'' and [[Whitney Houston]]'s [[Whitney Houston (album)|self-titled debut]] in the [[1980s in music|1980s]].

During promotion of the album, Summer collaborated with [[Barbra Streisand]] on the Paul Jabara composition, "[[No More Tears (Enough is Enough)]]", which was featured on Streisand's ''[[Wet (album)|Wet]]'' album. Around the same time, Summer sought to release "[[Dim All the Lights]]", which was the first sole composition of her career and had hoped she would earn a number one pop single as a songwriter. However, Casablanca Records president Neil Bogart was reportedly more enthusiastic about the release of "No More Tears". Both songs became hits and appeared in the top five of the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 simultaneously, repeating what Summer had done earlier in the year.<ref>{{cite book
| first= Joel
| last= Whitburn
| year= 1990
| title= The Billboard Hot 100 Charts: The Seventies (30 June - 21 July 1979, 17 November 1979)
| publisher= Record Research, Inc.
| location= Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin
| isbn= 0-89820-076-8}}</ref> "Dim All the Lights", however, peaked at number two while "No More Tears" peaked at number one. And while Summer achieved another historic feat by becoming the first female artist to have three number one singles in a calendar year and having recorded seven consecutive top ten hits by then, Summer was angry that Bogart refused to promote "Dim All the Lights" more, leading to a rift between the artist and Casablanca Records.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=26145 |title=Dim All the Lights by Donna Summer Songfacts | access-date=8 September 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.officialcharts.com/search/singles/NO%20MORE%20TEARS%20%28ENOUGH%20IS%20ENOUGH%29/ |title=No More Tears (Enough Is Enough): Official Charts Company |work=Officialcharts.com | access-date=9 September 2021}}</ref> 

''Bad Girls'' resulted in multiple award wins and nominations for Summer. In January 1980, the artist won three more American Music Awards including [[American Music Award for Favorite Pop/Rock Female Artist|Favorite Pop/Rock Female Artist]]. At the [[22nd Annual Grammy Awards|1980 Grammy Awards]], Summer received the first Grammy Award in the category of [[Grammy Award for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance|Best Female Rock Vocal Performance]] for "Hot Stuff", however, she lost the [[Grammy Award for Album of the Year|Album of the Year]] category to [[Billy Joel]]'s ''[[52nd Street (album)|52nd Street]]''. During 1979, Summer played eight sold-out shows at the [[Universal Amphitheater]] in Los Angeles. In October, Casablanca released the first worldwide [[greatest hits]] compilation set, ''[[On the Radio: Greatest Hits Volumes I & II]]''. The album was remixed with each song on the compilation segueing into the next, featuring "No More Tears" and a newer song, "[[On the Radio (Donna Summer song)|On the Radio]]", which was featured in the soundtrack to the film, ''[[Foxes (film)|Foxes]]''. The title track became another top ten hit for Summer, reaching number 5 in early 1980, while the compilation topped the ''Billboard'' 200 on January 5. Like her previous albums, the album would be certified platinum. 

On January 27, 1980, Summer had her own nationally-televised special, ''[[The Donna Summer Special]]'',<ref name=NYT>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/tv/show/46047/Donna-Summer-Special/overview|title=The Donna Summer Special|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref> which aired on ABC. At this point, Casablanca had wanted Summer to continue releasing singles off the ''Bad Girls'' album but Summer reportedly wanted to venture out of the genre to record her own songs. Following by the receptive failure of "Walk Away" from the ''Bad Girls'' project, Summer sought a new recording deal, later signing with [[David Geffen]]'s recently-formed [[Geffen Records|Geffen]] label. Summer later sued Casablanca for $10 million, leading to a countersuit. Summer would end up settling with Casablanca with rights to her song publishings.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/3554408/Donna-Summer-too-hot-to-handle.html |title=Donna Summer: too hot to handle |newspaper=The Telegraph |date=June 13, 2008 |access-date=August 20, 2014}}</ref>

===1980–1985: ''She Works Hard for the Money'' and issues with Geffen===
[[File:Donna_Summer_(1980-10_Geffen_promo_portrait).jpg|left|thumb|Donna Summer during the photoshoot for her first Geffen Records album, ''The Wanderer'', 1980.]]
At the time of Summer signing with Geffen, [[disco]] experienced a [[disco backlash|major fallout with the American record buying public]]. Some radio stations, wanting a return to rock-oriented material, began banning any urban-sounding dance single from playing on the airwaves, which led to many careers that thrived in the disco era to fade from the charts. Summer, who had desired to record different music, took the opportunity to do so on her first Geffen release, ''[[The Wanderer (Donna Summer album)|The Wanderer]]'', which featured elements of [[rock music|rock]], [[new wave music|new wave]] and [[inspirational music]]. The [[The Wanderer (Donna Summer song)|title track]] returned Summer to the top five of the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 but the album itself was only moderately successful, peaking at number 13 on the ''Billboard'' 200. The album's follow-ups, "[[Cold Love]]" and "[[Who Do You Think You're Foolin']]" barely cracked the top 40.<ref name="interview1">{{cite web|author=Harold Faltermeyer|title=Flood Of Memory: The Summer Reign On Sunset Blvd|url=http://Daeida.com|access-date=May 13, 2014}}</ref> Still, ''The Wanderer'' became Summer's ninth consecutive gold-certified album in the United States. At the [[33rd Annual Grammy Awards]], Summer won nominations for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance ("Cold Love") and [[Grammy Award for Best Inspirational Performance|Best Inspirational Performance]] ("I Believe in Jesus").

In 1981, Summer, Moroder and Belotte had set to work on the next Geffen release. In the middle of production, David Geffen stopped by the studio to preview the album and was told that while the album was a work in progress that it was close to being done. But Geffen, having heard only a few of the finished tracks and others still in demo form, felt the album "wasn't good enough" and cancelled the project. Later, that album would be released under the title, ''[[I'm a Rainbow]]''.<ref name="interview1"/> Geffen felt Summer's music should be aimed more at black audiences and had the singer work with [[Quincy Jones]] on what would be her second Geffen release, the eponymously titled ''[[Donna Summer (album)|Donna Summer]]'' album, which was released in 1982. The project was recorded under difficult circumstances for Summer. That year, she was pregnant with her and [[Bruce Sudano]]'s second child and in May, Neil Bogart died from a bout with cancer at 39. Despite their acrimonious split, Summer sang at Bogart's funeral.<ref name="bogartfuneral">{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1982/05/12/a-rock-farewell/2d38580c-7fb0-4217-93c1-8eae0ae61534/|title=A Rock Farewell|author=Steve Pond|work=[[The Washington Post]]|date=May 11, 1982|accessdate=May 14, 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://mixmag.net/feature/from-the-archive-donna-summer-interview-january-1995|work=[[Mixmag]]|title=From the archive: When Donna Summer Made Her Comeback|accessdate=May 14, 2025}}</ref>

Upon the release of ''Donna Summer'', the album peaked inside the top 20 and produced the top ten hit, "[[Love Is in Control (Finger on the Trigger)]]" but, much like ''The Wanderer'' before it, its subsequent follow-ups — a cover of the [[Jon and Vangelis]] song "[[State of Independence]]" and "[[The Woman in Me (Donna Summer song)|The Woman in Me]]" — failed to match it, with "State of Independence" becoming her first single since "[[Rumour Has It (Donna Summer song)|Rumour Has It]]" to not crack the top 40. Around this time, Geffen had been notified by [[Polygram Records]], which now owned Casablanca, that Summer still needed to deliver to them one more album to fulfill her contract. The result was the album, ''[[She Works Hard for the Money (album)|She Works Hard for the Money]]'', produced by [[Michael Omartian]], and released in 1983 on [[Mercury Records]]. The [[She Works Hard for the Money (song)|title track]] returned her to the top five of the Hot 100 in three years, peaking at number three, while becoming her second number one single on the Hot Soul Singles chart, where it stayed for three weeks. It received a Grammy nomination for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. The video, directed by [[Brian Grant (director)|Brian Grant]], was one of the first times that a black female artist achieved a video spinning on heavy rotation on [[MTV]] in August 1983. Summer later was nominated for [[MTV Video Music Award for Best Female Video|Best Female Video]] at the [[1984 MTV Video Music Awards|inaugural MTV Video Music Awards]] ceremony, losing to [[Cyndi Lauper]]'s "[[Girls Just Want to Have Fun]]". Grant later directed Summer's [[Costa Mesa, California|Costa Mesa]] HBO concert special, ''A Hot Summers Night''.<ref>{{cite news|title=Brian Grant/Directing A Diva (Donna Summer)|first=David|last=St. Mark|work=Daeida Magazine|date=February 2013|pages=12–16}}</ref> ''She Works Hard for the Money'' peaked at number 9 on the ''Billboard'' 200 and would become Summer's eleventh and final album to be certified gold in the United States. Much like Summer's previous post-Casablanca releases, the follow-ups on the album — "[[Unconditional Love (Donna Summer song)|Unconditional Love]]" and "[[Love Has a Mind of Its Own]]" — didn't hit the top 40. The ballad, "[[He's a Rebel (Donna Summer song)|He's a Rebel]]", won the singer her third Grammy for Best Inspirational Performance.

Due to his success on ''She Works Hard for the Money'', Geffen hired Michael Omartian to produce Summer's next Geffen release, ''[[Cats Without Claws]]''. Though Summer was happy Geffen stayed out of the studio during its recording and thanked him on the album's liner notes, Geffen refused her request to release the track, "Oh Billy Please", for a lead single, choosing to go with her cover of [[the Drifters]]' "[[There Goes My Baby (The Drifters song)|There Goes My Baby]]" instead. ''Cats Without Claws'' was released on September 11, 1984 and peaked at number 40 on the ''Billboard'' 200, her lowest to chart in her career at the time. It was the first Summer album to not go gold in the United States.<ref name="robio">{{cite web |url=http://rogallery.com/Summer_Donna/Summer-biography.html |title=Donna Summer Biography |work=Rogallery |access-date=June 13, 2014}}</ref> "There Goes My Baby" was also only a modest hit, reaching number 21 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, her first leading single to not reach the top ten since 1977. The video received heavy rotation on MTV but soon faded from the channel, thus becoming her last video to receive such success.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Billboard/80s/1984/BB-1984-10-06.pdf|title=Video Music Programming (MTV Adds & Rotation)|date=October 6, 1984|magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]|page=24|accessdate=May 14, 2025}}</ref> The second single, "Supernatural Love", flopped, peaking at number 75 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 with the video receiving only light rotation on MTV, becoming her last video to air on the channel. Summer earned her fourth Grammy in the inspirational category for the song "Forgive Me" on the album. On January 19, 1985, Summer's sang at the nationally televised 50th Presidential Inaugural Gala the day before the [[second inauguration of Ronald Reagan]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1985/01/21/the-super-duper-supernaugural-tvs-rush-to-gush-all-day/9e166bec-5424-49fd-804e-0ace6897cb6f/|title=The Super Duper Supernaugural! TV's Rush to Gush All Day|newspaper=Washington Post|date=January 21, 1985}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1985-01-20-mn-10424-story.html|title=Reagan Feted by a Festive Capital : Starts His Day With Snowman, Ends With Gala|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=January 20, 1985}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://carlanthonyonline.com/2013/01/11/reagans-1985-big-chill-inauguration-with-videos-part-7/ |title=Reagan's 1985 Big Chill Sunday Inauguration |first=Carl |last=Anthony |work=Carl Anthony Online |date=January 11, 2013 |access-date=April 14, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160505014618/http://carlanthonyonline.com/2013/01/11/reagans-1985-big-chill-inauguration-with-videos-part-7/ |archive-date=May 5, 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

===1986–1989: ''All Systems Go'', ''Another Place and Time''===
[[File:Donna Summer C26796-19.jpg|upright=1.13|thumb|right| Donna Summer performing at the inaugural gala at the Convention Center in Washington DC in 1985]]

In 1986, Harold Faltermeyer wrote the title song for a German ski movie called ''[[Fire and Ice (1986 film)|Fire and Ice]]'', and thought Summer would be ideal to sing the song. He decided to reach out to Summer and, although she was not interested in singing the song, she was very much interested in working with Faltermeyer again. After a meeting with Geffen, the impresario was on board with the project. Summer's main objective for the album was that it have stronger R&B influences; Faltermeyer who had just finished doing the soundtracks to ''[[Top Gun]]'' and ''[[Fletch (film)|Fletch]]'', was after a tough FM-oriented sound. On completion, Geffen liked what he heard, but his executives did not think there were enough songs that could be deemed singles. They wanted Faltermeyer to produce "[[Dinner with Gershwin]]", but he was already busy with another project, so another producer was found. They also substituted a previous recording called "[[All Systems Go (Donna Summer album)|Bad Reputation]]", songs like "[[All Systems Go (Donna Summer album)|Fascination]]", fell by the wayside. Geffen had shared the vision of moving Summer into the R&B market as a veteran artist, but these expectations were not met. Faltermeyer, in a 2012 interview with ''Daeida Magazine'', said, "She was an older artist by then and the label's priority may have been on the youth market. The decision was made afterward by executives who were looking for a radio hit for 1987 and not something that would perhaps last beyond then."<ref>{{cite news|title=Harold Faltermeyer Flood of memory: The Summer reign on Sunset Blvd|first=David|last=St. Mark|work=Daeida.com|date=October 2012|pages=13–28}}</ref> Label president Ed Rosenblatt would later admit: "The company never intended to focus on established superstars".<ref>{{cite web|work=[[Los Angeles Times]]|date=April 16, 1989|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-04-16-ca-2322-story.html|title=Donna Summer: New Label, New Hit?|first=Paul|last=Grein|access-date=June 13, 2014}}</ref> The album ''[[All Systems Go (Donna Summer album)|All Systems Go]]'' became Summer's lowest charting studio album to date, reaching number 122. The single "Dinner with Gershwin" stalled at 48 in the US, though it became a hit in the UK, reaching number 13; the title track reached 54 in the same country.<ref name="chart proof">{{cite web |url=https://www.officialcharts.com/artist/16574/donna-summer/ |title=Donna Summer |publisher=Official Charts |access-date=January 19, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241130180533/https://www.officialcharts.com/artist/16574/donna-summer/ |archive-date=November 30, 2024}}</ref>

For Summer's next album, [[Geffen Records]] hired the British hit production team of [[Stock Aitken Waterman]] (or ''SAW''), who enjoyed success writing and producing for such acts as [[Kylie Minogue]], [[Bananarama]], and [[Rick Astley]], among others. The SAW team described the working experience as a "labor of love", and said it was their favorite album of all that they had recorded. Geffen decided not to release the album ''[[Another Place and Time]]'', and Summer and the label parted ways in 1988. The album was released in Europe in March 1989 on [[Warner Bros. Records]], which had been Summer's label in Europe since 1982. The single "[[This Time I Know It's for Real]]" became a top ten hit in several countries in Europe, prompting Warner Bros.' sister company, [[Atlantic Records]], to sign Summer in the US. The single peaked at number 7 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, becoming her first top ten single in six years, her fourteenth top ten hit in general, and her last; it also became her twelfth single to be certified gold in the US. Despite this, there was no successful follow-ups in the US and the album also declined to gold in Summer's home country, though in the UK, the album would be certified gold and produced two more hits in the country — "[[I Don't Wanna Get Hurt]]" and "[[Love's About to Change My Heart]]", — reaching numbers 7 and 20, respectively.<ref name="chart proof"/><ref>ITV1/network/The Hit factory: The Stock, Aitken and Waterman Story/Documentary/true story/air date 2012-08-06/</ref> During the same year of that album's release, Summer and husband Sudano had been in talks to do a new kind of reality-based sitcom. It would be based on their own hectic household. At the time, they lived with their children Amanda, Brooklyn and Mimi, two sets of in-laws, and a maid. The television network started changing the premise of the show, making it less funny. Sudano added, "and because we were an interracial couple, they didn't want us to be married anymore". In 1989, this was "an issue. So with that mentality we just backed out of it."<ref name="BIO2">{{Cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/3554408/Donna-Summer-too-hot-to-handle.html|first=Craig|last=McLean|date=June 13, 2008|title=Donna Summer: too hot to handle|work=The Telegraph|access-date=July 25, 2021}} {{subscription required}}</ref>

===1990–1999: ''Mistaken Identity'', acting, and ''Live & More Encore''===
In 1990, a [[Warner Bros. Records|Warner]] compilation, ''The Best of Donna Summer'', was released (no US issue). The album went gold in the UK after the song "[[State of Independence]]" was re-released there to promote the album. A remix of the ''Another Place and Time'' track "[[Breakaway (Donna Summer song)|Breakaway]]" was released from the same album, becoming a major hit in Latin America.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=A Journey Through Stock Aitken Waterman: Ep 64: If I Have To Stand Alone to Breakaway on Apple Podcasts |url=https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/ep-64-if-i-have-to-stand-alone-to-breakaway/id1565879477?i=1000633781103 |access-date=2023-11-12 |website=Apple Podcasts |language=en-AU}}</ref> Despite this success, Summer rejected Sudano's advice that she should record a second album with SAW, insisting that she wanted to make an [[Contemporary R&B|R&B]] record.<ref name=":0" /> The following year, Summer worked with producer Keith Diamond emerged with the album ''[[Mistaken Identity (Donna Summer album)|Mistaken Identity]]'', which included elements of R&B as well as [[new jack swing]]. The title track, "When Love Cries", hit number 18 on the Hot R&B Singles chart but peaked at number 77 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. It would be eight more years until Summer reached the Hot 100 again. The song subsequently became Summer's last to reach the R&B charts. ''Mistaken Identity'' was Summer's first album to not make the ''Billboard'' 200 and only reached number 97 on the Top R&B Albums chart. A year later, in 1992, Summer received a star on the [[Hollywood Walk of Fame]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.hwof.com/star/recording/donnasummer |title=Find a Star :: The Hollywood Walk of Fame |publisher=Hwof.com |access-date=August 20, 2014 |archive-date=August 8, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180808140151/http://www.hwof.com/star/recording/donnasummer |url-status=dead }}</ref> 

That year, Summer reunited with [[Giorgio Moroder]] on the song "[[Carry On (Donna Summer song)|Carry On]]", featured on the [[Polygram Records|Polygram]] release, ''[[The Donna Summer Anthology]]'', released the following year.<ref name="christian">{{cite web |url=http://www.meetchristians.com/new/tr_fr_view_thread.php?TID=1323086&r=&F=2/ |title=Discussion forum... View Thread |publisher=Meetchristians.com |access-date=August 20, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140821124041/http://www.meetchristians.com/new/tr_fr_view_thread.php?TID=1323086&r=&F=2%2F |archive-date=August 21, 2014 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all }}</ref>{{Unreliable source?|date=April 2021}} Summer reunited with Michael Omartian on her first holiday album, ''[[Christmas Spirit (Donna Summer album)|Christmas Spirit]]''. In 1995, the song, "[[Melody of Love (Wanna Be Loved)]]", featured on the compilation, ''[[Endless Summer: Donna Summer's Greatest Hits]]'', reached number one on the US [[Dance Club Songs]] chart and number 21 in the UK.<ref name="christian"/>{{Unreliable source?|date=April 2021}} During this time, Summer had role on the sitcom ''[[Family Matters]]'' as Steve Urkel's ([[Jaleel White]]) Aunt Oona. She made two appearances, season 5's "Aunt Oona" and season 8's "Pound Foolish". In 1998, Summer received the first Grammy Award for [[Best Dance Recording]], after a remixed version of her 1992 collaboration with Giorgio Moroder, "Carry On", was released in 1997. In 1999, Summer was asked to do the ''Divas '99'' concert special, which featured other music legends such as [[Cher]], [[Tina Turner]] and [[Whitney Houston]], but when she met with the producers, it was decided that they would do a special of Summer in concert by herself. Summer taped a live television special for [[VH1]] titled ''Donna Summer&nbsp;– [[Live & More Encore]]'', producing the second-highest ratings for the network that year, after their annual ''[[VH1 Divas|Divas]]'' special. A [[Live & More Encore|CD of the event]] was released by [[Epic Records]] and featured two studio recordings, "[[Con te partirò#Donna Summer version|I Will Go with You (Con te partirò)]]" and "[[Love Is the Healer]]", both of which reached No. 1 on the US dance charts.<ref name="CLbio"/> The former track returned her back to the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, peaking at number 79, it would be Summer's 32nd and final Hot 100 entry.

===2000–2012: Later recordings and ''Crayons''===
[[File:Nobel Peace Price Concert 2009 Donna Summer3.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Summer performing at the [[Nobel Peace Prize Concert]] 2009]]
In 2000, Summer participated in VH1's third annual ''[[VH1 Divas|Divas]]'' special, dedicated to [[Diana Ross]]; she sang the Supremes hit "[[Reflections (The Supremes song)|Reflections]]", and her own material for the show. "[[The Power of One (song)|The Power of One]]" is a theme song for the movie ''[[Pokémon: The Movie 2000]]''. The dramatic ballad was produced by [[David Foster]] and dance remixes were also issued to DJs and became another dance floor success for Summer, peaking at No. 2 on the same chart in 2000. In 2003, Summer issued her autobiography, ''Ordinary Girl: The Journey,'' and released a best-of set titled ''[[The Journey: The Very Best of Donna Summer]]''. In 2004, Summer was inducted into the [[Dance Music Hall of Fame]] as an artist, alongside the [[Bee Gees]] and [[Barry Gibb]]. Her classic song, "[[I Feel Love]]", was inducted that night as well. In 2004 and 2005, Summer's success on the dance charts continued with the songs "[[You're So Beautiful]]" and "[[I Got Your Love]]". In 2004, Summer re-recorded 'No More Tears (Enough Is Enough)' with the Irish pop band [[Westlife]] (with a live performance) for the compilation album, ''DiscoMania''.

In 2008, Summer released her first studio album of fully original material in 17 years, entitled ''[[Crayons (album)|Crayons]]''. Released on the [[Sony BMG]] label [[Burgundy Records]], it peaked at No. 17 on the US Top 200 Album Chart, her highest placing on the chart since 1983. The songs "[[I'm a Fire]]", "[[Stamp Your Feet]]" and "[[Fame (The Game)]]" all reached No. 1 on the US ''Billboard'' Dance Chart. The ballad "[[Sand on My Feet]]" was released to adult contemporary stations and reached No. 30 on that chart. Summer said, "I wanted this album to have a lot of different directions on it. I did not want it to be any one baby. I just wanted it to be a sampler of flavors and influences from all over the world. There's a touch of this, a little smidgeon of that, a dash of something else, like when you're cooking."<ref name="crayon">{{cite web |url=http://www.hollywoodbowl.com/philpedia/donna-summer |title=About the Performer Donna Summer |work=[[Hollywood Bowl]] |publisher=[[Los Angeles Philharmonic Association]] |access-date=14 April 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160330004219/http://www.hollywoodbowl.com/philpedia/donna-summer |archive-date=March 30, 2016 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all }}</ref> On December 11, 2009, Donna Summer appeared at the Nobel Peace Prize Concert for [[Barack Obama]].<ref>{{YouTube|id=DK4Q9J01FQs|title=Donna Summer Live at Nobel Peace Prize Concert – 11 December 2009}}</ref>

===2010–present: Final recordings and posthumous releases===
On July 29, 2010, Summer gave an interview with Allvoices.com wherein she was asked if she would consider doing an album of [[Traditional pop|standards]]. She said, "I actually am, probably in September. I will begin work on a standards album. I will probably do an all-out dance album and a standards album. I'm going to do both and we will release them however we're going to release them. We are not sure which is going first."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.allvoices.com/contributed-news/6418552-donna-summer-exclusi-ve-interview-bringing-her-summer-tour-to-hard-rock-live-on-august-18 |title=Entertainment |publisher=Allvoices.com |date=August 10, 2014 |access-date=August 20, 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714164617/http://www.allvoices.com/contributed-news/6418552-donna-summer-exclusi-ve-interview-bringing-her-summer-tour-to-hard-rock-live-on-august-18 |archive-date=July 14, 2014 |df=mdy-all }}</ref>

In August 2010, Summer released the single "[[To Paris with Love (song)|To Paris With Love]]", co-written with [[Bruce Roberts (singer)|Bruce Roberts]] and produced by Peter Stengaard. The single went to No. 1 on the US ''Billboard'' Dance Chart in October 2010. That month, Summer also appeared on the [[PBS]] television special ''[[David Foster|Hitman Returns: David Foster and Friends]]''. In it, Summer performed with [[Seal (musician)|Seal]] on a medley of the songs "[[Un-Break My Heart]]", "[[Crazy (Seal song)|Crazy]]", and "[[On the Radio (Donna Summer song)|On the Radio]]" before closing the show with "[[Last Dance (Donna Summer song)|Last Dance]]".<ref>{{cite web|title=Hitman Returns: David Foster & Friends|url=https://www.pbs.org/wnet/gperf/hitman-returns-david-foster-friends-preview-the-show/1075/|website=Great Performances|date=February 22, 2011|publisher=[[PBS]]|access-date=12 April 2017}}</ref> On September 15, 2010, Summer appeared as a guest celebrity, singing alongside contestant [[Prince Poppycock]], on the television show ''[[America's Got Talent (season 5)|America's Got Talent]]''.<ref>{{Citation |title=Donna Summer perform with Prince Poppycock on America_s Got Talent FINALE.mpg | date=September 16, 2010 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6MqtV34F-xE |language=en |access-date=2022-07-07}}</ref> Also in 2010, Summer recorded a version of the [[Dan Fogelberg]] song "Nether Lands" for a Fogelberg tribute project. According to a comment on Fogelberg's website, the song had great personal significance for Summer.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.danfogelberg.com/a-tribute-to-dan-fogelberg|title=A Tribute To Dan Fogelberg|first=Jean|last=Fogelberg|website=Danfogelberg|access-date=October 3, 2020|archive-date=April 12, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230412011429/https://www.danfogelberg.com/a-tribute-to-dan-fogelberg|url-status=dead}}</ref>

[[File:Donnasummer2011.jpg|thumb|upright|Summer in 2011]]
On June 6, 2011, Summer was a guest judge on the show ''[[Platinum Hit]]'', in an episode entitled "Dance Floor Royalty". In July of that same year, Summer was working at Paramount Recording Studios in Los Angeles with her nephew, the rapper and producer O'Mega Red. Together they worked on a track titled "Angel".<ref>{{cite web |title=Angel (feat. Donna Summer) |url=https://open.spotify.com/track/3XEL8kLgyYOPQ0WXWsFXjX?si=d3c15ba2b60d4893 |website=Spotify |access-date=12 April 2022}}</ref> On December 11, 2012, after four prior nominations, Summer was posthumously announced to be one of the 2013 inductees to the [[Rock and Roll Hall of Fame]],<ref name="rockhall">{{cite news|url=http://rockhall.com/pressroom/announcements/2013-inductees/|title=Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Announces 2013 Inductees|work=Rockhall.com|publisher=Rock and Roll Hall of Fame|date=December 11, 2012|access-date=December 11, 2012|archive-date=December 14, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121214014529/http://rockhall.com/pressroom/announcements/2013-inductees/|url-status=dead}}</ref> and was inducted on April 18, 2013, at Los Angeles' [[Nokia Theatre L.A. Live|Nokia Theater]].<ref name="rockhall"/>

A [[remix album]] titled ''[[Love to Love You Donna]]'', containing new remixes of some of Summer's classics, was released in October 2013.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://music.apple.com/gb/album/love-to-love-you-donna/711598547|title=iTunes – Music – Love To Love You Donna by Donna Summer|publisher=iTunes|date=October 18, 2013}}</ref> "[[MacArthur Park (song)|MacArthur Park]]" was remixed by [[Laidback Luke]] for the remix collection; it was also remixed by [[Ralphi Rosario]], which version was released to dance clubs all over America and successfully peaked at No. 1, giving Summer her first posthumous number-one single, and her sixteenth number-one on the charts.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://hangout.altsounds.com/news/163401-donna-summers-macarthur-park-2013-remix-1-a.html |title=Donna Summer's 'Macarthur Park 2013' Remix #1 on Billboard's Dance Club Songs Chart – #AltSounds |publisher=Hangout.altsounds.com |date=December 17, 2013 |access-date=August 20, 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140720151423/http://hangout.altsounds.com/news/163401-donna-summers-macarthur-park-2013-remix-1-a.html |archive-date=July 20, 2014 }}</ref> In 2021, Summer's estate released a reedited version of her ninth studio album ''[[I'm a Rainbow]]'', subtitled ''Recovered & Recoloured''. The new edition is reduced to 10 tracks (15 on vinyl and streaming releases), with each song remixed by contemporary producers and remixers.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Donna Summer / I'm A Rainbow: Recovered & Recoloured – SuperDeluxeEdition|date=June 25, 2021 |url=https://superdeluxeedition.com/news/donna-summer-im-a-rainbow-recovered-recoloured/|access-date=2021-07-20|language=en-US}}</ref> Her [[Donna Summer (album)|self-titled album]] was re-released in 2022 by Summer's estate subtitled as ''40th Anniversary Edition''.

In 2023, Summer's  ''She Works Hard For The Money'' album was re-released with additional mixes to commemorate the album's 40th Anniversary. That same year, a documentary revolving around Summer and her career, ''[[Love to Love You, Donna Summer]]'', directed by her daughter, [[Brooklyn Sudano]] and [[Roger Ross Williams]] had its world premiere at the [[73rd Berlin International Film Festival]] in February 2023, and was released in May 2023, on [[HBO]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://deadline.com/2021/12/donna-summer-documentary-polygram-entertainment-chief-david-blackman-interview-news-1234892669/|title=Polygram Entertainment Launches Donna Summer Doc Project, With Singer's Daughter Brooklyn Sudano And Oscar Winner Roger Ross Williams Directing|website=Deadline Hollywood|first=Matthew|last=Carey|date=December 16, 2021|access-date=May 21, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://variety.com/2023/film/global/donna-summer-documentary-disney-animation-berlinale-special-1235506284/|title=Donna Summer Documentary, Disney Animation Celebration Complete Berlinale Special Lineup|magazine=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|first=Elsa|last=Keslassy|date=January 30, 2023|access-date=May 21, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite press release|url=https://pressroom.warnermedia.com/ca/media-release/hbo-0/hbo-original-documentary-love-love-you-donna-summer-debuts-may-2023|title=HBO Original Documentary LOVE TO LOVE YOU, DONNA SUMMER Debuts May 2023|publisher=[[Warner Bros. Discovery]]|date=February 3, 2023|access-date=May 21, 2023}}</ref>