Donna Summer Dead at 63
Disco legend Donna Summer died on Thursday following a years-long battle with cancer, the AP confirms. She was 63.
Best known for her songs "Love to Love You Baby," "She Works Hard for the Money" and "Bad Girls," the Massachusetts native won five Grammy awards during her 40-year-plus career. Her pioneering disco music with Giorgio Moroder had an incalculable influence on other dance artists.
David Bowie once told a story that nicely illustrates the startling freshness of her sound and its influence on the next few decades of dance music: "One day in Berlin, [Brian] Eno came running in and said, 'I have heard the sound of the future.' [and] he puts on 'I Feel Love' by Donna Summer. He said, 'This is it, look no further. This single is going to change the sound of club music for the next fifteen years.' Which was more or less right."
Summer also charted four No. 1 singles within a 13-month period—"MacArthur Park," "Hot Stuff," "Bad Girls" and "No More Tears (Enough is Enough)." Her song "She Works Hard for the Money," which dropped in 1983, became an early MTV staple—it was the first video by a black female artist to get regular play—and became an anthem of female empowerment.
Check back for more as the story develops. In the meantime, Fuse remembers Donna Summer with her most iconic photos from throughout her career.
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