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01
During the summer of 1979, she became the first female artist in music history to have two hits in the Billboard Top 3 simultaneously with Hot Stuff and Bad Girls. She achieved this again in the fall with a #1 duet with Barbra Streisand and a #2 hit, Dim All the Lights.
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02
Beyond music, she was an exhibited artist who sold over $1.2 million in original art starting in 1989. Her most expensive piece sold for $150,000.
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03
While living in Germany in the late 1960s, she became a regular performer in the Munich production of the musical Hair.
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04
Her 16-minute song Love to Love You Baby was the first extended-release single, often called the mother of all dance maxi-singles.
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05
Bruce Springsteen, an admirer of her work, wrote two songs for her. He kept Cover Me for his own Born in the USA album. The second song, Protection, Donna recorded with Springsteen and his band providing the music track. They recorded it as a duet, but that version remains unreleased.
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06
She was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on April 18, 2013.
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07
Before her death, it was believed she contracted lung cancer by inhaling toxic particles after the 9/11 attacks. However, she also had a family history of lung cancer and performed in nightclubs around smokers, factors that may have contributed.
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08
Together with Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte, she created an electronic dance sound that foreshadowed modern techno music. Iggy Pop called their 1977 song I Feel Love the future of music. Its samples appear in Madonna’s hit Music 2000.
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09
Her grave resides in Harpeth Hills Memory Gardens in Nashville, Tennessee.
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10
She was the first solo artist to achieve three consecutive #1 double albums on the Billboard charts, a feat matched only by The Beatles.
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11
She cited her 1978 hit Last Dance as her favorite among her own recordings.
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12
She is the only person to have guest-hosted American Bandstand.
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13
Over 33 years, she charted 30 #1 hits singles and albums on the Billboard Pop/R&B, Disco/Dance, and Album charts.
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14
She became a grandmother in 1997 when her daughter Mimi gave birth to Vienna Dohler.
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15
At age 24, she gave birth to her first child, daughter Mimi Sommer, on February 16, 1973, with her first husband Helmuth Sommer.
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16
Her second child, Brooklyn Sudano, was born on January 5, 1981, when she was 32, with her second husband Bruce Sudano.
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17
She won five Grammy Awards from a total of 18 nominations.
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18
She maintained friendships with Diana Ross, Dick Clark, and Barry Manilow.
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19
She was one of seven children born to Andrew Gaines and Mary Ellen Gaines.
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20
Her third child, Amanda Sudano, was born on August 11, 1982, when she was 33, also with Bruce Sudano.
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21
VH1 ranked her #37 on its list of 100 Greatest Women of Rock n Roll.
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22
She frequently named Mahalia Jackson and Janis Joplin as major musical influences.
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23
At the 1979 American Music Awards, she won three of five nominations: Favorite Disco Artist Female, Favorite Disco Album for Live & More, and Favorite Disco Single for Last Dance.
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24
Billboard ranked her #24 on its 50th Anniversary Hot 100 Artists of All Time list.
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25
In 1994, she met musician Nathan DiGesare, who became one of her most frequent collaborators in the studio and on tour until her death.
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26
She had siblings Mary Ellen Bernard and Ricky Gaines.
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27
In 1978, she became the first female artist to have a #1 single MacArthur Park and a #1 album Live and More simultaneously on the Billboard charts. She matched this feat months later with Hot Stuff and Bad Girls.
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28
Her nephew Robert Grant is a rapper known as O’Mega Red.
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29
VH1 ranked her #80 on its 100 Sexiest Artists list.
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30
She received a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Recording at 7000 Hollywood Boulevard on March 18, 1992.
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31
On VH1’s list of 100 Greatest Dance Songs, she had the most entries: MacArthur Park #89, I Feel Love #76, Love to Love You Baby #63, and Last Dance #6.
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32
At the 1980 American Music Awards, she won three awards: Favorite Pop/Rock Female Artist, Favorite Pop/Rock Single for Bad Girls, and Favorite Soul/R&B Artist.
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33
Like Gloria Gaynor, she had six siblings: five sisters and one brother.
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34
In August 2021, her song Hot Stuff appeared in Burger King advertisements for spicy chicken sandwiches.
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35
Like Patti LaBelle, Summer lost three sisters to carcinoma, which was prevalent in her family.
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36
She was born at about 9:30 PM EST, just two and a half hours shy of becoming a New Year’s Day baby in 1949.
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37
She was grandmother to Joaquin Emmanuel Ramirez, Luna Ramirez, Palona Ramirez, Vienna Dohler, Levi Dohler, Savanna Dohler, and Isaiah Dohler.
