ARTICLES & INTERVIEWS WITH DONNA SUMMER

DONNA SUMMER'S DISCO JOURNEY Singer-Songwriter Back in the Spotlight with New CD, Book (from NPR Website, October 21, 2003)

Oct. 21, 2003 -- She started singing gospel in a Boston church and rose to fame in the 1970s as the "Queen of Disco." In 1975, legendary singer-songwriter Donna Summer moaned her way to the top of the charts with her breakthrough hit "Love to Love You, Baby." Her runaway success continued with 14 top-10 hits, four No. 1 singles and album sales in the tens of millions worldwide. Summer was also showered with awards -- her music has earned her five Grammys and an Oscar. She's considered the voice that ignited the disco generation. Now, more than a quarter of a century later, she's still making music.   Her latest double-disk CD set, The Journey: The Very Best of Donna Summer, was just released. She's also penned a new autobiography, Ordinary Girl: The Journey. Summer mostly stays out of the spotlight nowadays -- she's married, with three daughters and two grandchildren, and likes to spend time with her family and her garden. Her autobiography is a candid account of the pressures of being at the top of the music world. She attempted suicide at the height of her fame in 1979, turned to religion and becoming a born-again Christian. Today she embraces the title "Queen of Disco" and says she'll keep performing her Oscar-winning song "Last Dance" until she drops -- and swears she can still nail the glass-shattering high notes. Summer has ambitions to turn her story into a Broadway musical, and would like to do another studio album. Originally printed on NPR website