Personal life

In 1972, Summer married her first husband, Helmuth Sommer, and moved to Germany to play in musicals, which resulted in her learning to speak fluent German. With Sommer, she gave birth to her first child, Mimi. The couple divorced in 1976, but Donna had anglicized Sommer to Summer and begun her professional singing career in 1974 as Donna Summer. In 1978, she collaborated with the R&B Pop group the Brooklyn Dreams for the hit Heaven Knows (duet vocals by Joe Esposito). While at the session recording the single, she met Bruce Sudano. The duo began a romance that culminated in their July 16, 1980, marriage, and later the birth of daughters Brooklyn and Amanda. Today, Mimi and Amanda sing alongside their mother(www.johnnyswim.com), while Brooklyn has been seen acting in TV shows, including a recently canceled sitcom starring Damon Wayans. Summer is still married to Sudano, and she is a grandmother of three.

During her career, Summer has dealt with controversy both professionally and personally. Her first hit, The Hostage was banned in Germany, and other radio stations banned her music for being sexually suggestive, with Love to Love You Baby being an example.

In 1991, during the height of the Gulf War, Summer's song State Of Independence was banned from US radio play alongside many other songs that were deemed to have an inflammatory effect on the population.

A more painful incident came in the early 1980s with reports that she had made anti-gay remarks associated with the AIDS epidemic. Her songs were banned for a number of years in some gay establishments over these rumors.[citation needed] Summer has long denied such allegations, and finally took legal action against a newspaper which printed the rumors during a review of a concert. Summer tearfully stated, I never said anything that was written about me in that article. To make amends, Summer has since played for AIDS benefits and has donated proceeds to AIDS research. As recently as 2006, she was asked about the rumors by a Canadian newspaper. So many people in my audiences are gay. I can’t live my life trying to assure people of anything. You have to live knowing who you are. I think that my actions and the person that I am speak louder than somebody else’s misgivings or lies about me, Summer responded. They print all kinds of things about people all the time but you can’t run after every single lie. You tell people the truth and if they choose to believe you, they do.

Regardless, not least among gay people, her talent and musicianship (aided by Giorgio Moroder) are embraced as the epitome of the disco era, as is her subsequent support in fighting AIDS.