After a sellout show at Hard Rock Live in May 2009, Donna Summer returns to South Florida for an encore at Hard Rock Live at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino on Wednesday, August 18 at 8 p.m. Tickets go on sale Friday, May 7 at noon.
Singer/songwriter/pop culture icon Donna Summer rocketed to international superstardom in the mid-1970s when her groundbreaking merger of R&B, soul, pop, funk, rock, disco and avant-garde electronica catapulted underground dance music out of the clubs of Europe to the pinnacles of sales and radio charts around the world. Maintaining an unbroken string of hits throughout the ‘70s and ‘80s, most of which she wrote, Donna holds the record for most consecutive double albums to hit #1 on the Billboard charts (three) and first female to have four #1 singles in a 12- month period; three as a solo artist and one as a duo with Barbra Streisand.
Summer has earned five Grammy Awards, six American Music Awards and 11 gold albums. She is also the first female artist to have a #1 single and #1 album on the Billboard charts simultaneously (“Live & More;” “MacArthur Park” 1978) a feat she also repeated six months later (“Bad Girls” & “Hot Stuff” in 1979). It is estimated that Donna Summer has sold more than 130 million records worldwide.
Born Donna Gaines, the Boston native developed an early interest in music. From the age of eight, Summer sang in church choirs, and by her early twenties, was performing in musical theater in Germany, winning parts in such highly-acclaimed shows as Hair, Showboat, Godspell, and Porgy and Bess, as well as performing with the Viennese Folk Opera. She released her first single, a cover of the Jaynett’s girl group classic, “Sally Go Round The Roses,” in 1971. While singing backup, she met producers Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte who produced her first single, “Hostage,” which became a hit in the Netherlands, France and Belgium.
In 1975, Moroder and Bellotte produced the international hit, “Love to Love You Baby,” which rose to #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and triggered Summer’s triumphant return to the United States as a key figure of the then-emerging disco genre. “Love To Love You Baby” paved the way for such international hits as “MacArthur Park,” “Bad Girls,” “Hot Stuff,” “Dim All The Lights,” “On The Radio,” and “Enough Is Enough,” as well as the Grammy and Academy Award-winning theme song “Last Dance,” from the film Thank God It’s Friday, which remains a milestone in Summer’s career.
In the years that followed, Summer collaborated with various writers and producers to release a steady stream of hits from State of Independence, including the feminist anthem “She Works Hard For The Money,” one of the most-played songs of all-time, and “This Time I Know It’s For Real.”
In 1994, she released Endless Summer, a greatest hits retrospective containing a new song, “Melody of Love,” which became Billboard’s #1 Dance Record of the Year. She also released Christmas Spirit, a collection of original songs and holiday standards recorded with the Nashville Symphony Orchestra.
In 1997, when the new “Best Dance Recording” Category was created at the Grammy Awards, Donna Summer was the first winner with her fifth career Grammy award for “Carry On.” In 1999, Sony/Epic Records released “VH1 Presents Donna Summer: Live & More – Encore!,” an album and DVD of Summer’s critically acclaimed VH1 broadcast taped at New York’s Hammerstein Ballroom. The show premiered on VH1 as one of the network’s highest rated shows to date and featured live performances of Summer’s top hits.
In 2004, she became one of the first inductees, as both an artist and record (for 1977’s “I Feel Love”) into the Dance Music Hall of Fame in New York City.
In addition to her recording and performing career, Summer is an accomplished visual artist whose work has been shown at exhibitions worldwide including Steven Spielberg’s “Starbright Foundation Tour of Japan” and The Whitney Museum as well as a prestigious engagement at Sotheby’s in New York. In 2003, Random House published her autobiography, Ordinary Girl, co-authored with Marc Eliot. Also that year, she released The Journey, containing all of her original hits, as well as three new songs.
Tickets cost $90, $70 & $50.* All seats are reserved and available at the Hard Rock Live Box Office, open Tuesday – Saturday from noon to 7 p.m. and on Sunday & Monday – only open on event days at noon. Tickets also are available at all Ticketmaster outlets online at Ticketmaster.com or charge by phone: 1-800-745-3000. Doors open one-hour prior to show start time. *Additional fees may apply.
About Hard Rock Live
Hard Rock Live, a spectacular state-of-the-art facility has quickly emerged as the entertainment capital of South Florida. Attracting music, comedy and sports fans, this 5,500-seat indoor arena further expands the ultimate entertainment experience at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino.
For more information please visit www.hardrocklivehollywoodfl.com or www.facebook.com/seminolehardrockhollywood.