Known as “The Disco Queen”, Donna Summer died in 2012 at the age of 63 as a result of lung cancer; but she is only now being given the honour she deserves.
The five time Grammy Award winner has a number of first and credits to her name, but it wasn’t until after her death that the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame came calling. And it was only last year that she received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Recording Academy.
And on December 15, Summer was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in an intimate ceremony attended by her husband, daughters, a few friends, and member of the SHOF board.
Summer’s husband Bruce Sudano spoke on the induction into the Songwriters Hall of Fame saying, “it’s important to me because I know how important it was for Donna. The backstory is, with all the accolades that she received over her career, being respected as a songwriter was always the thing that she felt was overlooked. So, for her to be accepted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame I know that she’s very happy … somewhere.”
Songwriter and fellow SHOF member Paul Williams spoke on Summer saying, “Donna Summer is not only one of the defining voices and performers of the 20th century, she is one of the great songwriters of all time who changed the course of music,” Williams said in a statement. “She wrote timeless and transcendent songs that continue to captivate our souls and imaginations, inspiring the world to dance, and above all, feel love.”
Nine of Summer’s top 10 hits have her name listed under the songwriter credits. “Dim All the Lights” was a solo composition by her; while she shares the songwriting credits on “Love to Love You Baby,” “I Feel Love,” “Heaven Knows,” “Bad Girls,” “On the Radio,” “The Wanderer,” “She Works Hard for the Money” and “This Time I Know It’s for Real”.
Her musical accompaniments include being the first female artist to win a Grammy Award in four different categories – R&B, rock, inspirational, and dance; and she was the first to win the award in two of those categories – Best Rock Vocal and Best Dance Recording. She holds the record for most double albums to reach the number one spot on the Billboard Album chart with three and was the first female artist to have four number one singles in a 12-month period.
Summer is the fifth artist to be posthumously inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in the past two years. Cindy Walker, Prince, Bert Berns, and Hugo & Luigi have also become members of the Hall of Fame.
Songwriters with a notable catalog of music becomes eligible for nominations into the Songwriters Hall of Fame 20 years after the commercial release of their first song.