Sunday Diva / Three From the Hip: Donna Summer

Sunday Diva / Three From the Hip: 

Donna Summer

In my own personal big gay church, there is a wing dedicated to what can only be described as...The True Divas. These are ones that may do many things in life, but from the moment they opened their mouths to sing they became the one thing they were meant to become: a true diva. One such diva?

LaDonna Adrian Gaines.

The First Lady of Love...

The Queen of Disco...

Donna Summer.

She did indeed work hard for the money.

Summer earned a total of 42 hit singles on the US Billboard Hot 100, with 14 of those reaching the Top 10. She earned three #1 albums and four #1 singles. Worldwide? The lady sold over 100 million records.

But her indifference to fame baffled many. 

She once said... "having the hits is just more work". 

While her beauty, creativity and voice enthralled, as a black female artist, she chafed against the limitations placed on her by white male businessmen and fought against being packaged or labeled.

Her voice ignited dancefloors throughout the world and, in the process, she gained the devotion of the gay community.

Yet her career was not without controversy. 

Statements she allegedly made about gay men at the dawn of the AIDS crisis continue to haunt her legacy. You can read about the accusations, here and her complete, much-belated reply, here. 

I, for one, have forgiven her, though her remarks continue to color my view of her. 

She would go on to help raise money for AIDS research while working to rebuild the bridge damaged. 

For many? 

Only the music mattered. 

To this day, when I hear a certain songs of hers, my heart soars. 

And for that? I am eternally grateful.

The gospel according to her?

Well, here's three from the hip, dropping from her lips.

The topic: Destiny

"When everyone else was thinking about getting married and talking about the debutantes' ball, I'd be thinking, 'Why am I different? Why don't I care about those things?' I didn't care, because I knew I was going somewhere in my life. Even as a child, I knew I was going to be something. I mean, I've got to tell you that I got credit in my neighborhood store just because everyone believed that one day I'd be successful. I could go down and take anything I wanted, and they'd write it down on a bill and say to me, 'You're going to be famous one day. You can pay it then.' I think I grew up with a very good outlook on who I was, who I was supposed to be." 

"I have an incredible ability to fantasize - I really do. I don't have to have things tangible to be able to see them, and therefore I enjoy so many things, because they're in my mind. I believe that most people don't realize or utilize enough their potential for fantasizing. I think people go out looking to make their fantasies real - they can't just enjoy them for what they are. But in trying to make them real, they overextend themselves, and as a result it all becomes a nightmare for them, not a joy."

"I don't really try to predict what can and will happen with things. Sometimes you think something's gonna be a huge success, and it isn't. And sometimes you pay no attention to something whatsoever, and God just makes it into everything."

On the Radio - Donna Summer

Dinner with Gershwin - Donna Summer

Love's About To Change - Donna Summer

And one last parting shot...

"Whenever success comes it is a stranger. When it knocks, it is something you hope for, but the form it takes on when it comes, and sometimes the moment it comes in, is so odd and so obscure."