One of the music docuseries available on Peacock is “Queens of Pop” featuring Donna Summer. The eight-part series profiles of eight women who shapes popular music over the last 50 years from Diana Ross to Britney Spears and Beyonce. Though there has been a lot of story on Donna Summer from the Broadway musical “Summer: The Donna Summer Musical,” and the high-profile HBO Max documentary “Love to Love You, Donna Summer.” Despite the wealth of information, there were some new things to learn and rediscover about Summer, the Queen of Disco.
Below are 5 things we learned from watching the Queen of Pop Episode 1: Donna Summer
Donna grew up singing in church like most singers do. The singer recalled her first time singing a solo at eight years old. Her voice was so powerful even at that young age, she surprised everyone.
One of her earlier jobs was in Germany for a German production of Hair. Once there she met producer Giorgio Moroder and her career took off from there.
One of her first breakthrough hits was “Love to Love You Baby,” a song Summer wasn’t comfortable singing initially. Everything was different about the song. The sounds in it simulated sex and was 17 minutes long. Donna Summer didn’t have a contract when she first worked with Moroder and she thought the song and the message it sent was too risqué for her.
Donna channeled Marilyn Monroe when singing the song. “I didn’t know how to approach the song, because normally I have a pretty big voice,” Summer said in the episode. “When I tried to belt the song…it wasn’t working. So, I had to think of somebody who I could see singing the song and sing it from their point of view and I thought of Marilyn Monroe.”
Donna starred in a movie about the disco era called “Thank God It’s Friday.” The signature song from the movie, “Last Dance,” which she sang, won an Oscar and a Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song and a Grammy Award for Donna for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance.
The movie “Thank God It’s Friday” featured then little-known stars Jeff Goldblum, Debra Winger and Berlin vocalist Terri Nunn and even included an appearance by Lionel Richie and The Commodores.
Other episodes of “Queens of Pop” highlight Mariah Carey, Debra Harry of Blondie, Madonna, Britney Spears, Beyonce, Lady Gaga, and Diana Ross.
