Devastating news: TMZ is reporting that Donna Summer died of cancer this morning at her Florida home. She was 63 years old. Born LaDonna Adrian Gaines and known as the Queen of Disco, Summer was a five-time Grammy winner whose hit songs — including “Love to Love You Baby,” “Last Dance,” “MacArthur Park,” “Hot Stuff,” and “She Works Hard for the Money” — defined a genre and dominated the charts in the ’70s and ’80s. The singer’s battle with cancer was not widely reported, apparently because she was attempting to keep it a secret.
We’ve seen far too many music icons pass away before their time in the past few months, so here’s hoping this is the last untimely death we’ll have to report for a while. Meanwhile, we’re going to take a moment to watch her excellent 1979 performance of “Bad Girls” and scatter some sequins in her honor. Join us after the jump, and leave your memories of Summer in the comments.