Donna Summer

Released: October 5, 1981

Songwriter: Andrew Lloyd Webber Tim Rice

Producer: Giorgio Moroder Pete Bellotte

This won't be easy
You'll think it's strange
When I try to explain how I feel
That I still need your love
After all that I've done

You won't believe me
All you will see is a girl you once knew
Although she's dressed up to nines
For sixes and sevens with you

I had to let it happen
I had to change
Couldn't stay all my life down at heel
Looking out of the window
Staying out of the sun
So I choose freedom
Running around, trying everything new
But nothing impressed me at all
I never expected it too

Don't cry for me, Argentina
The truth is I never left you
All through my wild days
My mad existence
I kept my promise, don't keep your distance

And as for fortune
And as for fame
I never invited them in
Though it appeared to the world
They were all I desired
They are illusions
They're not the solutions they promised to be
The answer was here all the time
I love you, and hope you love me

Don't cry for me, Argentina
The truth is I never left you
All through my wild days
My mad existence
I kept my promise
Don't keep your distance
I kept my promise
Don't keep your distance

As the unquestioned queen of disco, the one and only Donna Summer lit up the late 70s and 80s with flashy, exuberant vocals and automatic earworms. Born LaDonna Adrian Gaines on Dec. 31, 1948, Summer moved to Germany after being cast in a Munich production of Hair. There, she happened to meet Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte, and the trio conglomerated to form a dynamic music team. With Moroder, Summer forged together her first album, The Hostage, which reached moderate success in Northern Europe. Summer’s big break, however, would come later with the release of 1975’s sexual “Love to Love You Baby”, which became one of disco’s first mainstream hits and reached #2 on the Billboard Charts.

1977 came around with the concept album I Remember Yesterday, which featured the Top 10 single “I Feel Love”. The next year, Summer hit the silver screen with the movie Thank God It’s Friday, whose soundtrack featured one of her own the iconic “Last Dance.” This would later become one of the disco legends' signature songs. “Dance” would take home an Academy Award for Best Original Song, a Grammy, and a Golden Globe, and it jumped to a peak of #3 on the charts.

Yet Summer’s illustrious career was far from finished – Summer’s first live album Live and More featured the single “MacArthur Park”, a melting ballad that was a cover of the Jimmy Webb ballad of the same name. “Park” became Summer’s first – and perhaps most memorable – No. 1 hit, and cemented her status as a vocalist as well as a performer. With the track, she became the first female in modern rock history to hold the top spot in both the Hot 100 and the Billboard 200. 1979, though, would really be the peak of her career.

more tracks from the album

I’m a Rainbow

From the album

I’m a Rainbow (1981)

Donna Summer popular songs

Don’t Cry for Me ArgentinaDonna Summer

Donna Summer

I’m a Rainbow