Donna Summer

Released: February 26, 1974

Songwriter: Giorgio Moroder Pete Bellotte

Producer: Pete Bellotte

Just a baby
On a doorstep
It's how they found me
Cold and hungry
Raised on hatred
Fed by strangers
As a young girl
I often wondered

Am I born to die
Never having lived
Am I born to die
Without love
In my life

People push me
Knock me down
My foster parents
Kicked me around
They brought me up on
Loneliness
I never had me
A single friend

Am I born to die
Never having lived
Am I born to die
Without love
In my life

Must be someone
In this world
Who can save me
From myself

Or am I born to die
Never having lived
Am I born to die
Without love
In my life

Am I born to die
Never having lived
Am I born to die
Without love
In my life

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

Lady of the Night

From the album

Lady of the Night (1974)

Donna Summer popular songs

Born to DieDonna Summer

Donna Summer

Lady of the Night