Donna Summer

Released: October 20, 1980

Songwriter: Pete Bellotte Jerry Rix Sylvester Levay

Producer: Pete Bellotte Giorgio Moroder

[Verse 1:]
You made it to the bright lights
You only come alive at night
You're one of the sights

You hang out with those big names
A rising star out on the gain
That's the price of your fame
Fame is only a dream land away

[Chorus:]
Who do you think you're fooling?
(You're fooling)
Who do you think you are?
Who do you think you're fooling?
You're a star
You're a star

Who do you think you're fooling?
(You're fooling)
Who do you think you are?
Who do you think you're fooling?
You're a star
Such a star
You're a star

[Verse 2:]
You're halfway up the ladder
Or are you really halfway down?
You never know in this town
But you swear you're gonna make it

And you don't care
How you fake your life
You're gonna make it alright
Fame is only a dream world away

[Repeat Chorus:]

[Bridge x2:]
Fame is only a dream world away

[Repeat Chorus:]

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.

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