Donna Summer Parents: Meet Andrew Gaines, Mary Gaines

American singer and songwriter Donna Summer was the third of seven children born on December 31, 1948, in Boston, Massachusetts, to Andrew and Mary Gaines.

She grew up in the Mission Hill neighbourhood of Boston. Her father worked as a butcher and her mother as a teacher. Summer made her performance debut at church when she was ten years old, filling in for a vocalist who was unable to appear.

Donna Summer went to Jeremiah E. Burke High School in Boston, where she was popular and performed in school musicals. Summer moved to New York City in 1967, just weeks before graduating, to join the blues rock band Crow.

After a record label declined to sign the band because it was only interested in the lead singer, the band agreed to disband. Donna Summer rose to prominence during the disco era of the 1970s, earning the title “Queen of Disco” and gaining a global following for her music.

Donna Summer had 32 chart singles on the Billboard Hot 100 in her career, including 14 top-ten hits and four number-one hits.

Donna Summer was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2013. Billboard ranked her sixth on its list of the “Greatest of All Time Top Dance Club Artists” in December 2016.