Donna Summer: She could sing anything, anywhere, with anyone, at any time.

[JUL 13] Greetings all and Happy Sunday! This week brings more upcoming mixes of Run from Toby Gad.  He said in an interview that a Trance Run Tomorrowland mix will be out July 14 (tomorrow), an EDM Run Lollapalooza mix on July 29 and the House Run Ibiza mix on August 11. You can here clips of at least 2 of the new mixes here. 

[JUL 13] In fan mix news, Q has put out his Awful Spin Mix of Love To Love You part 1.  It's his 50th anniversary tribute to the song.

[JUL 13] In Johnnyswim news, they have added a tour date in LA on September 25. They will also be in Lewistown NY on July 19 with Grace Potter. As always keep an eye on Johnnyswim's website for ticket info, VIP opportunities, and merch.

[JUL 13] Also in Johnnyswim news, apparently there are some songs that didn't make the final cut for When The War Is Over. Abner said on Insta they are looking at putting those songs on a possible deluxe edition.  (Yes please!  LOL)

[JUL 13] Moving on to Bruce, JamTV.it posted an article about Watching Darkness Fall. It is in Italian, so if that's not your language you know what to do - find a cute Italian to translate for you.  ;-) (Or just use Google translate - but that's not as much fun.  LOL)

[JUL 13] That brings us to YouTube. This week we celebrate the Summer Fever Pick.  So we have the official videos for Love Is In Control and The Woman In Me.  Then we have more State Of Independence that you can even deal with.  LOL We start with the music video,  then we have Donna discussing the song on Top 2000 A GoGo,  a video showing some of the making of State of Independence, and finally a video commentary about the song as it relates to Quincy Jones' career.

[JUL 6] Greetings all and a belated Happy Canada Day and Happy July 4 to all who celebrate.  It's a brand new month so you know what that means - time for the new Summer Fever Pick. This month we are up to Donna Summer - the album produced by the late great Quincy Jones.

[JUL 6] With the holiday, there hasn't been much going on. Johnnyswim is on a family vacation - some of which was spent with Bruce, so he's pretty quiet too on the visible work front. He did post a video  of him singing a bouncier version of Watching Darkness Fall on Facebook the other day though.  And then later he did the third verse a bit slower so people can follow the words.

[JUL 6] In Donna news, SiriusXM 70s on 7 has been playing a countdown of the 50 top American artists of the 70s according to Billboard. They've run it a few times over the holiday weekend, with the latest airing due to start in a few minutes. But if you have the app, you can catch it on demand.  On the app it's in 2 parts just because the show is so long. They had Donna in at number 5 and for her they played Hot Stuff and Last Dance. (I was in and out all weekend, so I only heard the countdown in bits, but as I recall, The Carpenters were #1 and the Jackson 5 were #2.  I don't know who came in at 3 and 4. Maybe I'll listen later and find out.  :-)

[JUL 6] That brings us to YouTube.  Let's go with the holiday theme (more or less). So we'll start with God Bless America, The National Anthem and a fan video for Livin' In America. Moving on we have a few other songs that have resonated with me lately:  Mistaken Identity (live in Japan), a fan video for Let There Be Peace,  an audio only clip for Someday, and a fan edit of Begin Again (from Ordinary Girl).

[JUN 29] Happy Sunday all! Let's start off with Taihisha's  celebration of live that happened on Friday.  It was absolutely beautiful with loving speeches and beautiful music. If you missed it, it is available to watch on demand on Facebook.  There is also a second video which is a collection of photos set to piano music.  That was the warm-up so to speak for the actual celebration of life.

[JUN 29] As you know, Friday was the annual Donna Summer Disco Party in Boston.  BayStateBanner.com had an article, as did Boston.com (spot the error in their report!  LOL).  Just a note, as I write this BaystateBanner.com is down, so depending on when you see this update, you may need to try again later.

[JUN 29] Music Museum Of New England is an online museum featuring the artists, venues, etc of New England. Of course they have a page for Donna with an overview of her career, some photos, and a video playlist.

[JUN 29] In Bruce news, he has posted the lyric video for Watching Darkness Fall.

[JUN 29] That brings us to YouTube.  This week (since we had a little heatwave where I am) I thought I'd go with clips that have a vaguely summer (the season that is  LOL) theme. So of curse we have to start with Summer Fever. Then we have Sand On My Feet (live), Hot Stuff from the 1980 TV special, and a fan video for Driving Down Brazil. And finally we have a full concert from 2008 at Jones Beach. (As a Long Island girl, nothing feels more like summer to me than a concert under the stars at Jones Beach.)

[JUN 23] Just a quick update on the arrangements for Taihisha.  Her official obituary is posted here (words I never wanted to have to type!), and there is a link at the bottom of it to stream her service on Friday.  There is also info for sending flowers, if that's your thing.  :-)

[JUN 21] Happy Saturday all!  I need to start this week off with some sad news. Some of you knew Taihisha Grant. She was Donna's niece and Omega Red's sister.  She passed away suddenly on June 15.  Those of you who knew her know that she was kind, sweet, damn talented, and extremely protective of her family.  I personally am still in shock, and I know I will miss her.  Those of you who knew her - if you will be in Boston on June 27 (Friday), she will be laid to rest at the Grant AME church at 11 AM.

[JUN 21] Which brings me to what should have been the main news for the week - Boston is holding their annual Donna Summer disco party in City Hall Square on June 27 from 5 to 9PM. It's always a good time with tunes spun by DJ Vince 1. Usually members of Donna's family put in an appearance - including Omega Red (Robert Grant) who usually has a hand in organizing the event.  This year if you run into family members - give them a little grace if they seem to be hurting. It can't be easy to have a funeral in the morning and then a party in the evening.  If you want to read a little more about the disco party, WGBH posted an article about it.

[JUN 21] In Donna news, Billboard has ranked her at #34 on their list of the best R&B singers of all time (male or female).  For each artist they list a "must listen" song and for Donna they picked On The Radio.

[JUN 21] Patti Labelle is on her 2025 Queens Tour and at some shows she pays tribute to Donna by including a little Bad Girls at the end of Lady Marmalade.  She's done this before - this clip is from last year. (On a side note - I just found out that Patti is 81. Not bad for a woman who was afraid she wouldn't live to see 50. Go Patti!)

[JUN 21] Bruce fans - his new song, Watching Darkness Fall, is now available to stream/purchase at all the usual places.  Also, the Brooklyn Dreams song Hot Lovin' (Summer In The City) from Joyride, is now available to stream in the US.

[JUN 21] In Johnnyswim news, catch them performing on the Mountain Stage podcast. They start about an hour into the show, but having said that, there is some good music on before they hit the stage too.

[JUN 21] That brings us to YouTube.  This week we have Celebrate Me Home live in Japan, Riding Through The Storm and If There Is Music There from Live & More Encore, Donna's cover of Netherlands,  and Amazing Grace live in Nashville. As an extra bonus, I have Taihisha singing If You Believe and Little Things.

[JUN 15] Greetings all and Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there!  A special shout out to all my American friends who peacefully took to the streets yesterday. You have restored my faith in humanity.  :-)

[JUN 15]  As you know, Toby Gad released the piano ballad of Run last week. Now we have a music video for it that uses Toby on piano, a dancer, and some archival footage of Donna in the background. I saw clips from the videos for The Wanderer, Love's About To Change My Heart, Dinner With Gershwin, and The Woman In Me.

[JUN 15] Billboard has an interview with Toby Gad where he talks about what it was like to work with Donna.

[JUN 15] Bruce Sudano fans - look for his new song, Watching Darkness Fall, to hit all the usual places tomorrow, June 16. Keep an eye on Bruce's Insta for the official announcement.

[JUN 15] In Johnnyswim news,  they were on the  Pilot Flying J vlog recently. At the end they even perform Dopamine.

[JUN 15] That brings us to YouTube. Since last week was the Tony Awards, I thought I'd share a little bit of Donna performing songs from musicals.  First up, a live cover of Don't Rain On My Parade.  Then we have live covers of Send In The Clowns, The Impossible Dream, and Part Of Your World.  From Donna's early days we have  Aquarius/ Let The Sunshine in from Haar,  Oh segne Gott mein Seel from Godspell, and How I Feel from The Me Nobody Knows.  Then in the land of what never got to be, we have I Will Live For  Love (Dream-A-Lot's Theme) from Dreamway Express, and No Ordinary Love Song from Ordinary Girl.  Finally as an extra bonus, we have the Broadway cast of Summer: The Donna Summer Musical performing for the Thanksgiving Day Parade.

[JUN 8] Greetings all! And Happy Tony Night for those who are into musical theater.  :-)  We are going to jump right into the big news for the week which is Toby Gad's release of Run (With It).  We've heard the leaked original version, but this one is reimagined as a piano ballad and I love it.  Bruce commented on Facebook that you can really feel Donna's presence, and I can't think of a better way to say it myself.  You can stream it al all the usual places (including YouTube) and you can even buy a download if you want.  This is the Amazon US link (I get a small commission off that) but you can get it on Apple Music too.

[JUN 8] Boston.com has a short article about the release of Run, and Toby Gad has a reel on Facebook about it.

[JUN 8] In AI news - no it's not another stupid article this time.  LOL Someone made a video of Donna "singing" I See Clearly.  Now the video itself (the visual part of it) is legit footage. It's Donna performing Hot Stuff from the 1979 concert in Japan.  The vocals are AI generated and they sound close enough to Donna to scare me.  I keep thinking what of someone used this tech to make a deep fake of say a politician running for election. They could manufacture a clip of the candidate s "saying" things that are completely against what they really stand for. They could deep fake any of us "saying" just about anything to show we've "verbally agreed" to some scam thing.  AI is fun to play with, but it needs some serious oversight with some serious consequences for misusing it.

[JUN 8] Speaking of AI , someone decided to make a short with AI showing what Donna would look like if she was still alive today.  Since their 1977 AI version of Donna doesn't really look like her, it's no surprise that their 2025 version doesn't hit the mark either.  LOL

[JUN 8] In the Donna is everywhere category - she got a mention in the New York Times Game Connections on Thursday. For those who don't know the game, you are given 16 words and you have to correctly sort  them into 4 different categories. One of the words given was SUMMER, and the category ended up being Best Female Rock Performance Grammy Winners. The other words in the category were APPLE, CROW and TURNER.

[JUN 8] Moving on to Johnnyswim, they have added a show in LA to their tour list.  It will be September 25 at the Fonda and tickets are on sale now.

[JUN 8] Bruce fans - he has been on his couch on Facebook again. The first clip is The Mountain from Spirals Volume 1.  Then he has a new song he recorded at the same time about love and how you can be loved in spite of your shortcomings.  And coming soon, he will be releasing his new song, Watching Darkness Fall.  He previewed that on Facebook a couple weeks ago and now he plans to release it because it completely relevant for the times we are living in.  Here's the FB reel where is  says he's releasing it.

[JUN 8] That brings us to YouTube. I have an eclectic  mix of clips this week.  Let's start off with Q's Running Mix of the Toby Gad release of Run (With It).  Then I might as well share the original leak of Run With It again so you can compare it to the new version.  Up next is a radio edit of Working The Midnight Shift, Schwarz from The Me Nobody Knows (Ich bin ich), and finally the Dario Caminita Revibe mix of This Time I Know It's For Real.

[JUN 01] Happy Sunday all and Happy Pride Month to all who celebrate.  I feel like this should go without saying, but maybe not in this political climate.  As far as I'm concerned - everybody should just be able to be who they are and love who they love. However you define yourself, you are safe with me.  Unless of course you hate Donna Summer music and then it's off with your head!  LOL

[JUN 01] A new month means a new Summer Fever Pick and this month is just works out that we will be celebrating I'm A Rainbow.

[JUN 01] In Donna news this week - it's official, Toby Gad is releasing a Donna track and it will be coming June 6. He's putting out Run With It.  Now that did leak on YouTube a number of years ago,  but it sounds like Toby has retooled it and made a video for it. Check out his Instagram reel for a taste.  And if you want to pre-save it on your favorite streaming service, check this link.

[JUN 01] In fake Donna news, the AI  click-baiters are at it again.  One of those sites announced a new HBO documentary. (We already have an excellent one on HBO/MAX/whatever they want to call themselves now so why would they make another?) And there is no statue being built in Donna's honor - thank God because the photo that went with the article looked nothing like Donna.  I know these articles are tempting when they show up in your feed, but they are always on some oddball site no one ever heard of rather than a reputable one that we know about.  If you actually do click you will see that they have virtually identical stories about other artists. But remember, every click just gives the scammers a reason to make more fake stories.  (And this applies to more than just Donna stuff - there is a lot of AI nonsense on just about any topic  you can name, and that can have real world consequences.)

[JUN 01] Moving on to Bruce. He and his wife Francesca were on Radio Lombardia in Italy recently. You can see the interview on YouTube.  I believe this is the first time she has done an interview like this - at least it's the first that I've seen.  It's nice to finally "meet" her.  :-)

[JUN 01] That brings us to YouTube and of course we are going to celebrate I'm A Rainbow this week.  So we are going to start off with 3 Suecase Hall videos in a row - You To Me (Oliver Nelson Remix), I Believe In You (Figo Sound Version) and I'm A Rainbow (in memorium).  Then we have an unplugged version of Don't Cry For Me Argentina from the Regis and Kathie Lee Show,  and the live version of Romeo from the Hot Summer Night concert.

[MAY 25] Happy Sunday all! This weekend here in the US it's Memorial Day weekend - the official start to the summer (Summer?  ;-) )  season, and more importantly a time to remember all the service people who have made the ultimate sacrifice in service to  their country.  I think sometimes that gets lost in all the barbeques, parties, etc of the weekend.

[MAY 25] First up this week, Nathan DiGesare made a new video this year to mark the anniversary of Donna's passing. There is a lot of cool behind the scenes footage of Donna and the touring team.

[MAY 25] American Songwriter has an article about MacArthur Park - the song itself, not Donna's recoding of it. It mentions that it was first recorded by Richard Harris, and it talks about the inspiration behind the lyrics.

[MAY 25] Speaking of American Songwriter, they also have an interview with Johnnyswim this week. Not surprisingly, they talk about the inspiration behind the album When The War Is Over.

[MAY 25] Brooklyn Dreams fans - you will be happy to find out that One And Only (from the Joyride album) is finally back on all the usual streaming services in the US.  So start streaming!  :-)  (I'm not sure if it works outside the US, but if not a VPN can be your friend.

[MAY 25] In related news, Bruce has a new song he's been working on called Watching Darkness Fall.  He played it on Facebook and it really struck a chord with me.

[MAY 25] I think that brings us to YouTube.  I'll pick a couple that I think work for the holiday (sort of...)  First up is a liveandmore video for Let There Be Peace.  Then we have a live version of Amazing Grace,  a live cover of Celebrate Me Home, and a live version of God Bless America. And finally the unreleased track, Freedom.

[MAY 17] Greetings all!  As you know, it's been 13 years since Donna went on her final adventure.  It was the kind of day to just play Donna tunes and remember the happy times spent at concerts, awaiting the latest new release, or chasing down the latest interviews and TV appearances.

[MAY 17] Moving on to the news, Suecase Hall has made a new video to honor Donna's memory. Check it out on YouTube.

[MAY 17] Pete Bellotte has a website and on it he has one section dedicated to his memories of Donna.  It's worth a read when you have a minute.  :-)

[MAY 17] In Johnnyswim news, they have written the music for a show called One Day based on the novel of the same name.  They posted about it on Facebook, and the Royal Lyceum in Edinburgh, Scotland has tickets going on sale June 20 (or June 16 for Lyceum patrons), but they haven't posted the actual show dates just yet.  Abner and Amanda are very excited about this project and I look forward to hearing the music they have written.  :-)

[MAY 17] GardenAndGun.com has posted an article where musicians share their first dance songs. Johnnyswim is included and their song was La Vie En Rose.

[MAY 17] You can also catch Johnnyswim on the That Sounds Fun podcast on YouTube. In it they talk about When The War Is Over.

[MAY 17] Speaking of podcasts, Bruce has done Now Here This.  In it they talk Talkin' Ugly Truths Tellin' Pretty Lies, songwriting, etc. Then head over to YouTube to listen to his stripped down version of When Cinderella Dies.

[MAY 17] That brings us to YouTube.  Let's start off this week with Donna's cover of Netherlands. Then we have Omega Red's song Angel that features some vocals by Donna,  If There Is Music There from Live & More Encore, a live version of Friends Unknown from the Walk Of Fame ceremony,  and Nobody from Live & More Encore.  Finally, today of all days I have to leave you with a smile. (I think Donna wouldn't want it any other way.)  So we have my favorite clip - Donna and Barry Manilow having way too much fun on Could It Be Magic,  and the funny outtakes from the 1980 TV Special.

[MAY 17] And finally - Walk MS was today. It was a good day for a walk - the rain held off until we finished the walk. (Literally we felt the first drops when we stepped back into the parking area!) And thanks to your generosity, I more than reached my fundraising goal. I say it every year because it's true - you guys are awesome!  I couldn't ask to know a better bunch!

[MAY 11] Greetings all and Happy Mother's Day to all the moms and mom-figures out there! Next week is my annual MS Walk and thanks to you guys I have reached my goal of $517.  (You guys are AWESOME!) So of course I will be walking in a Donna shirt.  :-)  Fingers crossed we have a nice day for the walk. It's always rain or shine, but it's more fun when it's nice out! And as an added bonus, we can always see the amphitheater while we walk and it bring back happy memories of watching Donna perform there.  :-)

[MAY 11] On to the news.  There is a new video up on YouTube that is described as a story video for I Feel Love.  In the description it says, "In a world where AI and humanoid coexist, a humanoid robot names Lumis discovers the iconic Donna Summer track I Feel Love.  As he immerses himself in the music, Lumis begins to experience emotions and questions his existence."  It's a pretty cool video but I do want to warn you that there are lots of flashing lights which might be a problem for those of you who suffer migraines or seizures.

[MAY 11] In old news, MixMag.org posted a 1995 interview from their archives. It was done about the time Donna was promoting Melody of Love, and it's not one I ever remember reading before, so that was pretty cool.

[MAY 11] Bruce fans - catch him on the Radio Misfits podcast.

[MAY 11] I think that brings us to YouTube.  This week we continue our celebration of The Wanderer with some mixes. So we have The Figaro Sound full mix of The Wanderer, The LeFlex Sunset Remix radio edit of Nightlife,  the Figo Sound version of Looking Up, and the LeFlex Poolside mix of Grand Illusion.  And finally, this isn't a remix, but stampyourfeet  made a video for Cold Love comprised of clips from Art On Ice.  (Seems appropriate.  :-) )

MEMORIAL NEWS PAGE

OLD NEWS ARCHIVES