Donna Summer

Please, rock and roll gods, PLEASE don't let a disco performer be let into the Rock and Roll HOF in my lifetime... :)

not my personal fav, but you can't deny her impact on disco in the 1970s.

HOF needs more disco and she was the queen. Plus she paved the way for dance divas like Janet Jackson and Madonna. Plus the production on her late 70s records was very foward thinking and groundbreaking.

disco!

It is very simple. Donna Summer's first 2 albums (one of which was a European release) were not disco. Her 1st album was kind of a rock/story-telling album which a lot of songs back then were. Love to Love You Baby is too slow to dance to at the rate of other so-called disco tunes, as is her 2nd hit Try Me. Much of Donna Summer's music has a flavor of something else in the mix, whether it be Moroccan or even a Spanish flair, or big band; but most assuredly most of her later 70's songs had an edge of ROCK to them, Hot Stuff's guitar solo hailed by Billboard as one of Rock's best. If you listen to standard disco and/or hard core disco, Donna Summer seems to be out of place with the exception of maybe 2 songs. I Feel Love was groundbreaking on all levels of music, bringing in an electronic fuel to fire Rock and every other genre of music. I Feel Love alone paved the way for many hit records by other artists for years to come. Ask any producer who has been around and knows the business. Donna Summer was the first black female artist to win a grammy in th ROCK category for Hot Stuff. It was definatly a ROCK song, as was My Baby Understands from the same album. Although she is the Queen of one genre of music, she has been influential and influenced by Rock as well as many other genres of music. Donna Summer, rock n roll? You better believe it. See her live performances of HOT STUFF and Romeo, just to name a couple.

It's about time! People forget that Donna Summer set all types of records in her day and was very influential, as well as innovative. Whether it be releasing the first commercial 12" single (when 45's were the norm), producing the longest running song on LP, or having four consectuive double albums and a soundtrack released within a 3-year time span (all reaching Gold or Platinum status when it wasn't quite so easy to do so). Or what about her ability to cross multiple boundaries by topping the charts from pop to disco to R&B; and others. Or the brilliant marketing strategy devised by her and her label; Like pre-releasing a single weeks before the album was available (unheard of then, but almost thirty years later, still a common practice), or releasing a "Live" album with an entire studio side of new material - and long before others like Genesis ("Three Sides Live") ripped off the idea. And as far as the rock argument goes, why was OK for "Rock" artists to release disco songs (Kiss "I Was Made For Loving You", Bryan Adams "Let Me Take You Dancing", Rod Stewart "Do You Think I'm Sexy", The Rolling Stones "Emotional Rescue", etc.), but totally unacceptable for a disco artist to release a platinum-selling number 1 rock song?!? Was it because they were beaten at their own game? Or that their efforts are often looked back upon as an embarrassment. Whereas, 28 years later, "Hot Stuff" is still considered a classic! That being said, let's not forget that in addition to her chart success, Donna has also won numerous grammy awards, AND managed to do so in four distinct categories; Dance, Inspirational, R&B;, and yes ladies and gentlemen - ROCK, so get over it. It's time to give the woman her due.

Donna Summers presents a bit of a dilemna.  The issue of what qualifies as Rock and Roll has been contentious and plagued the Hall of Fame from the beginning.  They have from the start acknowledged Rock and Roll's debt to R&B; and Soul (and Blues and Country and even Miles Davis) as it was practiced in the 50's and 60's but are now having to come to terms with acceptance of the later day developments of those forms and consider Funk, Disco, and Rap/Hip Hop.  It seems that they have tended to take the broadest possible view and included early rapper Grand Master Flash last year.  Donna Summer would be the first exclusively Disco icon to make it (for The Bee Gees arguably disco was a phase, albeit their most successful phase).  And her inclusion would be warranted by her domination of the charts in the late 70's early 80's.  But the Hall is signalling then that their musical purpose is essentially the Pop Top 40 Hall of Fame and twenty years from now there will no doubt be nominees like Britney Spears, Akon, Eminem and Backstreet Boys on the ballot.

Love to love ya Donna. The singer who helped define a sound, whether you like it or not, should have such an honor as this.

Absolutly

Disco Sucks!

Donna REALLY deserves to get in! She's one of the most talented SINGERS in the world. Dance music is part of Rock & Roll, if you look back and see first years  R&R; = Dance, so no one influenced actual dance music like Donna... LOVE YOU MS. SUMMER!!!

Her influence of techno dance fused into rock influenced EVERYTHING. Blondie, Madonna, Nine Inch Nails, Michael Jackson, Eurythmics, Depeche Mode, Pet Shop Boys, Beastie Boys, on and on.

Donna Summer defies category. She has won Grammy's in Rock, R&B;, Dance, & Inspirational. I Feel Love changed the face of music as we know it today!

Love ya Donna. You are a great singer/song writer. You influenced many of today's recording stars.

This is Rock and Roll, Disco Sucks.

DONNA SUMMER is the most under-rated perfomer from the 70's.

She was and still is THE one who paved the way for MADONNA,JANET & BEYONCE.

And her voice is still one of the strongest one in the pop world...

People who consider her ONLY a disco queen ; have definitely not listened to all of the lady's output.

She could have been the black JANIS JOPLIN.

Just listen to WOUNDED or MY BABY UNDERSTANDS or RUNNING FOR COVER...No trace of a disco diva to be found anywhere.

KD

This lady not only earned the title of "Queen of Disco" she won Grammys for R&B;, Rock, Inspirational and Dance. Such range deserves recognition!

Donna Summer's powerful, trained vocals also come from her early years in musical theater. 2007 marks the 30th anniversary of her groundbreaking hit "I Feel Love", the much covered and sampled track which David Bowie and Brian Eno referred to as the "future of Rock & Roll".

The image of disco doesn't help her, but she is the icon of it, and has had success ever since the 1970s. When disco finally gets its due in the Hall (it is a direct musical descendent of funk and soul, which no one would argue against being in), she will be one of the first in, but she needs Chic (who have been nominated 3 times) to get there first.

Much applause for the earlier reviewer. . .this insane brat has no place in the (overrated) Rock and Roll HOF. . .

Donna Summer has nothing to do with Rock n Roll.When they open a DISCO Hall of Fame,she'll be in like Flynn.

"The Queen of Disco", as she is usually dubbed. I think she will not get in. She does have a wealth of hits. I think the hall should consider her only when I think of the disco era. No one seemed to embody the era other than her or KC and the Sunshine band. I can't blame them for showing a bias toward disco and lesser art forms of music. The music seemed synthesizer driven. There seemed to be a real lack of creativity during that period in America. And I actually love alot of disco songs.

Donna Summer is rock...through and and through...just listen to THE WANDERER album or HOT STUFF. She can rock!

Disco hall of fame, not rock.

Not for me, but many would argue she was the Disco Queen. Oh that's right, this is a ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME.

She was Disco. Whether you love it or hate it, she was hugely influential. I don't like most of her stuff, but I Feel Love and Love to Love You clearly influenced Prince.

She's a great singer, and she gave credibility to a mediocre art form. I don't care for disco, but I love "Bad Girls", "Last Dance" and "Love To Love You, Baby".

Disco deserves its due. A major current exclusion.

Its the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame not the Disco Hall of Shame. How did she get on this list.

The top disco artist of all time had a strong rock edge to most of her music.

i wuv her