Donna Adrian Gaines was born today in 1948. You probably know her better by her stage name – Donna Summer. She was affectionately called the “Queen of Disco.”

She gained success in 1976 with Love To Love You, Baby. In 1978 she acted in the film, Thank God, It’s Friday where she sang, “Last Dance.” She had her first #1 song with MacArthur Park and 5 hits in 1979.  Among them were Hot Stuff, Bad Girls, and No More Tears (with Barbra Streisand.

Her label (Casablanca) wanted her to record nothing but Disco.  She wanted to do other types of songs.  They wouldn’t budge and she parted ways with the label in 1980.

In 1983, she released the album, She Works Hard For The Money. The title track would go to #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and hit #1 on the R&B chart.

With many Summer songs to pick from, I chose She Works Hard For the Money because there’s a great story behind it.  From Songfacts.com:

This song was based on a true-to-life experience. After the Grammy Awards in 1983, Donna Summer was at an afterparty at Chasen’s restaurant, a Hollywood hotspot (it closed in 1995). She went to the bathroom and saw the attendant, Onetta Johnson, taking a nap with a small TV on. Summer startled her from her nap, and Onetta told Donna she worked two jobs and was really tired. Summer thought to herself, “Wow, she really works hard for her money.“

Knowing she had the makings of a hit, she grabbed some toilet paper and started writing her ideas. Later that night while at home thinking about Onetta, Summer wrote the song in about 20 minutes. The song became a tribute to hard-working women everywhere.

Onetta Johnson, the bathroom attendant from Chasen’s, appears on the back cover of the album. The first line of the song says her name: “Onetta there in the corner stands…”

Donna died of lung cancer on May 17, 2012. She was 63. She had an apartment near Ground Zero the day of the 9/11 attacks.  She had quit smoking long before and many say the cancer was from the fumes in the area after the attacks. 

Happy Heavenly birthday, Donna Summer.