Don’t Call It A Comeback.
19.05.2023 - 19:03 / nypost.com
“Love to Love You, Donna Summer,” premiering Saturday on HBO. “It’s not pain I could have spoken about, but it’s something that I have to always incorporate into my reality.”The childhood trauma left her “feeling guilty” — even as she was feeling love from fans around the world at the peak of her musical powers.
As a result, despite having 11 Top 10 hits between 1976 and 1980, including four No. 1 smashes, Summer had “a secret life” that was more troubled than triumphant.“The most dismal days of my existence were at the height of my career,” the “MacArthur Park” singer admits to her daughter Brooklyn Sudano, who directed the film along with Oscar winner Roger Ross Williams.“It was like wearing an evening gown that was too tight … Everything was popping out, and I needed more space.”Growing up in a deeply religious Boston household as Donna Gaines, Summer found herself inspired by gospel great Mahalia Jackson.“I remember getting a spanking for wearing red fingernail polish because to my father … that was what whores wore,” Summer says.But after moving to Greenwich Village at 19 during the summer of 1968, Summer discovered her inner hippie while living above Cafe Wha? on MacDougal Street.
The newly freed spirit was soon cast in the German production of nudie musical “Hair.” After meeting and marrying first husband Helmuth Sommer — the source of inspiration for her stage name — and giving birth to their daughter Mimi in 1973, the couple split, causing Summer mental anguish for breaking up their family. But she found a safe harbor in her mentor Giorgio Moroder, the Italian composer who produced many of her biggest hits.“He was a redeeming factor in my life from some of the abusive men that I had chosen to trust, who were not
.Don’t Call It A Comeback.
performed “I Dreamed a Dream” with the West End cast of “Les Misérables” 14 years after she shocked the world with the same show tune during her audition in 2009.“It feels great [to be back],” Boyle said Sunday after the full-circle performance.“It’s extra special for me, actually. Because last April there, I suffered a minor stroke,” she said.“I have fought like crazy to get back onstage and I have done it,” she added to the audience’s applause.The show’s creator and panelist Simon Cowell, 63, also had sweet words for Boyle, telling her: “Susan, we owe you so much.”“And I knew you weren’t well, but if anyone was going to come back, you were going to come back because we wouldn’t be the same without you,” he told her.
Janelle Monáe admitted it took her mom, Janet, a while to come around to accepting her as queer.
Kelly Clarkson said not getting a push gift from her ex-husband should have been a red flag.The 41-year-old daytime talk show host revealed the nugget during Friday's show with guests Carey Hart and Priyanka Chopra Jonas. It was Pink's husband, Hart, who mentioned he got her a motorcycle as her push gift (they share two children together), and it was the star who went on to explain what a push gift is.The concept was lost on Clarkson, who seemed to think that the baby's the push gift.
Kelly Rowland should be first in line to portray the Queen of Disco. Every so often, social media implodes as users clamor to point out how similar the two singers look. And Rowland isn't shy to bolster the calls for her to nab a starring role in a potential biopic; in 2019, the Destiny's Child alum dressed as the First Lady of Love for Halloween and sent fans into a frenzy. Donning a feathered white coat over a white bodysuit tied at the waist, Rowland shared several photos of her costume paired with photos of Summer in the original outfit.
, an HBO Original documentary offering an intimate glimpse at the artist's life on and off stage.Brooklyn Sudano, one of Summer's three children, teamed up with Oscar and Emmy-winning filmmaker Roger Ross Williams to direct the documentary exploring the highs and lows of her mother's fame, giving fans a deeply personal portrait of the Queen of Disco before her death on May 17, 2012.«I had just become a mother. I didn't have my mom.
Taylor Swift on her Eras tour at Gillette Stadium — but she’s hurt and can’t seem to “Shake It Off” after her daughter chose to take her bestie instead of her.The mom — who was only identified as Susan — recalled her story on the “Country Mornings with Ayla Brown” radio show, explaining she’d splurged on the concert for her girl’s 19th birthday.“God, I was so hurt. I was so hurt,” Susan told Brown on May 24, when asked about how she felt when the teen told her she was taking her childhood best friend and not her.“I really wanted to go big [for her birthday],” she explained. “I mean, she’s turning 19.
Sasha Calle‘s performance as Supergirl got Henry Cavill‘s stamp of approval.
Love to Love You, Donna Summer is not just a documentary, it’s a hymn to the life and times of the indisputable queen of disco. The film conveys Donna Summer’s journey from the gospel churches of Boston to the dance floors that defined an era. Directed by first-time helmer and Summer’s daughter Brooklyn Sudano and Roger Ross Williams (The Apollo, Traveling While Black), Love to Love You weaves together interviews, footage and the singer’s infectious music to deliver a new perspective on the life of a vocal powerhouse. As part of the Deadline FYC House + HBO Max Event series, we spoke with Sudano, Williams and producer David Blackman on the red carpet at the New York premiere.
To say this was a bit of an overreaction is an understatement…
Kate Beckinsale is throwing it back to the 1993 Cannes Film Festival.
on Nancy O’Dell’s “TalkShopLive,” to promote her new album “Chemistry,” Kelly Clarkson, 42, revealed that the reason behind the talk show’s move to New York is that she and her family need a “fresh start.”“I was like ‘guys, I need you to know what’s happening,” said the “Since U Been Gone” singer. “‘Like it’s either.
recent episode of the “Allison Interviews” podcast, Brooklyn Sudano recalled details of her mother’s battle with lung cancer, which took the singer’s life in 2012.“My mother was extremely strong as a person. I think her decision not to share [her diagnosis] with the world was that she was a woman of faith, and she really believed that God was going to heal her,” the “My Wife and Kids” star, 42, told host Allison Kugel.Summer, who Sudano described as “one of the strongest people” she knew, maintained positivity and surrounded herself with people who shared the same energy.“When you’re in the public eye, you end up carrying a lot of people’s emotions for them,” Sudano continued of her “trooper” mom.
Kesha has long been candid about dealing with various mental health challenges — even when her struggles have gotten very intense.
Priyanka Chopra is reflecting upon her time as an actress, detailing a moment where she felt her boundaries were crossed. An India native, Chopra's career accelerated after she won the Miss World 2000 pageant. She began starring in Bollywood films, and was hired to work with a director she was unfamiliar with.
Tina Turner seemed to have a certain fondness for rock star David Bowie – and reportedly even credited him for helping her career at one low point. On Wednesday, it was announced that the “Queen of Rock ‘n’ Roll” had died at the age of 83 in Switzerland, where she had been living for a number of years.The iconic performer was well-known for her hit-making songs like “What’s Love Got to Do with It,” and she sold more than 100 million records worldwide throughout her career.However, despite her tremendous success as an artist, there was a time when Tina faced extraordinary personal hardship, as she suffered abuse at the hands of her onetime-husband, Ike Turner.After they divorced in 1976, she was dropped by her record label, Capitol Records, reported People – but she divulged that it was Bowie who actually helped her get back into the industry after taking some time off from recording music.
CBS‘ summer schedule can be summed up in two words: “Big Brother.” The network will celebrate the 25th season of the beloved reality series with a 90-minute special on Wednesday, Aug. 2. Following the premiere, CBS will air episodes on Sundays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.
Anna Tingley If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Variety may receive an affiliate commission. Donna Summer is to this day considered the Queen of Disco thanks to her chart-topping hits throughout the 1970s, famous for her commanding stage presence, dramatic makeup and voluptuous curls.
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A.D. Amorosi Perhaps without you realizing it, there’s a strong chance that the last 12 months of your life have been graced by the classic, sequenced electronic disco of Italian songwriter, producer and soundtrack composer Giorgio Moroder. If 2022-2023 winds up as one of Moroder’s biggest years, that will have happened nearly by accident. Tom Cruise and Jerry Bruckheimer’s mega-box office winner “Top Gun: Maverick” used the composer’s “Danger Zone,” as the original film did. Then there is the fact that Beyoncé sampled his “I Feel Love” for “Summer Renaissance” as part of her 2022 album, “Renaissance.” He was rendered as a big-screen character with Sebastian Maniscalco’s cartoonish portrayal of Moroder in director-writer Timothy Scott Bogart’s “Spinning Gold” biopic (Variety’s Owen Gleiberman wrote that Maniscalco’s Moroder “sounds like a character out of Hogan’s Heroes'”). The Italian producer and composer who now lives in Los Angeles is better-represented in the new documentary on the life of his old friend, HBO Max’s “Love to You Love You, Donna Summer.”