At the time of one of my first summer jobs in the late 70's (1979 maybe?), she and disco were very hot. I worked with some other college kids who were big Donna/disco fans. One of my coworkers was a college student who mentioned a rumor she had heard that Donna Summer was actually born "Donald Summer" and had.n had a sex change.
Nobody really believed it, but remember this was about 20 years before the internet and social media. For years after, I couldn't help but notice Donna did have kind of mannish features.
I sorta became a fan, absolutely adored "Last Dance", "On the Radio", "Bad Girls", "She Works Hard for the Money". As disco started dying and her material changed directions, I began to lose interest. Then I heard the anti-gay, "AIDS is a punishment" rumors and knowing how religious she became, I pretty much believed them.
I haven't seen the documentary, but someone posted up at the top that her husband addresses that she did indeed make the "Adam &Steve" remark. I'm not sure, but for those who have seen the documentary, does he imply that she said it as a bad attempt at "humor"?
They both handled that whole situation very badly. I guess they thought by ignoring it, it would just "go away". Instead, it got worse and worse and all blown up out of proportion.
It's ridiculous to compare her to Karen Carpenter; their voices and singing styles couldn't have been more different. While I do agree that Donna was somewhat lacking in "charisma"(for want of a better word), it may just be that she was one of those performers you had to see live to truly appreciate, such as DL faves Ethel Merman and Liza.
At the height of her powers though, there was truly no voice that even came close to Donna's in terms of power and purity of tone. Perhaps Ms. Streisand in her heyday, but Barbra always sounded a little nasal, and watching her sing in movies or on TV, it always seemed like Barbra was trying just a little too hard, while Donna's singing always seemed so effortless (until she became ill).
I recently saw caught one of her final concerts on YouTube; while the voice was still powerful, you could see the effort and trouble she had catching her breath after some songs.
How sad that her legacy will be those misguided "anti-gay" remarks, which I truly believe she regretted making until her dying day.
