Last Dance for Donna Summer, Dead at 63

Very sad to read about the death of Donna Summer, who apparently was battling cancer for years before succumbing to the disease today at 63. Although I'm a bit too young to have properly experienced the Donnamania that truly swept the nation in the late 1970s -- my friends' older siblings were going to discos, while we watched in envy -- I was a diehard fan nonetheless ("Heavens Knows" is in my Top 10 singles of all time). And I vividly remembering her late '80s comeback hit, "This Time I Know It's for Real," as being a highlight of my early "out" years. They practically played the video on a loop at JR's on Dupont Circle when I was interning on Capitol Hill!!! But it's her classic songs, like "I Feel Love," "Love to Love You Baby," "Could It Be Magic," "MacArthur Park," "Bad Girls," "Din All the Lights," "Hot Stuff," "Enough Is Enough," "Last Dance," "State of Independence" and, perhaps more than other, "On the Radio" -- the heart wrenching song from the underrated film "Foxes" -- that will live on forever.

I never believed the "Adam and Steve" comments attributed to her, although I guess anything's possible. Even if they were true, I'd still separate her work from her person a la Woody Allen, that's how talented I thought she was. (I even asked my boss if she would be sending us home early today. Although she said no, she was sympathetic to my cause.)

RIP, Donna Summer. You will be missed.