Donna Summer: Four Seasons Of Love

Exhibit Info

On View - Jul 02, 2014 - Jul 02, 2014

On July 2, 2014, The GRAMMY Museum unveiled its latest temporary exhibition Donna Summer: Four Seasons of Love. Located on the Museum’s fourth floor, this unique exhibition offers visitors a behind-the-scenes look at the iconic career of five-time GRAMMY Award-winner Donna Summer. This is the first exhibition highlighting the career of the legendary “Queen of Disco.”

Donna Summer galvanized a diverse group of music fans and she was able to give credibility to a genre of music that had many skeptics. We are honored to tell her story and help demonstrate why Donna Summer is not only the undisputed ‘Queen of Disco,’ but also one of the most successful female artists of all time.
– GRAMMY Museum executive director Bob Santelli

On display through April 19, 2015, the exhibit features:

• Gowns And Costumes Designed By Summer
• Set Designs Sketches, Also Created By Summer
• Handwritten Lyrics And Notes
• Never-Before-Seen Photographs Spanning Summer’s Entire Career
• Several Hand-Painted Pieces From Summer’s Critically Acclaimed Summer Fine Arts Collection
• And More

Donna Summer rocketed to international superstardom in the mid-1970s when her groundbreaking merger of R&B, soul, pop, funk, rock, disco and avant-garde electronica catapulted underground dance music out of the clubs of Europe to the pinnacles of sales and radio charts around the world. Maintaining an unbroken string of hits throughout the ‘70s and ‘80s, most of which she wrote, Summer holds the record for most consecutive double albums to hit #1 on the Billboard charts (3) and first female to have four #1 singles in a 12 month period; three as a solo artist and one as a duo with Barbra Streisand. Donna Summer was the first artist to win the GRAMMY for Best Rock Vocal Performance, Female (1979, “Hot Stuff”) as well as the first-ever recipient of the GRAMMY for Best Dance Recording (1997, “Carry On”). In 2004, she became one of the first inductees, as both an Artist Inductee and a Record Inductee (for 1977’s “I Feel Love”) into the Dance Music Hall of Fame in New York City. Summer was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame on April 18, 2013, less than a year after her death on May 17, 2012.

In 1978, Donna received the GRAMMY Award for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance, her first major industry award. Donna’s relationship with The Recording Academy was very special to her. On behalf of our daughters Mimi, Brooklyn and Amanda, and the extended family, we are truly honored to have the GRAMMY Museum host this amazing tribute to Donna’s legacy.
– Bruce Sudano, husband