Donna Summer Dead at 63

TMZ is reporting that the queen of disco, Donna Summer, died this morning after a battle with lung cancer. She was 63 years old.

This comes as a big shock to pop culture fans who knew nothing of her situation. Evidently the singer was "trying to keep the extent of her illness under wraps." According to the gossip site, Summer had actually seemed well in recent weeks and was focusing on the completion of her new album.

Summer had a conflicted history with the LGBT community. While gays and lesbians danced and adored her triumphant tunes in the 1970s, in the 1980s she became a born-again Christian and allegedly made anti-gay remarks regarding AIDS, which was then a relatively unknown disease. She is reported to have said that "AIDS was a punishment from God for the immoral lifestyles of homosexuals." She denied the comment and in a letter to ACT UP in 1989 said that it was "a terrible misunderstanding. I was unknowingly protected by those around me from the bad press and hate letters... If I have caused you pain, forgive me."

According to her Wiki page, she also told The Advocate in 1989, "A couple of the people I write with are gay, and they have been ever since I met them. What people want to do with their bodies is their personal preference."

Summer was a 5-time Grammy winner who shot to superstardom in the 1970s with hits like "Last Dance," "Hot Stuff" and "Bad Girls." Watch her singing her iconic hit, the one that closed many a gay dance club, "Last Dance."

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