Buriani Malkia wa disco Donna Summer

Donna Summer ... her disco hits thrilled millions

Hot Stuff singer Donna Summer died this morning aged 63 after a battle with cancer, her family has confirmed. 

The Boston-born star, known as the Queen of Disco, passed away in Florida.

The Seventies icon was battling lung cancer, TMZ is reporting, with sources telling the website Donna believed she contracted the illness by inhaling toxic particles after the 9/11 terrorist attacks in New York.

Her family released a statement, saying Summer died on Thursday morning and that they 'are at peace celebrating her extraordinary life and her continued legacy'.

Scroll to see video of iconic songs and one of Donna's last performances...

Queen of Disco: Donna Summer, pictured in 1979, has passed away aged 63

It went on: 'Words truly can't express how much we appreciate your prayers and love for our family at this sensitive time.'

She had been living in Englewood, Florida, with her husband Bruce Sudano.

The singer will be remembered at a public memorial in Nashville, Tennessee next Wednesday.

Sources told TMZ she had attempted to keep the extent of her illness from fans and was recently trying to finish up her latest album. 

According to Entertainment Tonight, she was diagnosed with cancer 10 months ago and only told her husband and three children.

Secret battle: This is the last picture taken of Summer in public, pictured in October last year just seven months before her death performing in Las Vegas

Hit maker: Summer is know for her popular 70s tracks including Hot Stuff and Bad Girls

ET also reports she will be laid to rest in Nashville on Monday following her funeral.

Summers, real name LaDonna Gaines, is best know for her string of 70s hits, including I Feel Love, Last Dance and Bad Girls. 

She was a five-time Grammy Award winner and the first artist to have three consecutive double albums reach number one on the US Billboard chart.

Seventies crew: Donna takes the stage with Tom Jones, left, and Dolly Parton in 1977 on the Mac Davis: Sounds Like Home  show

She was also the first female artist with four No. 1 singles in a 13-month period, according to the Rock Hall of Fame, where she was a nominee this year. 

Dionne Warwick: 'My heart goes out to her husband and her children. Prayers will be said to keep them strong.'


Billy Ray Cyrus: "R I P #Donna Summer LEGEND!!! Your music will live forever.'


Gloria Estefan: 'Few singers have impacted music & the world like Donna Summer! It's the end of an era... Peace & prayers 2 all who loved her. I will miss her!'


La Toya Jackson: 'My condolence to #Donna Summer's family & love ones. She will be terribly missed. She was truly the #Disco Queen!'


Timbaland (music producer): 'This cant be tru. i cant believe this RIP
Ellen DeGeneres: 'I'm so sad about the news that Donna Summer died this morning. I was a big fan. I even used one of her songs in my show that airs today.'


Quincy Jones: 'Rest in Peace dead Donna Summer. Your voice was the heartbeat and soundtrack of a decade.'
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Summer came to prominence just as disco was burgeoning, and came to define the era with a string of No. 1 hits and her beauty queen looks. 

Disco became as much defined by her sultry, sexual vocals - her bedroom moans and sighs - as the relentless, pulsing rhythms of the music itself.

Summers married actor Helmuth Sommer in 1973 before giving birth to the couple's daughter Mimi later that year. 

Although the marriage crumbled in 1975, she kept an altered version of her ex's surname to use as her stage name. She married Brooklyn Dreams musician Bruce Sudano in 1980 and the couple went on to have two daughters, Brooklyn, born in 1981 and Amanda the following year. 

In 1994, the family moved from Los Angeles to Nashville where Donna took time out from showbusiness to focus on painting but had recently returned to the recording studio.

As well has staggering career highs, Summer also endured personal lows.

She suffered serious depression in the wake of September 11 terrorist attacks in New York.

'I was really freaked out by the horrific experiences of that day,' Summer, who was at her Manhattan apartment during the 2001 attacks, once said.

'I couldn't go out, I didn't want to talk to anybody. I had to keep the blinds down and stay in my bedroom.' 

Friends eventually intervened and the born-again Christian also found strength in her faith.

Paying their respects: Fans lays flowers on Donna Summer's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame

Remembered: Candles and a record by the late singer surround her star

'I went to church, and light came back into my soul,' she said in 2008. 'That heaviness was gone.'

Love to Love You Baby, with its erotic moans, was her first hit and one of the most scandalous songs of the polyester-and-platform-heel era. 

Unlike some other stars of disco who faded as the music became less popular, Summer was able to grow beyond it and later segued to a pop-rock sound.

Family: Summer with her husband Bruce Sudano and their daughter Brooklyn in 2003. The couple also had another daughter together, Amanda. She had a daughter, Mimi, from a previous marriage 

She had been in her nearby apartment when the deadly cloud containing asbestos, lead and mercury filled the sky after the al-Qaeda jet hijack atrocity in 2001. 

 And she is thought to have believed that breathing it triggered her cancer. 

Speaking of her trauma, devout Christian Donna once said: “I was really freaked out by the horrific experiences of that day.

“I couldn’t go out, I didn’t want to talk to anybody. I had to keep the blinds down and stay in my bedroom. I went to church and light came back into my soul. That heaviness was gone.” 

Donna also had a premonition fanatics would target New York a month before it happened. 

She recalled in 2008: “My husband and I were walking down the street. I had this feeling. I said, ‘Honey, I feel like terrorism, high on top of the buildings.’ 

“I knew something was going to happen. When it did, I flipped out.” 

The attacks killed around 3,000 people on the day. But the toxic legacy of 9/11 is still claiming lives more than ten years later. 

It is believed that around 1,000 people exposed to the dust have died — 350 of them from cancer. 

And cancer rates among police officers who attended the scene have tripled. Another study found 60,720 people were at risk after inhaling dust and fumes.

The I Feel Love singer, 63, was in New York when al-Qaeda destroyed the Twin Towers in 2001.

Dr John Howard, the 9/11 Federal Health Director, said: “I think it is plausible that many people will die of the many conditions we’ve seen due to their exposure.” 

Yesterday tributes poured in for the Queen of Disco credited with defining the dance music era of the 1970s, influencing British acts like Duran Duran, David Bowie and the late Whitney Houston. 

Her family said in a statement: “Early this morning, surrounded by family, we lost Donna Summer Sudano, a woman of many gifts, the greatest being her faith.

cover of Donna’s 1977 hit

“While we grieve her passing, we are at peace celebrating her extraordinary life and her continued legacy. Words truly can’t express how much we appreciate your prayers and love for our family at this sensitive time.” 

Among those paying tribute were President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle. 

The president released a statement saying,“Michelle and I were saddened to hear about the passing of Donna Summer. A five-time Grammy Award winner, Donna truly was the ’Queen of Disco.’ 

“Her voice was unforgettable, and the music industry has lost a legend far too soon. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Donna’s family and her dedicated fans.” 

X Factor judge Gary Barlow called her death “a massive loss to us all”. Kylie Minogue — referencing Donna’s hit Bad Girls — wrote on Twitter: “One of my earliest musical inspirations. RIP Donna Summer #BadGirlsForEver.” 

Legendary producer Quincy Jones tweeted: “Rest in Peace dear Donna Summer. Your voice was the heartbeat and soundtrack of a decade.”

Donna sings in 1982

  

TV star Kelly Osbourne wrote: “The Queen of Disco may have passed on but Donna Summer’s legacy will live on forever! Tonight my last dance is in honour of you!” 

Singer Rihanna wrote: “RIP Donna Summer, Queen of Disco.” 

Janet Jackson tweeted: “We will miss Donna Summer! She changed the world of music with her beautiful voice and incredible talent.”

Legend ... on stage last October

And disco pop band Scissor Sisters dedicated their forthcoming show to their idol. They tweeted: “We’ll be doing it for Donna!!” 

Donna, one of seven children, started singing gospel in her hometown Boston. 

After teaming up with producer Giorgio Moroder, she exploded on to the pop scene in 1975 with her track Love To Love You Baby. The song featured a 23-second fake orgasm which got it banned on radio and by the BBC.

But DJs played the record in clubs around the globe where it became an instant hit. 

Her powerful style and glamorous looks made her a megastar — and she became a gay icon. 

But in the mid-1980s she fell foul of the homosexual community when she allegedly made anti-gay comments about AIDS. 

Donna was alleged to have said the epidemic was a punishment from God. 

She later denied making the comments. But the incident had a negative impact on her career. 

Chanzo: The Sun, Daily Mail