Donna Summer, nicknamed the 'Queen of Disco', died on Thursday morning (May 17, 2012) after a long battle with cancer - she was 63-years-old, reports Tmz.com. Summer - who had tried to keep the severity of her illness under wraps - passed away in Florida.
The legendary singer had actually been focused on trying to finish an album she had been working on in recent months, and sources close to her said she "didn't seem too bad" just a couple of weeks ago. The multi Grammy winner rose to fame in the 1970s with iconic disco anthems such as 'Last Dance', 'Hot Stuff' and 'Bad Girls'. Her dominance of the genre reached heady new heights in the 1980s, with 'She Works Hard for the Money' and 'This Time I Know It's For Real'. Summer and her producer Giorgio Moroder defined the dance music era and went on to influence acts across a number of genres, including David Bowie. She married the Brooklyn Dreams singer Bruce Sudano back in 1980s and the couple had two daughters together.
Twitter has already lit up with hundreds of tributes to the late star. The Charlatans' singer Tim Burgess said, "Wow. Shocking news that Donna Summer has died. Spend 15 minutes listening to this and remembering how brilliant she was", before linking to a video of the singer's hit 'I Feel Love'.