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(indistinct chatter in background)

(drum stick taps)

Donna Summer: I know when to come in.

Crew: I'll count, I'll count.

("Love to Love You Baby" by Donna Summer playing)

Crew: One, two...

One, two, three, four...

Donna (singing): ♪ Ohhh ♪

♪ Love to love you, baby ♪

♪ Ahhh ♪

♪ Love to love you, baby ♪

♪ Ahhh ♪

♪ Love to love you, baby ♪

(gasping) ♪ Ahhh ♪

♪ Love to love you, baby ♪

♪ Ahhh ♪

♪ Love to love you, baby ♪

♪ Ahhh-ahhh... ♪

♪ Ahhh, ah... ♪

♪ Ah, ah ♪

♪ I ♪

♪ Love to love you, baby ♪

♪ I ♪

♪ Love to love you, baby ♪

♪ I ♪

♪ Love to love you, baby ♪

♪ Do it to me again and again ♪

♪ You put me in such an awful spin ♪

♪ In a spin, in... ♪

♪ Ahhh ♪

♪ Love to love you, baby ♪

♪ I ♪

♪ Love to love you, baby ♪

♪ Ahh, love to love you baby ♪

♪ Ahhhh ♪

("I Feel Love" by Donna Summer playing)

(crowd cheering)

♪ ♪

♪ Oooh ♪

♪ It's so good, it's so good it's so good, it's so good ♪

♪ It's so good ♪

(sultry breathing)

♪ Ooh ♪

♪ Heaven knows, heaven knows, heaven knows, heaven knows ♪

♪ Heaven knows ♪

(crowd cheering)

Donna (singing): ♪ Oooh ♪

♪ I feel love, I feel love I feel love, I feel love ♪

♪ I feel love ♪

♪ I feel ♪

♪ Love ♪

♪ I feel love... ♪

(music fades)

Donna: I have a secret life.

You're looking at me, but what you see is not what I am.

How many roles do I play in my own life?

Who is she?

(child exhales)

(piano keys tinkle)

(child babbling)

(strikes chord)

(sings) ♪ When I ♪

(child singing along)

♪ Believe ♪

♪ In miracles that happen ♪

You want to sing now?

(babbles)

You want me to do the camera?

- Yeah. - Okay, you sing.

(telephone ringing)

(child singing)

(ringing continues)

Ric Gaines (on phone): Is this Brooklyn?

Brooklyn: (laughing) Yes.

Ric: Oh, Brooklyn!

Mary Ellen Bernard (on phone): How you doin' today?

Brooklyn (on phone): Hey, Auntie Mary.

I'm calling because I may need some help.

I'm trying to figure out the many pieces

of who Mom really was.

- (concert crowd chatter) - (Donna speaking indistinctly)

Brooklyn: You know, she was complicated

and struggled with her fame, her... her image.

And even love.

(toys rattling)

(pensive music playing)

(projector clicking)

Bruce Sudano: What do you see?

- Beaver. - Bruce: Yeah!

Young Brooklyn: Hi, Beaver!

Donna: Boo-boo. How you doing?

Fine!

- Bruce: Is it working? - Donna: Yeah.

Uh, Mommy, can I see too?

Donna: Not right now, go out and play dance. I gotta get ya.

- Bruce: What's your name? - Brooklyn.

I'm four!

Bruce: What's your name?

- Amanda. - Bruce: How old are you?

- Two. - Donna: And a half.

- Bruce: When's your birthday? - Five.

(child laughs)

- Bruce: And what's your name? - Five!

Mimi. Donna: Move your arms, Mimi, as much as you can.

- I can't see. - Donna: Well, squinch.

- (Bruce laughs) - Donna: Come on.

Mimi Dohler: Growing up, I was in the studio with Mom all night long.

We'd go to sleep on the couch in the engineering room.

It was sort of a roller coaster ride for everyone.

She was really famous, and everyone wanted her.

There was this element of her always having to be public.

But Mommy was a very private person in a lot of ways.

Amanda Sudano Ramirez: With Mom, a lot of her life

revolved around privacy and secrecy.

We were never allowed in her room.

The door was always locked.

We would find out things by reading newspaper articles

they had clipped out and hidden in places.

I actually remember the first time that we heard "Love to Love You."

Didn't even know it existed.

Brooklyn came in the room and was like,

"Have I got a song for you to hear!"

Donna (singing): ♪ Ahh, whoo... ♪

♪ Ahh, ohhh... ♪

Whoo! Ahhh!

(sultry breathing)

Donna: When I wrote "Love to Love You Baby,"

I did not write it to be a song.

I wrote it as a concept

for someone else to write a lyric to.

(sings) ♪ I love to love you baby ♪

I just made up a voice

and kind of tried to create a vibe.

Brooklyn: Amanda, remember when we were like,

"Who is this woman?"

I mean, I don't think she had any idea

that this vibe was gonna completely change her life.

♪ Ooh-ooh-ooh ♪

(sultry sighing)

♪ Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh, ah Ooh-ooh... ♪

Donna: "Love to Love You Baby" was becoming like

this world symbol of freedom, of liberation.

Things would begin to happen.

People would begin to, like, rip their clothes off

and throw them on the stage, and bras, underwear...

I didn't know it was going to be, like, that racy.

The audience would get completely uncontrollable.

And it, it... it was kind of terrifying.

It wasn't me and it was something I was playing.

It was a role.

Everyone, uh, that knew me would call me up and say,

"That, that's not you, is it?"

And I would say, "Yeah, that's me."

And they would just say, "Nah, come on."

Interviewer: What's hot right now? Disco?

- Uh, disco is a phenomenon. Uh-- - Yeah.

It's, it's the hottest thing that has hit the music business.

I mean, millions and millions of records are selling,

and Donna is the biggest.

Was it tough to get her that first hit or does--

or did one thing happen

that... you, that you knew that put her over the top?

- Give me an example. - Now-- Okay, Donna,

Donna was a star in Europe.

She was not doing disco-oriented records.

Um, she had a, an idea

and she recorded "Love to Love You Baby,"

which was a three-minute-and-20-second record.

Um, they brought it to me after it had failed in Europe,

and, uh, I listened to it and I loved it.

And I put it out here and nothing happened.

About a month later, I was playing it at a party I had at my house

and, um, someone said, "Hey, play that again!"

I put it back on

and the record finished

and somebody said, "Play that again."

And I said, "The record's too short.

They keep asking for more."

So I went upstairs and I called Germany,

where the record was produced,

and I said, "Give me a 20-minute version."

What we did is we came up with a-a promotional idea.

If we can get, um,

some radio stations to play it just at midnight

and say, "Tune in for 20 minutes of love."

(song playing in background)

♪ Ahhh... ♪

Dara Bernard: I was at the house listening to it

and realized, "Wait a minute, that's, that's Donna.

"That's my sister.

"She said she was gonna be famous, and she did it!

She's on the radio!"

(song continues in background)

Radio DJ: Unknown singer Donna Summer recorded a song,

"I Love to Love You Baby."

It started a new phase in the recording industry, "sex rock."

Mary: I actually believe that

it was pretty much the gay community

that broke that record.

I heard it the first time

while I was listening to underground radio.

Like a college station that played stuff

that you could not play in the daytime.

I don't know, it was probably about 12:30, one o'clock,

and I hear this song come on.

Reporter: A controversial record

has been making radio executives nervous all over the world.

It was banned recently by the BBC in England,

and in spite of that, it's sold over one million albums.

Mary: Oh, my God, this is--

I'm listening to "Love to Love You,"

and I'm like-- and it's going on and on and on and on and on.

And I'm like, "Oh, my God." (gasps)

"I think this is the record that she said that wasn't gonna sound like her."

And Grandma said,

"I'm never going to be able to go to church again."

She knew that I was going to be shocked, okay?

And to say the least, I was shocked,

because in my heart,

I always wanted her to be a gospel singer.

For Donna singing in church,

it would give you a vibrating feeling that,

you know, you-- it give you something that...

well, to me, no other singer that I heard in the church gave me.

(organ and percussion playing)

Donna: It started really with my dad.

He used to get me and make me come to the living room

and he says, "Listen, listen to this record and sing just like this record."

(rhythmic clapping)

(singing) ♪ Elijah rock, shout, shout ♪

♪ Elijah rock comin' up, Lord ♪

♪ Elijah rock, shout, shout ♪

♪ Elijah rock comin' up, Lord ♪

Donna: I listened to Mahalia Jackson and, uh, said,

"You know, she, somehow she has what I want."

I would just listen and listen for hours.

Mahalia Jackson (singing): ♪ Elijah ♪

♪ Eliiiijah ♪

Donna: Our favorite way to spend our time

was putting on shows on the front porch or the back stoop.

And when the neighbors would hear you singing,

they would stop on their way home.

♪ Hallelujah! Elijah rock shout, shout, shout ♪

♪ Elijah rock comin'... ♪

Ric: Boston in the 1950s

was not a friendly city to people of color.

We were Black. Anything could happen to you.

Kids from the other part of the project,

the white part, as we used to call it, would beat on us

and tell us we were not welcome in their area.

One day, one of the kids chased us back to our part of the projects

and there was a wire strung from one fence to another.

I saw it. I went under it.

I turned and looked

and Donna had hit it with her chin.

She had that little clip on her chin

and it never went away.

♪ Keep tellin' everybody that rock... ♪

Donna: I felt like I was marred for life

and there was never going to be a way

that I would ever be attractive,

feeling ugly, feeling inadequate.

I was scarred.

Mahalia (singing): ♪ Elijah rock ♪

♪ Oh, keep ♪

♪ Comin' up, Lord ♪

Donna: When I was about eight years old,

one of the ladies in my church got sick,

and she was supposed to sing.

The minister came to me and he said,

"Can you sing today?"

I was petrified. I mean, petrified.

But I got up anyway, and, um, I stood up to sing.

And all of a sudden, this voice came out that I didn't know.

It just came out of me.

And everyone in my family will remember this

because they all, everybody was in tears.

I was in tears. My family was in tears.

Everyone in the whole church was in tears.

And it was a striking feeling of, "God, I'm blessed.

I know I'm gonna be famous" and... (snaps)

("Once Upon a Time" by Donna Summer playing)

(crowd cheering)

(singing) ♪ Once upon a time once upon a time ♪

♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪

♪ Once upon a time once upon a time... ♪

Brooklyn: Auntie Mary, Mom was a dreamer.

You know, she could shapeshift in and out of characters.

How did this show up in her performances?

Mary: Donna's shows were theatrical.

There was always a story. There was a heroine.

There was a problem.

And in the end, she overcame.

She thought in theater.

Once upon a time

in the land of never, never

there lived a little girl

who believed

that all things were possible...

Mary: I know a lot of people won't think

that she was a forerunner, but she really was.

She was thinking about things outside of the box that they wanted to keep her in.

She wasn't having it.

By her stepping out in those areas,

it did allow other people of color

to step out of the box that they had her in.

Donna: And you better get me out! I can't breathe, I need help!

It seems like the whole world's out there, and I'm in here.

Please, somebody help!

- (cheering and applause) - Johnny Carson: Yeah!

(applause continues)

Well done.

I thought that, you know, if you really were a star,

- you had to be on the "Johnny Carson Show." - Johnny: Yeah.

So that was, it was always my biggest dream.

I said, "I know I'm a star

when I've done the 'Johnny Carson Show'."

What do you see down the road, pictures?

And they give you the successful recordings now? You like the...?

Developing, you know?

I'm, I'm studying to become a director myself,

so, so I have my own little video studio set up at home.

Johnny: Hey, that's super. Somebody told me you had--

Any actors out there?

- Yeah. - (laughter)

(static buzzes)

(indistinct chatter)

Donna: You're not interviewing, you're the husband.

Alright, Mary, push over just a hair.

Mary: When you're on the road for a long time

or you might have a day off between another show,

and you're stuck in a hotel in Podunk, Iowa,

you find things to do.

And God help us.

Donna bought herself a camera, a movie camera.

And she was expecting us to make movies.

Crew Member: You can do it too!

(crew laughing)

Donna: Now you know what we go through every single night.

(disco music playing)

Mary: She would direct us and do this and do that.

And we all played the game.

Some of it was funny and some of it got us in trouble.

Donna: You better get away from my camera.

You want to leave for California tomorrow, don't ya?

(screams, laughter)

(crew laughing)

Mary: And so it was like, "I'm never doing that again.

I'm not doing it."

She's like, "Come on, come on, Mary, come on."

And she was fun and-and, and, and she was funny.

♪ music stops ♪

(deep exhale)

Mary (Eastern European accent): I get vibration.

No, you're going to go far way one day, you watch, you see.

You're going to be very, very famous, I am telling you.

But could you just tell me about what's going to happen next week?

(in accent) Next week, you're going to have to finish up

something you started this week.

- That's, but that's so general. - (crew chuckles)

- That's two dollars. - Like...

- Are you married? - No.

You will be married.

You going to take a journey!

You want to know where you gonna go?

No, I want to know what's going on--

(laughing)

You're going to go far away across the seas,

in the air!

(sultry blues music playing)

♪ Whoo-ooh-ooh ♪

Mary: When she was in high school,

she started working with a band called The Crow.

She would sneak out a lot at night and go sing in clubs.

♪ Oh, you made me feel so bad ♪

Donna: All the band was white.

I was "the crow."

Mary: And they really wanted her to be like

the Black Janis Joplin. You know what I mean?

So after, I think, she heard the way Janis Joplin sang,

she felt like, "I can do this."

(singing) ♪ Come on, come on, come on come on, and take it ♪

♪ Take another little piece of my heart now, baby ♪

Donna: You know, coming out of church and, and seeing Janis Joplin

and this wild-haired woman with no bra on

and, and literally a jug of whiskey in her hand.

I hadn't ever been exposed to something like that.

I mean, that just was not proper.

I remember getting a spanking for wearing red fingernail polish,

because to my father,

red fingernail polish meant

that was what whores wore,

in his mind.

We wore slips and more slips and girdles,

and just, don't jiggle.

(sings) ♪ Can't understand ♪

♪ Why this whole world ♪

♪ Keeps pulling me down ♪

♪ To the ground ♪

There was a lot of pressure in being a Black woman.

A lot of pressure.

Being a woman is bad enough.

And being a Black woman was like a double whammy.

Summer of '68, I was 19 years old.

I was in sort of a limbo state.

("Born to Die" by Donna Summer playing)

Donna: I originally went out of Boston

to, uh, to pursue a singing career

in New York with my band.

♪ Just a baby... ♪

Donna: So here I am, I'm in New York, and, you know,

I feel a little bit freer than I feel in Boston.

I don't have anybody looking over my shoulder.

Feeling like, you know, there was a future waiting for me somewhere.

And I just needed to discover

what key it was that was going to turn the lock,

that was gonna open the door to that future.

♪ Raised on hatred ♪

Donna: There was just music pouring out of every doorway

and you became part of this whole tapestry of movement

that was happening in the country, you know,

enjoying the whole environment of just being kind of a hippie.

♪ Without love... ♪

Donna: I'm trying to figure out what's going on in my life.

I lived above the Cafe Wha?

on the top floor with a couple of people.

The director of "Hair" came to the house with the girl that I live with.

I happened to be singing around the house at the time

and he heard me and he said,

"I'm having an audition on Thursday,

would you come down?"

And that was the turning point.

Within two weeks, I was out of it.

I went to Germany.

(chorus singing "Let the Sun Shine In" in German)

(singing "Aquarius" in German)

Donna: Being 19 years old in Germany and coming of age,

having the hippie revolution kind of on my heels,

and being a person who is craving change

was a door to an entire reality.

(chorus singing in German)

Donna: There were really kind of no limits,

sort of newfound freedom.

(chorus continues singing in German)

Donna: Being in Germany gave me license to be myself,

and I hadn't had that license before.

(pensive music playing)

Jack Waddell: For the first time,

she was accepted in a way

that we were never accepted

in America.

Blacks were at a premium.

They saw you walking down the street and said,

"Oh, we've gotta have that."

("Black Lady" by Donna Summer playing)

Donna: I got a lot of press because at that time

there were very few Black women in Germany.

You were just constantly on display,

no matter where you went, no matter what you did.

It was just an open door.

I was tall and very thin at the time,

and there were a lot of photographers there,

and I just got a lot of work.

- Brooklyn: Helmuth? - Helmuth Sommer: Yeah?

Brooklyn: I want to know how you actually got together.

Helmuth: I met Donna during the musical "Hair."

Of course I was attracted.

Donna had the best voice,

so everybody was admiring this gift that she had.

We were just in kind of a love for each other.

This is the feeling that I remember a lot.

She was really a funny girl when she was in a good mood.

When Mimi was born,

Donna's reaction was a little bit, um,

kind of distance.

Donna: I was never that maternal.

I never actually thought I would ever have kids until I had one.

I just, it just was, it was--

there was too-- there was too much fire in me.

Mimi: When I was born,

Mommy was ready to break out.

Her dream was just bigger.

She knew more was on the horizon

and you could not contain her.

So they separated when I was two.

I pretty much stayed with my grandparents after that.

Donna: I went through a manner of manic depression

to be the one to have to say, "I'm leaving."

The guilt of that was so strong.

I'm taking my daughter's father away.

♪ ♪

Announcer: Donna Summer!

(band playing "Lady of the Night")

(singing) ♪ They call her ♪

♪ The lady ♪

♪ Of the night ♪

♪ She's a woman of the world... ♪

Donna: I had started to record some,

uh, what the Germans call "Schlager" songs,

kind of corny, bubble-gummy, for the European market.

So I had kind of developed a little bit of a career.

("Spring Affair" by Donna Summer playing)

(singing) ♪ Ooh, somethin's comin'... ♪

Joyce Trabulus: I remember calling her

when she was in Munich

and saying, "Are you sexy?"

And she went, "Uh, I don't know."

"Could we spotlight you in 'Playboy'?"

And she went, "Oh, absolutely not." (laughs)

You know, she was living a very kind of quiet life

in, in Munich.

And when we brought her over to New York,

we brought her over as a major star.

I came up with "The First Lady of Love" for Donna.

That's what Neil was selling.

"You're going to make love to this wonderful record,

'Love to Love You Baby.'"

♪ We've got something new ♪

(fans cheering)

Donna: Neil looked out for every aspect of my career,

that every hair is in place, every smile is right.

"We're gonna give you the best of everything.

You're gonna look like you're already rich."

(indistinct chatter)

Donna: I mean, if I was getting ready to go on stage

and my nail polish wasn't on my feet

and somebody was late, he was on his knees.

I kid you not.

He taught me how to dream on a whole other level.

(guitar beats, jazz organ playing)

(inaudibly singing)

Donna: I didn't have very many friends.

Most of the people that I was friends with at the time

were in some way involved in the record business.

So, Casablanca, because that was my whole world.

Susan Munao: Neil wanted to make it really special for Donna

so he brought her mom and dad

and her sisters and her brother

to her New York debut.

Dara: It was opposite of the culture of our family.

(indistinct chatter)

Dara: She was really never that sexy, sultry person.

But even though that persona, they had given it to her,

that persona was the door

that took her where she needed to go.

(Brooklyn humming)

Interviewer: Well, Donna, obviously, America was ready for it.

Donna: Mm-hmm.

Interviewer: Was Donna Summer ready

for stardom, name in lights, bodyguards?

(whispers) No.

Donna: Yeah, I have a very hard time not being myself.

And, uh, there are times when you can't be yourself

and you can't be the way you'd like to be.

And that's goofy or funny or whatever you are as a human being,

as a person, um, offstage.

So what I'm trying to do more and more now

is to become myself on stage

so that when I'm offstage, it doesn't matter.

And, um, so that the same person you meet in this room

is the same person onstage.

("Summer Fever" by Donna Summer playing )

(singing) ♪ Fever ♪

♪ Summer ♪

♪ Summer fever ♪

♪ Fever ♪

♪ It's the time of love ♪

♪ The time of year ♪

♪ Temperatures rising our bodies near ♪

♪ In fever ♪

♪ Summer ♪

♪ Summer fever ♪

♪ Fever ♪

Brooklyn: Giorgio, growing up my mom always spoke

about how important you were to her life.

How did you guys meet?

Giorgio Moroder: We were looking for some

American or English singers

for a demo.

Donna came and we did the vocals

and we were very happy.

♪ ♪

Donna: So I started working with Giorgio,

and this is the beginning of a great relationship.

Giorgio really took me under his wing

even before I had a hit record.

He was like a mentor.

He was a redeeming factor in my life

from some of the abusive men or men figures

that I had had in the past

or people that I'd chosen to trust

who were not worthy of that trust.

Giorgio was the antithesis of that.

- You want to put a fender on? - Giorgio: A fender, yes.

- Make it a little fuller? - Yeah.

Giorgio: I had, I had a very close relationship with her.

She definitely trusted us.

And in fact, whatever we did, we did well.

♪ It's so good ♪

Donna: I came up with the-- with Giorgio with the...

(humming bass line)

(sings) ♪ Oh, I feel good ♪

"I Feel Love."

(humming bass line)

Which just changed the face of music for a while.

I mean, I figure it was like maybe a year or two after "Love to Love You Baby."

Giorgio: "Doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo."

I said, "Wow, great. This is totally new."

Donna: When I went in to do it,

I had the sense that I was floating.

And that's what we wanted to maintain,

that floaty kind of, that elation that you feel

when you're in love, that kind of... (sighs).

Giorgio: I think it's probably one of the most

innovative songs around.

♪ I feel love... ♪

Pete Bellotte: This was the very first

drum machine click trick

ever used in music.

We weren't listening to what other people were doing

and trying to emulate.

We were forging ahead.

It sounds grandiose,

but I think others were following.

("I Feel Love" by Donna Summer playing)

(singing) ♪ Ooh ♪

♪ Fallin' free... ♪

Giorgio: Whatever dance songs came up later on with electronics

is based on, on "I Feel Love."

♪ Ooh... ♪

Elton John: I remember when "I Feel Love"

came on at Studio 54.

You just stopped in your tracks. "What is this?"

People screamed.

It just went on and on and on

and you didn't want it to stop.

It sounded like no other record.

It changed the way people thought about music.

♪ I feel love, I feel love ♪

♪ I feel love ♪

♪ I feel love... ♪

♪ I feel love... ♪

♪ I feel love... ♪

Interviewer 1: Where do you feel you stand now?

Donna: I hope I stand

in a light of legitimacy, I think.

Um, in a place where people will respect what I do

and understand that any, any songs that I make,

I do because I choose to and not because that is my limitation.

Interviewer 2: How long are you going to maintain this, this image

that's based on "Love to Love You Baby"?

Well, I think I've deviated from that path already.

Um, I won't even, you know, I hate, um, for it to sound like

I-I'm running away from anything because I'm really not.

I think it's more like, um, I'm growing and, uh...

it's like looking at a flower in the bud

and you first see the bud and you say, "Wow, fantastic, the trees are budding."

And then you go back and the leaves are out and then finally, there's a flower.

And I feel that when I came to America,

I was in the budding stage.

And, um, maybe I'm springing a leaf about now,

and maybe one day I'll be a blossom.

(horns honking)

(whistle blowing)

- Hey! - Whoa!

(crowd shouting)

- Come on! - Get out of the way!

Hey, I'm trying to listen to my music! Hey! I'm listening to my music!

Disco been very good to me!

Man (in car): Yeah! Get out of the way!

Donna (in disguise): Oh, shut up!

(disco music playing)

(singing) ♪ If you feel it feel it right ♪

♪ You got to feel it every night, yeah ♪

♪ And if you feel it, feel it right ♪

♪ You got to feel it every night, yeah ♪

♪ Well, if you feel it feel it so good ♪

♪ You've got to feel it like you should feel it ♪

♪ And if you feel it feel it good ♪

♪ You've got to feel it like you should ♪

Take it down, boys.

Now, do you love somebody?

Does everybody here have somebody they love?

- (crowd cheering) - No?

Well, love me for right now, okay?

Just give me a little bit of love and let me see you stand up.

Stand up out your seats. Come on.

Now let's shake those hips, come on.

Oh, yeah.

(singing) ♪ Do you believe in love? ♪

♪ Do you believe in love? ♪

♪ Do you believe in love? ♪

♪ Do you believe in love? ♪

♪ Do you believe in love? ♪

♪ Do you believe in love? ♪

♪ Do you believe in love? ♪

Come on, shake your hand now.

♪ Do you believe in love? ♪

Come on.

♪ Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah ♪

♪ Feel it ♪ Whoo!

♪ Feel it ♪ Oh, yeah.

♪ Feel it, feel it feel it, feel it ♪

Thank you for coming tonight. I'm happy to see you.

Thank you for coming.

Thank you. I love you, too. Thank you for coming.

Thank you so much. Whoo!

- (cars honking) - (electronic percussion playing)

("Bad Girls" by Donna Summer playing)

♪ Bad girls ♪

♪ Talking 'bout the sad girls, yeah ♪

♪ Talking 'bout bad girls ♪

♪ The sad girls ♪

Donna: When you have success all over the world

and it's very constant, you have it.

It's all the time, it's everywhere you go.

It's like you never get a break.

I didn't dream about fame that way.

I dreamt about singing.

Whenever I dreamt about fame, it was being on stage.

It wasn't the accolades and all the people screaming "I love you!"

So when that part came into it,

it, it threw me for a loop

because I really didn't know how to deal with that.

♪ Do you have enough? ♪

♪ Can you buy enough? ♪

♪ Can you sell enough? ♪

♪ Can you sell enough? ♪

♪ Everybody sees you ♪

(crowd screaming)

♪ Bad girls ♪

♪ You ain't got nobody ♪

♪ You're lying all the time ♪

♪ Sad girl went the wrong way in life ♪

♪ Yes, you are ♪

♪ Said you want to be a star ♪

Donna: We did a demo of "Bad Girls,"

everything was done, the song was finished.

We listened to it over and over again, I'm like,

"There is something missing to this song.

I think this song needs a hook."

Said, "I got this idea,

this imagery of, how do you haul a hooker?"

♪ Toot-toot, yeah beep-beep ♪

You're honking your horn. You're trying to get her attention.

It's like, "Over here."

♪ Beep-beep ♪

♪ Bad girls ♪

♪ Talking 'bout the sad girls, yeah ♪

♪ Bad girls ♪

♪ Talking 'bout bad girls, yeah ♪

Woman: Oh, my God!

♪ See them out on the street at night... ♪

Man: You gotta tip it down, you gotta tip it down.

You gotta tip it down.

♪ You can score if your pocket's nice ♪

(indistinct party chatter)

♪ But you want a good... ♪

Donna: Everybody sang in my family.

My father sang, my mother sang.

♪ You ask yourself... ♪

Donna: Every time my father had company,

my mother had company,

my mother would call me and my sisters

into the room to perform,

and they would just go crazy.

♪ They come from near and far ♪

♪ Whoa... ♪

Donna: So we had these sort of little outlets of performing,

a bit of an idea or insight

as to what it was like to have people applaud for you.

We did impersonations as much as we could.

♪ Bad girls ♪

♪ Talking 'bout the sad girls, yeah ♪

♪ The sad girls ♪

♪ Talking 'bout bad girls, yeah ♪

(indistinct party chatter)

Thank you, ladies and gentlemen.

We will be back tomorrow night. See you again...

- Do you live here in California? - I live about, I think, 40,000 feet above.

Usually in one direction or the other.

- Oh, you're always in a plane? - I haven't been home at all. Yeah.

I haven't been home maybe two and a half months this year.

(dramatic disco music playing)

♪ Ohh! ♪

Brooklyn: I'm always amazed

at the amount of songs she released,

the press that she did, the tours, from like 1976 to like 1980.

I don't know how she survived it.

Mary: During that time when she was really first famous,

I think she knew that was a part of the game.

I think she understood that that came with the territory.

And so she, she marched it.

It wasn't that she loved it all.

She just tried to keep her sanity.

Brooklyn: How do you think she felt about

the title "Queen of Disco"?

Mary: I know she would say,

"Hey, it's better to be the queen of something."

You know? (laughs)

But in some ways it was love, hate,

because, "Yeah, I love disco, disco got me here,

but that's not all of who I am."

Donna: I had done all the songs in this made-up voice,

so people thought, "Oh, well, she's a fad."

"Oh, she can't really sing. This girl doesn't sing.

What's the big deal about her?"

- (indistinct chatter) - (shutter snaps)

Donna: You know, you can look at somebody who's talented

and you can know that they're capable of 20 things,

but the audience doesn't know that yet.

And I always take it from that point of view

that they just don't know me yet.

That's okay.

(band playing "MacArthur Park" )

(singing) ♪ Spring was never waiting for us, dear ♪

♪ It ran one step ahead ♪

♪ As we followed in the dance ♪

♪ Between the parted pages we were pressed ♪

♪ In love's hot fevered iron ♪

♪ Like a stripe-ed pair of pants ♪

♪ MacArthur's Park is melting in the dark ♪

♪ All the sweet green icing ♪

♪ Flowing down ♪

♪ Someone left my cake out in the rain ♪

♪ I don't think that I can take it ♪

♪ 'Cause it took too long to bake it ♪

♪ And I'll never have that recipe ♪

♪ Again ♪

♪ Again... ♪

♪ Ah-ha! ♪

- (disco playing)

- Whoo! - Best Rhythm and Blues Vocal Performance Female is...

(chuckles)

- ...Donna Summer. - (crowd cheering)

Man: All right!

And the winner is...

Donna Summer!

Donna Summer.

- Donna Summer. - "Live and More."

- I knew it. Donna Summer. - All right.

(band playing fanfare)

Donna (in British accent): Now, ladies and gentlemen,

we're having a moment of station identification.

Boop!

(TV playing in background)

We remember so well the days of lipstick and women.

Well, those were the days when women

used to not smear it on.

They used to molest the lipstick.

I was always a comedian. I was always a clown.

So becoming Donna Summer the character,

I didn't feel very sexy at the time, so I just assumed it as a role.

("Love to Love You Baby" playing on speakers)

Donna: This time that I spent away from home,

away from the mindset that I grew up in,

away from what should be, away from how I should be,

is what has made me what I am

and has given me my individuality

away from all of the predictable.

And so I'm unpredictable,

and that, that stresses the crap out of people.

- (women laughing) - Woman: Whoo!

("Love to Love You Baby" continues playing)

Do you feel like you're handling your success now?

- Uh, sometimes. Shaky. - Yeah?

Donna: Shaky. I think the part that I really have to deal with the most is my daughter.

Interviewer: Is she with your folks?

Donna: She's with my parents in, um, in Massachusetts.

And what is so hard about it is that as much as I miss her

and as much as I want to be with her,

as soon as she's there, I have to go back to her way.

It's a constant adjustment.

So the first couple of days, it's, I have to become a parent again.

And the responsibility of that and the weight of that is, is immense.

Mimi: I could tell that she was trying hard.

She would be like, "Okay, Mimi, let's go play outside.

I'm gonna make you breakfast."

And I knew that that was something that she didn't do often.

So for me, I always felt like, "Wow, she's really trying.

She's trying to make time.

She's trying to carve time out."

When I would be alone with her,

we would go to bed or something.

I'd sleep in the bed with her

and she would just be exhausted.

You could just see it in her face.

It wasn't just like, "I'm tired."

It was like a soul weariness, though.

It almost made me sad for her.

I get to go back to my grandparents' house and have a normal life,

but she is getting pulled in every direction.

Mary: Donna was trying to navigate

being a mother and be a good mother.

But to know that you have a destiny in this arena

and yet you have this responsibility that is important to you.

There's no examples as to how to make that balance correct.

Donna's decision to have Mom and Dad take care of her

was one which she knew she would be loved.

She knew she'd be nurtured, and she knew she'd be safe.

(applause)

Donna: I don't think you understand what it's like

being the daughter of someone who is always gone.

My daughter looked up at me one day last week

and she said, "Mommy, when are you just going to stay home one day

and be with me?"

And I didn't realize that I hadn't spent any time with her for a long time.

So I sat down and wrote this song after she went to bed,

and I told her tonight when it was bedtime

I would sing her a song.

("Mimi's Song by Donna Summer playing)

♪ Mmmm ♪

♪ I bet you ask yourself ♪

♪ Why I'm rarely there ♪

♪ It's not because I like being away ♪

♪ You see ♪

♪ I've made a spectacle of myself ♪

♪ And it seems that the whole world needs me ♪

♪ I understand when you cry alone ♪

♪ And mama's not there to wipe your eyes ♪

Mimi: When I heard the "Mimi Song," it was like, "Oh, my gosh."

I was like, "She wrote a song for me.

She really feels this way about me."

♪ Someone to make you proud ♪

Mimi: There was such a great bond that it had created, that song,

just to spend the time with her doing what she does

and being with her.

I just remember feeling elated as a kid.

♪ With so much ♪

♪ Love ♪

Come on, Mimi.

♪ 'Cause you're lovely ♪

♪ Yes, you're lovely ♪

♪ And you're beautiful ♪

♪ And you understand ♪

Say good night to everyone.

Good night.

(applause)

Donna: Money and success does not make you happy.

I know it for a fact because for me,

the most dismal days of my existence

were at the height of my career.

It was like wearing an evening gown that was too tight, you know?

You know, everything was popping out, and I needed more space.

I saw the self I was striving to be.

All of a sudden it seemed further away than ever.

Feeling guilty or feeling shame,

or feeling all the things that had been part of my life.

I was molested by a minister when I was in my teens.

It's not pain I could have spoken about.

But it's something that I have to always incorporate into my reality.

Brooklyn: Uncle Ricky,

Mom never talked about

being abused by the pastor with me.

Did she ever talk to you about it?

Ric: Yes.

He did a lot of damage to a lot of people.

Did the devil's work better than most.

I believe, I believe that, uh,

became a defining moment in her life.

It's not easy when you don't tell or have the ability to tell people.

But how do you get out of it?

Donna: There were other things that had gone on in my life.

Things in my own sense of morality that I felt that I had crossed,

like that I felt God could never forgive me because I, I failed him.

I-I... I was decadent.

I was stupid. You know, I was a fool.

So I just decided that my life had no meaning.

(static buzzes)

(traffic noise, water splashing)

Donna: I was in New York.

I was alone in the then Navarro Hotel on Central Park South.

I'd been watching TV.

I just broke down and said,

"I am not going to live another day like this."

I had not been able to sleep and I was lying in bed.

The lines on the TV were going up and up and up,

and after a while I think I was-- it was almost like being hypnotized.

(wind howling)

Donna: And it was-- it was crushing to me.

And I thought, "You know what?

"I'm never going to be who I am.

"You know, I'm going to be stuck being this person.

How do I get out of it?"

And, uh, on that day, I...

I-I just said, "I'm, I'm getting out of here.

I'm leaving, I-I gotta go."

And I put my foot out the window.

And as I shifted my weight to slide out the window,

my foot got caught into this thin curtain.

And at that precise moment,

the door opened and it was my house-cleaning lady.

And she opened the door enough to look right at me and go,

"Oh, Miss Summer, I came to clean up today."

Another ten seconds, I would've been gone.

(birds chirping)

- Bruce: The "Rolling Stone." - Brooklyn: Yeah.

Brooklyn: That must have been a big deal, huh?

It was a big deal at the time, because, first of all, Black.

- Second of all, woman. - Yeah. Yeah.

So, uh, it was a big "get" at the time, and-and, uh...

Were you guys dating then or not yet?

Yeah, no, we definitely, yeah, we were, we were.

We were dating from the moment we met.

(laughing) Oh, yes.

Donna (singing): ♪ Man stayed up all night ♪

♪ And carried on ♪

♪ And now he knows ♪

♪ He wishes ♪

♪ He'd never gone ♪

♪ And he knows... ♪

Bruce: When I first met Donna in my egocentric,

elitist songwriter mind,

I think I kind of viewed her as a novelty.

But then we sat down at the table,

started playing guitars,

and we just hit it off instantaneously.

All (singing): ♪ How much he loves you, baby ♪

♪ Take your baby home ♪

♪ Hey-ee-ee ♪

Are you sure those are the right chords?

Donna (singing): ♪ Man stayed out all night ♪

Donna: I love it.

Bruce: I had a girlfriend who was still in New York,

who I had been with a few years.

Donna had this boyfriend.

I don't know where he was that week, but he was gone.

The next week,

Donna and I just hung out together the whole time,

barely sleeping, just talking, writing.

Within that time, we were bonded.

I brought this Bible with me and, uh, Donna liked that.

She was like, "I never met a guy who, like, studied the Bible."

My Bible was also my stash for my joints, you know?

(sighs)

Donna (singing): ♪ Someday he'll come along ♪

(crowd cheering)

♪ The man I love ♪

♪ And he'll be rich and strong ♪

♪ The man I love ♪

♪ And when he comes my way ♪

♪ I'll do my best ♪

♪ To make ♪

♪ Him ♪

♪ Stay ♪

Bruce: We had a lot in common

in terms of our drive to succeed

and to escape where we were from.

♪ I'll understand ♪

Bruce: So we, we just had this intense beginning.

I wasn't a serious boyfriend type.

I was serious about my career.

And so was Donna.

You know, that's part of what Donna and I

recognized in each other.

You know, I'm the kind of lady that always meets the wrong man

at the wrong place, at the wrong time.

I've always had that wrong kind of luck, you know?

My man comes home fighting and screaming and fussing,

and, and hitting me and beating my head upside the wall and...

you know, he doesn't treat me good at all,

but I want him to, I need him, you see, my man just...

Bruce: For all the bravado that appeared on the outside,

there was a great deal of insecurity underneath that.

Fear of being alone

led her into these relationships

that in her mind were kind of like placeholders.

♪ I got it bad ♪

♪ And that ain't good ♪

Nah, that ain't good.

- (lighter clicks) - Dara: Peter Muhldorfer was

one of Donna's distractions.

He was a very dark character.

I have no good memories of him.

I always felt very protective of her

when he was in her life.

He had the same vibrant imagination as Donna.

He was very creative in a very dark way.

Donna: My boyfriend Peter,

who was, uh, kind of abusive at times and very possessive,

extremely controlling.

He would drink and be abusive

and then he would apologize for the abuse.

And you're going, "Well, you know, maybe it's just me.

"Maybe I did something to provoke him.

Maybe I shouldn't have said that."

'Cause you really don't want to be alone

because you're really afraid internally yourself.

And something in you identifies

with his fear of being alone.

The more independence I've started to have,

the more Peter felt threatened.

Even though there were a lot of new people

in my life at that point,

there wasn't any one person other than Peter who,

who I really believed loved me.

I knew that as this wave of success grew,

he would be more jealous and more aggressive.

I was fearful of the situation,

that I felt trapped by it.

I was already secretly seeing Bruce by then

because Bruce was like a safe haven.

I had tried my best to get away from Peter.

Brooklyn: Peter, I'm curious,

what was your impression of Bruce?

You said you kind of suspected something going on.

Peter Muhldorfer: When I came back from New York,

Bruce and the guys have been in the house.

I remember they were writing a song.

The lyrics was "something laying heavy on my heart."

I felt there is something going on,

some separation,

and some plan or something like that.

(Donna inaudible)

Peter: And then, of course, we had a fight.

- (dramatic music playing) - (telephone rings)

Joyce: I got a phone call in the middle of the night,

um, and said to Neil,

"Call our attorney and call the police."

Mary: A black eye and a bruised cheek and broken ribs.

Donna was unconscious.

I had no respect for him.

She was becoming a star. He could not handle that.

Mimi: My recollection of Peter is,

"This guy's crazy."

Police again coming to our house,

me hiding in the back room

and hearing everything that was going on

and seeing police sirens and lights going off and...

being so happy when mom decided to be done

with that relationship.

Peter: I did it as a white man with a Black woman,

and I did it with somebody who was a star already.

She called the management and they picked her up,

and from that moment on, I haven't seen her anymore.

I hit her, and I never could forgive myself.

All (singing):

♪ Watching Daddy dance ♪

♪ Watching Daddy dance ♪

Okay. I want to try it again. You're not-- watch.

The first one was beautiful,

ones after that got a little bit sloppy.

So do, (sings) ♪ Watching Dad... ♪ You know?

Interviewer: How did you incorporate your family into your act?

Donna: Well, it was easy. They sing.

And I had been taking three other girls on tour with me,

and I decided, "Why should I take someone else's family all over the world with me?"

♪ Watching Daddy dance ♪

Interviewer: How important is it for an international star,

someone like yourself, how important is it to have someone close to you?

Well... it's very--

Well, I think it's important for everyone to have someone,

but especially in my position, there's always the threat of

whether someone loves you for you or whether they love you

because of, uh, the advantage

of being with, with a person like you.

(scatting)

Mary: I didn't think about singing with her.

I just said, "Somebody has to be out there with her."

She gotta have some family out there.

There's no family out there.

They're going to chew her up and spit her out.

("Hot Stuff" by Donna Summer playing)

Mary: It was really an exciting time.

It was like being on a roller coaster

that never took a pit stop.

(cheering and applause)

(singing) ♪ Sittin' here eatin' my heart out waitin' ♪

♪ Waitin' for some lover to call ♪

Whoa!

♪ Dialed about a hundred numbers lately ♪

♪ Almost rang the phone off the wall ♪

♪ Lookin' for some hot stuff baby, this evenin' ♪

♪ I need some hot stuff baby, tonight ♪

♪ Give me a little hot stuff baby, this evenin' ♪

♪ Gonna need your lovin' ♪

♪ I got to have your love tonight ♪

♪ I need hot stuff ♪

♪ Lookin' for hot stuff ♪

♪ Gotta have hot stuff ♪

♪ Yeah! ♪

(song fades)

- (rhythmic clapping) - Whooo!

C'mon, let's boogie!

Donna: I just wanted to say that

I think that we need to address

my approach to singing.

I approach it as an actress.

I'm not trying to be me.

What I am there to do is become the character

and then sing that song

in the context of who that character is.

- (cheers and applause) - Thank you.

("Last Dance" by Donna Summer playing)

(singing) ♪ Last dance ♪

♪ Last chance ♪

♪ For love ♪

♪ Yes, it's my last chance ♪

♪ For romance ♪

♪ Tonight ♪

♪ I need you ♪

♪ By me ♪

♪ Beside me ♪

♪ To guide me ♪

♪ And to hold me ♪

♪ To scold me ♪

♪ 'Cause when I'm bad ♪

♪ I'm so, so bad ♪

♪ So let's dance ♪

♪ The last dance ♪

♪ Let's dance the last dance ♪

♪ Let's dance the last dance ♪

♪ Tonight ♪

- ♪ Last dance ♪ - Whoo!

♪ It's my last chance for love ♪

Hi!

♪ Yes, it's my last chance ♪

♪ For romance tonight ♪

♪ Oh, oh, I need you ♪

♪ By me ♪

♪ Beside me ♪

♪ To guide me ♪

♪ And to hold me ♪

♪ To scold me ♪

♪ 'Cause when I'm bad I'm so, so bad ♪

♪ So let's dance the last dance ♪

♪ Let's dance the last dance ♪

♪ Let's dance the last dance ♪

♪ Tonight ♪

♪ Oh-ohhhh ♪

♪ Whooo-ooh-ooh-ooh! ♪

This album, Donna Summer, "Once Upon a Time,"

has gotten probably the best reviews of any new album

in the last ten years.

You, you can't believe them when you read 'em.

They're fantastic.

It's what you call a concept album.

It's a story.

And Donna Summer rightly deserves them.

She's a phenomenon in the record industry.

("I Love You" by Donna Summer playing)

(singing) ♪ Well, he searched and searched ♪

♪ For nights and days ♪

♪ Till he found the one he loved ♪

♪ And he wrapped her in his arms again ♪

♪ And then he thanked the stars above ♪

♪ That he found who he'd been looking for ♪

♪ And he stared her in the eyes ♪

♪ He said "I love you" ♪

♪ I love you, I love you I love you, I love you ♪

- ♪ Yes, I do ♪ - ♪ He said "I love you" ♪

♪ I love you, I love you I do ♪

Donna: We have this expression in music called

"the voice within the voice,"

and it's the way you hear the note.

But there's that cry that's in there that touches the pain in you.

And even sometimes if it's a happy song, there's that cry in there

that maybe touches something in you that's hidden in that groaning place,

that place nobody can get to.

♪ She said "I love you" ♪

♪ I love you, I love you I love you, I love you ♪

- ♪ Yes, I do ♪ - ♪ Yes, I really do ♪

♪ I love you, I love you I love you, I love you ♪

♪ Yes, I do ♪

♪ They said "I love you" ♪

♪ Yes, I do ♪

It-It's so funny how people write, you know?

And a lot of writers write better under pressure.

I mean, under severe pressure.

Like it's got to be finished yesterday, kind of pressure.

I prefer to work in, in the way of concepts,

have an idea and work it out to the end.

And, um,

after, you know, coming from being the disco queen

to, you know, to like, where am I now?

You know? What is my be-- my voice best suited for?

Um, you just have to try a lot of things until you find the right thing.

You have to keep going.

And I'm not-- I'm not a person who has to sound like me.

I don't care if people know it's me in, in some way.

I mean, I don't care if they go, "Oh, that's Donna Summer."

I kind of almost don't want them to.

I want them to be surprised. "That's Donna Summer?

Wow, man, she sounds totally different."

I think that is using your voice as an instrument.

- Interviewer: Do you wake up in the middle of the night-- - Yes.

- And say, "Aha! I've got an idea"? - Yes.

Yes. Everywhere in the house, papers, little scrap--

"Don't throw that away! Oh, my God. What happened to--

Oh, what happened to the Brillo box? What ha--" You know?

(band warming up)

- Donna: All right, let's do it. - Bruce: Ready?

Donna: How does it start?

"Electricity."

(singing) ♪ Electricity... ♪

Bruce: We were just jamming.

Roll tape, set up the mics, headphones.

Bruce: (falsetto) ♪ I don't wanna be the one to spoil the party ♪

Bruce: You know, we would just flow.

We would pick up one from the other.

We would add harmonies when we find a little groove.

Bruce (singing): ♪ Electricity ♪

♪ Love that powers me ♪

♪ I don't ever want this magic night to end ♪

♪ I don't know if I could stop once we get started... ♪

It was never competitive.

You know, it was completely respectful of each other's gifts.

I was always in awe of, um, Mommy's mind.

(scatting)

Bruce: You know, because of her persona, as, you know,

"Sex goddess," and "First Lady of Love,"

her artistry as a songwriter got overlooked.

(rhythmic clapping)

(cheering)

("Dim All the Lights" by Donna Summer playing)

(singing) ♪ Dim all the lights ♪

♪ Dim all the lights... ♪

Are you feelin' good?

(crowd cheering)

♪ ... Lights ♪

(cheers and applause)

♪ Dim all the lights sweet darling ♪

♪ 'Cause tonight it's all the way ♪

♪ Hey, baby turn up the old Victrola ♪

♪ Gonna dance the night away... ♪

Bruce: "Dim All the Lights" is a song that she wrote by herself,

and a root issue for Donna was

when "Dim All the Lights" was out

and is flying up the charts and it's in the top ten,

but Neil wants to release "Enough is Enough."

And Mommy says, "No, please don't release 'Enough is Enough' yet.

Let's give 'Dim All the Lights' a chance to go to number one."

She just recorded a record with Barbra Streisand,

and, um, it will come out October 15th.

It's called "Enough is Enough."

- Tom Snyder: That's news, huh? - That's news, yeah.

Fellow Guest: You did it! You got it in.

(both laughing)

Tom: You mean, that was the whole reason--

Is that the whole reason you were here, huh?

No, no, you know,

just, uh, I thought you'd like that.

("Enough is Enough" by Donna Summer and Barbra Streisand playing)

Donna (singing): ♪ Ah-ah-ah ♪

♪ Yeah... ♪

♪ Yeah... ♪

♪ If you've had enough don't put up with his stuff ♪

♪ Don't you do it ♪

Barbra (singing): ♪ Now, if you've had your fill... ♪

Brooklyn: Did she talk about that

situation with Casablanca?

Mary: For a long time, she didn't actually believe it.

Here are these people who you, you know,

you're working with them, you love them.

You believe they have your best interests at heart,

and they do,

because your best interest is their best interest.

But, but, money changes people.

Bruce: Neil disregarded that request

and "Enough is Enough" came out

and "Dim All the Lights" peaked at number two.

And I think that was the initial feeling of,

"This is not right."

Maybe this is running its course.

(playing piano)

(singing) ♪ Two kids hanging in an alleyway ♪

♪ Talking 'bout the money ♪

♪ That they just found ♪

♪ Mommy's all worried trying to make a way ♪

♪ But Daddy is gone to tell them how ♪

♪ And it's high time ♪

♪ That we make a change ♪

♪ And it's high time ♪

♪ That we start to rearrange it all ♪

(telephone ringing)

Hello? Hello, who is this?

Hi. All right.

That's bullshit.

He's profiting by me.

And I can be unhappy only so long.

(tense music playing)

Donna: The record business is really like being raped and abused

over and over again

because the element of your sensitivity

is beaten up on and stepped on.

I wasn't justly compensated for what I had done.

I had sold millions of records

and not been paid for them at that point.

Bruce: We were involved from '79

in a lawsuit with Casablanca Records

because they were taking advantage.

Brooklyn: How significant was it

for particularly a Black woman of that time to sue a label?

Bruce: Certainly a high-profile situation

because it was right at the top of her career.

We went through a major lawsuit,

and we settled,

and she went on to be the first artist

signed to Geffen Records.

Good boy.

Bruce: Come into the light a little bit, Donnie.

(in British accent) Well, this really isn't one of my better days...

Bruce: Can you get right in the light?

Get your face right in the light.

- Huh? - Bruce: I want to see you, get in the light.

- There we go. - You could have filmed--

- (baby babbling) - Is my face breaking out over here?

Bruce: I don't know, I'm not looking that close.

- Donna: No, go back, go back. - Bruce: What's the matter?

Say hi!

- Hi! - Hi.

Donna: Do "Hard for the Money."

(sings softly) ♪ Hard for the money ♪

Donna: Sing it loud.

- (sings louder) ♪ Hard for the money! ♪ - Good.

(singing) ♪ She works hard for the money ♪

- ♪ So hard for it, honey ♪ - Young Brooklyn: Hi.

- Bruce: Hi. - ♪ I work hard for my money ♪

♪ So you better treat me right ♪

- ♪ All right ♪ - (Young Brooklyn giggles)

♪ I work hard, hard hard for my money ♪

♪ Hard, hard, hard for it, honey ♪

Hard for my money ♪

♪ S o you better treat me right ♪

♪ All right ♪

♪ She works hard for the money ♪

♪ So hard for it, honey ♪

♪ She works hard for the money ♪

♪ So you better treat her right ♪

Mary: "She Works Hard for the Money."

It comes along at the right time for women.

It was kind of like a woman's empowerment song.

She was speaking to the worker.

♪ So you better treat her right ♪

Donna: It was the night of the Grammys

and we were in Los Angeles.

I was on my way into the ladies' room with my manager.

As I walked in, there was this little lady sitting in the corner.

This sweet woman here was sound asleep.

And I looked at her and I thought to myself,

"Wow, she works hard for the money."

And I thought it again to myself,

"She works hard for the money."

And I thought, "She works hard for the money.

She works hard for the money."

And I thought, "Wow, that's it,

that's a song, Susan. I'm going to sit down and write it."

So I went in the other room and I sat right there

and I started writing it.

She didn't even know anything about it.

- Not until much later. Right? - Right. That's true.

I, I say it's wonderful, believe me.

It's like a fairy tale to me, I can't believe it.

I really can't.

Interviewer: You seem very proud.

I am. I'm very proud.

("She Works Hard for the Money" by Donna Summer playing)

Susan: She was the first female Black artist

to ever have a video on MTV.

(singing) ♪ She works hard for the money ♪

♪ So hard for it, honey ♪

♪ She works hard for the money ♪

♪ So you better treat her right ♪

When people come up to you,

what song do they most identify you with?

Is it still "Love to Love You Baby"

in, in spite of everything you've done?

- "Hard for the Money." - "Hard for the Money"?

- The women, the women. - (audience applauding)

- And the men? - The men-- (laughs)

The men, yeah, uh, "Love to Love You, Baby," probably.

They go, (in cartoon voice) "Oh, I just remember when you sang that song,

ooh, what was it?" You know?

- They start-- Their bodies start moving like this, I go-- - Yeah.

- (applause) - (Arsenio laughs)

I've got to fan myself now. Whoo!

(bluesy piano playing)

Donna: My life just sort of started to quiet down.

One of the things that happened was that I, I married Bruce.

It was also this time when I started becoming the most spiritual.

I had to make a decision about being a mother

and how much a mother I was going to be.

There's just nothing in my life

that was worth more to me than my jewels.

My children are my jewels and my husband and my family.

I love to perform, you know, and that's extremely important,

but it doesn't bring me what they bring me.

Amanda: The ranch was the dream childhood.

It was 56 acres of dirt roads, horses and pigs and cows.

It was full of imagination and fun and adventure.

It was kind of the best possible place to grow up.

Johnny Mathis (sings on record): ♪ Together, together ♪

♪ Together together... ♪

Amanda: I just remember by the time I was born

that family was kind of the most important thing.

The fame was kind of like an offshoot.

Johnny Mathis (on record): ♪ Walking in a winter wonderland ♪

♪ Gone away... ♪

Amanda: She was always performing.

She lived in an imaginary musical at all times.

♪ To sing a love song as we go along ♪

Mathis (on record): ♪ Walking in a winter wonderland ♪

♪ Walking in a winter wonderland ♪

♪ Winter wonder winter wonderland ♪

- ♪ Winter wonder wonder wonderland ♪ - (Donna mouths along)

♪ ♪

(song ends)

Mary: I like Bruce. I-I liked him a lot.

When they got together, they wrote amazing music,

and I felt like there was like,

this love connection that was deep.

But they were just, that was just a bumpy damn ride.

They were like oil and vinegar.

But they came together and made salad dressing!

Bruce: My recollection of our relationship early on

was that it was volatile.

We were young.

We were both confident, cocky, aggressive,

a little stupid,

passionate.

Coming from two different cultures,

not understanding each other's cultures.

We were fire.

In public screaming at each other,

"You can't fucking talk to me like--"

(inaudibly speaking)

Mimi: I just remember that they had had a fight

like throwing pots.

And at that point Mom had already called the cops.

And we all went to my grandmother's house.

I remember wanting to, like,

run and protect her.

And I've done that before.

I was dealing with a lot of my own abuse.

We'd be at the house and stuff would happen there.

And it was someone related to our housekeeper. (indistinct)

I would often be out in the fields

because I didn't want to be any place that I could be trapped.

It was traumatic for me to leave my grandparents

and go there because I knew what might be in store.

It wasn't until I was 11 and a half, 12,

when I finally sort of moved in full time.

And I'll have to be honest, the only reason I stayed,

was because of you guys.

I said, "I can't leave Brooklyn and Amanda."

Brooklyn: I didn't know that, Mim'.

(sniffles)

(sniffles)

(exhales, sniffles)

(pensive music playing)

Mimi: I had a lot of pent-up anger and resentment.

I always had to be so careful because she's Donna Summer.

And what if I say something and then it gets out?

When I finally told Ma, I was 19, I think.

Mom, she hyperventilated.

Uh, had to leave the room.

♪ ♪

You know, In order for you to really communicate with somebody

and talk to them heart-to-heart,

you have to really be vulnerable,

and I think Mommy had a hard time being vulnerable.

(inaudibly speaking)

Bruce: It was a difficult thing for Mommy to deal with with Mimi

because of her own situation.

The sexual abuse and her own, maybe, sense of failing.

I mean, I felt it. How? How could I?

How did I as Dad allow this to happen?

Brooklyn: But I don't think you ever said that to Mimi.

Bruce: Probably not. Yeah, probably not.

♪ ♪

Brooklyn: These are all signed.

Mimi: I always felt like when she was painting,

she was, like, really in her space.

Whatever she was feeling that day

would come out on the canvas

and really helped her to release a lot of whatever anxiety

and tension and whatever else that she was feeling.

("On the Radio" by Donna Summer playing)

Donna: I was inspired by my children.

There was color around me.

I started finding my way back

to other creative aspects of my own personality.

♪ Someone found the letter you wrote me on the radio ♪

♪ And they told the world just how you felt ♪

♪ It must have fallen out of a hole ♪

♪ In your old brown overcoat ♪

♪ They never said your name ♪

♪ But I knew just who they meant ♪

Donna: You know, when I go on stage, I don't go home with anything.

I go home empty-handed.

But when I paint, I have a tangible product

that's the direct result of my solo effort.

The agents aren't talking,

the record company isn't saying, "These songs suck."

So creatively, I am completely free to be myself.

♪ ...just how I've been feeling over you ♪

Talk Show Host: When you first appeared in this country, many critics said,

"Ah, one song, she'll be gone soon."

And you have outlasted many of those critics.

How much satisfaction do you take in having,

uh, turned their predictions wrong?

Well, it's great to, you know,

to succeed when others are not on your side.

It's even greater to know that God's on your side

and nobody can be against you when he is.

You know? I think that's what--

I've always been very strong in faith.

And, um, I mean, the possibilities of of a Black girl from Boston

going to Germany, becoming successful

in the American pop field is like a million-to-one shot.

Donna (singing): ♪ The sun is shining ♪

♪ Lord, for me each day ♪

♪ 'Cause I found the answer ♪

♪ And I learned ♪

♪ To ♪

♪ Pray... ♪

(praying softly)

- Woman: Yes, Jesus. - Let my cup overflow.

- Let our cups overflow. - Woman: Praise God. Thank you, Jesus.

Oh, God, in Jesus' name, praise God.

All: Amen!

Interviewer: How did you become a Christian?

How did that, how did it happen?

How did it happen?

(deep voice) It happened one day. (laughs)

- It kind of happens to people. - It happens, yeah. You know,

I think people get to a place in their lives where,

especially when you are successful

and you, and you've reached your goals,

and you realize that there's nothing there, it's empty.

It's the same old room. It could be anywhere in the world.

It could be with anyone in the world.

It could be the same meal.

It can be the same million coats,

it could be a million diamond rings.

It doesn't mean anything.

You know, you get to a point where you realize that, um,

what happens after this?

Bruce: The born again?

As extreme as I might have been thinking

at the time that it was,

it benefited Donna.

That little church girl was foundational to who she was.

All these things that she had been carrying

from being abused by a pastor when you were a young girl.

This struggle of God and man and sex.

Religion and spirituality

brought her a great amount of peace.

In the last few years,

uh, my life has changed, drastically.

It has changed in a way that I would like to share with you.

See, about three years ago, I gave my life to Jesus Christ.

(audience cheering)

And, no, no, no, no, I'm not ashamed to tell it.

(singing "Forgive Me")

♪ Every day ♪

♪ I give you a reason to cry ♪

♪ Because I see the hurt in your eyes ♪

♪ But stronger yet ♪

♪ I see the love that shines ♪

Bruce: Brooklyn, you know Mommy.

Whenever she got into anything, it was 110%.

And then she would want to share it with everybody.

Bob Conti: Not everybody wanted to hear a sermon,

not everybody wanted to be preached to.

People wanted to dance and party.

(cheering and applause)

Yeah!

All right!

(laughs)

Whoo!

(mimics disgruntled fan) Where's that girl, where's that girl, huh?

I paid $12 for this ticket and I want her to work for it, right?

(drum beats)

Don't you realize that I had two children in two years?

- I work so hard. - (man whistles)

Bruce: Donna had very loose parameters

of a script of how her show was going to go.

There was certain patter that she knew worked

that she would use night after night,

but she was also spontaneous in the moment.

("Woman" by Donna Summer playing)

(singing) ♪ Woman ♪

- ♪ Woman ♪ - ♪ Treat that man real good ♪

Bruce: She could make a comment about something in the news,

the color of the shirt of the guy in the front row.

But now she says this thing,

"God didn't make Adam and Steve,

he made Adam and Eve."

- ♪ God, he made the woman ♪ - Woman: Yes, he did.

♪ God, he made the man ♪

Bruce: And this was a comment

that was devastating to many in the gay community.

- (audience cheering) - (somber music plays)

David M.: The Adam and Steve thing. I find it insulting.

It was like, I couldn't believe

that she would have said that.

(somber music continues)

For me, the relationship that I had with your mom

was really through her music,

the songs that we all came out to.

And as a gay man, it rubbed me the wrong way.

And I thought, I don't need to support this anymore.

Mary: A lot of gay people already feel

like the church hates them.

And so what happened was there was another mindset.

"Oh, she became one of those, those people who hate us."

Their perception of what they thought she meant,

it was like, "You shouldn't exist."

Bruce: At some point, I think we made a wrong decision

and that decision was not to respond.

We kind of figured, "Oh, it'll go away."

But it didn't go away and, and we had to pay that price.

And, and, uh, it-it was a big price to pay.

Brooklyn: What happened with this comment?

Bruce: Well, at some point it went from this comment

into Mommy supposedly saying

that AIDS was God's punishment on gays,

and that just was never the case.

(crowd chanting indistinctly)

Bobby Stewart: I remember a situation

that she was doing an art event in Chicago.

Protestors (chanting): We're here, we're queer!

Bobby: The Act Up people, their intent was to go in

and destroy all the art exhibit.

And Act Up was adamant about saying, "Well, listen,

"this is a person that we loved and adored

"and supported,

and she turned her back on us."

Mimi: I remember people were canceling shows.

It was definitely a strain on her.

It was a time when I think she really had to learn

to rely on faith.

Mary: That hurt her the most because she felt like,

"They're going to think I really said those things.

They're going to think I feel that way about them and I don't."

The magazine stated that I said homosexuals were sinners

and AIDS was a divine ruling.

That is completely false.

I did not say it. I do not believe that.

I would never say the things attributed to me

in that article.

Bruce: These were people that she loved.

And for her to be viewed

as somebody who would cause them more pain,

it's something I-I don't think she ever got over.

(waves crashing)

Brooklyn: Do you feel that Mom

came to terms with her life?

The struggles, the fear, the insecurity?

Mimi: I don't know if she came to terms fully.

I mean, I think she was getting better.

When you're holding a mirror up to yourself and you're getting to see

all these avenues of, like, an extension of yourself,

your children kind of growing and flourishing,

that brings something out of you,

and it makes you have to address certain things.

So I think she was getting there.

I think she was working through certain things.

(singing)

♪ Ahhhh ♪

Bruce: Yeah, baby.

(deep voice) Yeah, baby. Yeah, baby.

Donna: I can see the shape of the world.

Planet Earth below.

Brooklyn: To be honest with you,

the fact that she got lung cancer

was very interesting to me.

Donna (singing): ♪ My heart is beating faster... ♪

Brooklyn: For someone who fully used their voice

in so many ways

to not fully use their voice in other ways.

She carried so much for so long

that her body couldn't do it anymore.

Donna (singing): ♪ Thousands of miles away ♪

♪ From who knows where ♪

♪ Who knows where... ♪

(Bruce singing softly)

Bruce: There was a certain amount of, not denial

but non-acceptance.

Donna never talked about her dying

or what would happen if she died.

Or that she was gonna die.

We never had that conversation.

We never spoke those words.

The fact that we didn't discuss it

did not make

the obvious nature of what was happening invisible.

She didn't want to give death power

by even speaking about it or mentioning it.

Brooklyn: Daddy, what day is today?

Uh, today is December 25th, 2011,

heading into a much better year of 2012.

- Brooklyn: Yup, amen. - Amen and hallelujah.

Brooklyn: Amen and hallelujah.

Mommy!

Merry Christmas.

Merry Christmas.

("I'm a Rainbow" by Donna Summer playing)

♪ ♪

♪ Is there a remedy ♪

♪ For the passions of the soul? ♪

♪ Brother, if there is one ♪

♪ I don't really know ♪

(family laughing, chatting)

May I say, I want to get roasted because I realized something.

- I've been in therapy, you know. - (laughter)

No, seriously.

I really like making jokes about things

and not confronting the issue.

And so tonight, I would not like to make a joke of anything.

I would like to confront the issue and say that I, I do dearly love everybody here.

And regardless of the changes that we have gone through in this life,

I know-- hallelujah, don't let me start preaching--

that...

we're all together for a reason.

- Family: Amen, amen! - And I do hope that...

that I was able to bring something to your life

and get something from your life that is irreplaceable.

- Woman: Amen. - Oh!

(family cheering, clapping)

Mommy, I love you.

I'm gonna see you soon.

And I'm going to perform for you.

♪ Watching raindrops slowly falling ♪

♪ Painting pictures on the window pane ♪

♪ Feelings my heart... ♪

Mimi: There were times in the middle of the night

when she would say stuff.

She would say, "I don't like to be alone, Mimi."

(contemplative music playing)

(projector clicks)

Mimi: When she woke up one night,

she was really having a hard night.

I said, "Ma, what's the matter?"

And she's like, "Ah, I just, mm, I ju-- I can't sleep.

I'm just so-- I can't settle down."

I started to rub her back.

She was pretty tiny at that point.

I put my arm across her chest and she fell asleep.

So I scooped her up onto my lap

and I just kept rubbing her back.

That moment for me was like, she was a baby.

It was like she just was fully vulnerable.

Like, "Just hold me."

Brooklyn: I think the most profound thing

is her allowing us to love her.

Mimi: Yes.

Brooklyn: Because in that moment she couldn't give us anything.

Mimi: No, she had to only receive.

She could only receive.

Bruce: It wasn't until she was on her deathbed

that she finally understood that I really loved her.

She looks at me and she says, "You are my heart."

All right, well...

- Brooklyn: Mm. - Bruce: Mm-hmm.

Yeah!

("If There Is Music There" by Donna Summer playing)

(singing) ♪ I'll have to go ♪

♪ Never been anything ♪

♪ In my life ♪

♪ That I wanted ♪

♪ More ♪

♪ This is ♪

♪ My greatest fear ♪

♪ That I'm losing you ♪

♪ My dear ♪

♪ It's more than I want to give ♪

♪ But if there is music there ♪

♪ If there is music there ♪

♪ I have to know ♪

♪ Never met anyone ♪

♪ Who could take music ♪

♪ Out of my soul ♪

♪ There's something ♪

♪ Deep inside ♪

♪ That I no longer ♪

♪ Want to hide ♪

♪ My love, you would ♪

♪ Never share ♪

♪ If there ♪

♪ Is music there ♪

I'm so sorry, honey.

You see, I always, I loved you.

I did love you.

- ♪ I'm losing... ♪ - But I just have to go.

♪ ...you ♪

(cheering and applause)

Crew: "Sunset People," take two.

("Sunset People" by Donna Summer playing)

(singing) ♪ For sunset ♪

♪ Riot house ♪

Now what camera, should I just face forward?

Crew: Yes, facing forward will be fine, Donna.

It's too much light. You're bleaching away my color.

(crew laughing)

Crew: Fix it in the mix.

Bet you've never had your hair done by a sailor before.

Whoosh!

(disco music playing)

- (music stops) - 'Scuse me.

Crew: One, two, three, four.

(rhythmic percussion and blues horn)

Who are these places?

What are these faces?

(music stops, crew chuckles)

Donna: You're just giving up all your love for me.

- (crew laughs) - (disco music plays, stops)

(laughing)

Don't let it throw you.

Come on, let me show you.

What are these places? Whose are these faces?

(band playing "She Works Hard for the Money")

♪ ♪

- (synthetic drums beating) - Crew: One, two...

Crew 2: Ready to roll.

Crew (in falsetto): One, two, one, two, three, four!

("Bad Girls" playing)

♪ Bad girls ♪

♪ Talking 'bout the sad girls, yeah ♪

♪ Talking 'bout bad girls ♪

♪ The sad girls ♪

♪ Well, you see them out on the streets at night walkin' ♪

♪ Picking up all kinds of strangers if the price is right ♪

♪ Is the price ever really right? ♪

♪ You may ask yourself ♪

♪ Who they are ♪

♪ Like anybody else ♪

♪ They come from near and far ♪

♪ Whoa-oa-oa-oa-oa ♪

- ♪ Bad girls ♪ - ♪ Bad, bad, bad girls ♪

- ♪ Sad girls ♪ - ♪ Sad, sad, sad girls ♪

- ♪ Sad girls ♪ - ♪ Bad girls, well ♪

♪ Friday night and the strip is hot ♪

♪ Sun's going down and they're out to trot ♪

♪ Skirts up high and their legs look hot ♪

♪ Do you have enough? ♪

♪ Can you buy enough? ♪

♪ Can you sell enough? ♪

♪ Can you sell enough sell enough... ♪

♪ Of that dirty stuff? ♪

♪ Who are you trying to fool? ♪

- ♪ Bad girls ♪ - ♪ Everybody sees you ♪

♪ Bad girls ♪

♪ You ain't got nobody ♪

♪ Sad girls ♪

- ♪ Sad girls ♪ - ♪ Ain't got no money ♪

♪ Struggling hard trying for the top ♪

♪ Going the wrong way in life, yes, you are ♪

♪ Said you wanna be a star ♪

♪ Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh ♪

♪ Whoa ♪

- ♪ The bad girls ♪ - Man: Where do we pick you up?

- ♪ You are the sad girls ♪ - ♪ Sad girls ♪

- I wanna try it hot. - ♪ 'Cause you and me we're all the same ♪

♪ But you call yourself by a different name ♪

♪ But your mama won't like it when she finds her... ♪

♪ Girl is out at night ♪

- ♪ Street walkin' ♪ - ♪ Street walkin' ♪

♪ ♪

- ♪ Street talkin' ♪ - ♪ Street talkin' ♪

♪ ♪

♪ Street talkin' ♪

♪ Street talkin' street talkin'... ♪

♪ Street walkin' ♪

♪ Street talkin' ♪

♪ Whoa-ah-ah-ah-ah ♪

♪ Who do you think you are? ♪

♪ Who do you think you are? ♪