Entertainment

Friday, May 18, 2012

Donna Summer died of lung cancer, but the singer wasn't a smoker

(CNN) -- Donna Summer died of lung cancer, but the singer wasn't a smoker, and the cancer wasn't related to smoking, her family's representative said Friday. Summer's family issued the announcement in the wake of how "various reports currently surfacing about the cause of Ms. Summer's death are not accurate," representative Brian Edward said. "Obviously, numerous factors can be attributed to the cause of cancer in general, but any details regarding the diagnosis and subsequent treatment of Ms. Summer's case remain between her family and team of doctors," Edwards said in a statement. Five-time Grammy winner Summer, 63, known as the "queen of disco" during the 1970s, died Thursday at age 63. Summer: A diva who defined the disco movement Disco legend Donna Summer Disco legend Donna Summer Much like the expressive era that her music defined, Summer danced her way through the 1970s with extraordinary success, posting successive hits that electrified dance floors and prompted her coronation as America's disco queen. But her own life was marked by the highs and lows of the ballads that she energetically sang, and even at the height of her popularity, she once took steps toward suicide -- only to be stopped by the interruption of hotel maids. She overcame the negative dimensions of relentless public attention, and her legacy as a genre-leading vocalist endures decades later among music enthusiasts, even resulting in an appearance a few years ago on "American Idol." Summer died surrounded by her family in Florida. Overheard on CNN: This 'last dance' goes out to Donna Summer The legacy of Donna Summer A look back at Donna Summer's career Remembering Donna Summer 'Queen of Soul' talks 'Queen of Disco' Gloria Gaynor's tribute to Donna Summer Said her family in a statement Thursday: "Early this morning, we lost Donna Summer Sudano, a woman of many gifts, the greatest being her faith. While we grieve her passing, we are at peace celebrating her extraordinary life and her continued legacy." Summer, who was born in Boston and whose father was a butcher and mother a schoolteacher, sang from the moment she learned to talk, and her debut performance came in church at age 10 when the scheduled singer didn't show and the pastor asked Donna to step in. Summer later recalled that the church performance left worshipers in tears. While she is iconic in the disco genre, her Grammy wins were also in the R&B, rock, inspirational and dance categories. "Her talent was a true gift to the music industry," said Neil Portnow, president and CEO of the Recording Academy. At the height of her career, she and Casablanca Records created a sex symbol persona for her, and in an October 1977 cover story for Ebony, she remarked about her other nicknames: Queen of Love and Symbol of Eros. "Well, you have to get people's attention some kind of way," Summer told the magazine, "but I'm not just sex, sex, sex. I would never want to be a one-dimensional person like that. "I can sing songs like 'Love to Love You, Baby,' but I can also sing ballads, light opera, things from musical comedies, church hymns -- all kinds of things. Plus I can write, act and think." Listen to a playlist of Donna Summer's greatest hits Summer added that she didn't "want to be known for just one thing." In a 2003 interview with CNN, she said the initial absence of a manager led her to do provocative photo shoots. Her public image as a sex symbol and diva conflicted with her religious upbringing, she said. Her grandfather was a minister and her father a church deacon. "Yes, it was a big complex and the image was sort of created around me," Summer said. "I was sort of there, but not consciously there. And I didn't have anybody sort of on my side at that point, fighting for me, except for me, being in the middle. And then people would say, you know, 'Lay down here and do this.' And you know, whatever," Summer said. Her big break came when she was a teenager and auditioned in New York for a European version of "Hair." She landed a role and went to Europe. When she achieved success by her mid-20s, she wasn't able to handle it well. "It was tough," Summer said. "I think success is always a surprise, you know." She eventually suffered depression and found herself in an abusive relationship. "If people are in abusive relationships, I think they need to get out of them or at least get help," Summer said. She lived in fear during that relationship, she said. "Thank God this person was from Europe, so they were deported. And then I was able to sort of be free, but I was afraid for years," she said. Her hits included "Hot Stuff," "Bad Girls" and "She Works Hard for the Money." Summer rose to fame the mid-1970s, thanks to "Love to Love You Baby." The song, with Summer's whispered vocals and orgasmic groans supported by heavily synthesized backing tracks, fueled the decade's disco mania and hit No. 2 in 1976. Summer followed the song with such hits as "I Feel Love," "Last Dance" and a disco version of the Richard Harris hit "MacArthur Park," which outdid Harris' version by hitting No. 1 on Billboard's Hot 100 singles chart. It was Summer's first of four chart-toppers. But with her 1979 album "Bad Girls," Summer broke out of the disco mold as the genre, stimulated by the success of the Bee Gees' "Saturday Night Fever" soundtrack, was feeling a backlash. "Bad Girls" demonstrated Summer's vocal and stylistic range and produced two No. 1 hits, "Hot Stuff" and "Bad Girls," as well as a Top 10 ballad, "Dim All the Lights." However, Summer had some trouble adjusting to the changing times. Her next album, "The Wanderer," went for more of a rock feel. It produced a Top 10 hit in the title track but fared relatively poorly on the charts -- especially disappointing after the success of "Bad Girls," a double album that spent five weeks at No. 1. It wasn't until 1983's "She Works Hard for the Money," which became a ubiquitous video as well as a big radio hit, that Summer's fame approached its late-'70s zenith

'Sons of Anarchy' creator Kurt Sutter moves to documentary TV

"Sons of Anarchy" creator Kurt Sutter is putting the finishing touches on the final episodes of "Outlaw Empires." (CNN) -- For years, Kurt Sutter has told stories of criminal activity -- first as a writer for "The Shield" and then as the creator of FX's wildly popular "Sons of Anarchy," a dramatized version of an outlaw biker gang in California. Now he's branching out and focusing his lens on real-life criminal organizations. The Discovery Channel recently premiered "Kurt Sutter's Outlaw Empires," a six-part series that looks at the micro and macro reasons behind groups that have defined their existence outside the law. Episode one tackles famed Los Angeles gang the Crips, with subsequent shows exploring outlaw bikers, the Irish mob, the Italian mafia, the Nuestra Familia and the Aryan Brotherhood. "On 'Sons,' we exposed a lot of people to a new world," Sutter told CNN from Los Angeles. "It humanized what was a stereotype for a lot of people. Yes, our show is highly dramatic, and we take a lot of dramatic licenses. But the reality of it, and details of it are very true, very specific. For me, that's what I wanted to do with this series." The show sprang from a different concept Sutter was pitching that looked at criminal activity from two points of view, the criminals and law enforcement. For the final act, the two sides would be brought together in the same room. "The pitch was to have a high-level crime and get the point of view of the criminal party involved and law enforcement and hear their retelling of the same events," he said. "People were intrigued by the concept, but ultimately it felt a little too old school. Discovery was interested in a variation, and they've wanted to do a high-end documentary series." "Outlaw Empires" explores case studies of a few people involved in the criminal organization, using their stories and knowledge to make larger connections to the context of the outlaw group. Sutter pops up from time to time in cutaways to offer insights into the story he's trying to tell. He's not interested in getting law enforcement officials, psychologists or other talking heads to weigh in on why these people are "bad." Success, for Sutter, is telling a story that doesn't pass judgment. The approach that Sutter and his team took wasn't the typical "let's pick a subject and tell their story" usually associated with documentary storytelling. For him, they started small and worked outward. "We tapped into people that had relationships; some of these guys have been cleaning up their acts -- there's networks to get to these people," Sutter said. "We talked to people to see who had the most interesting story. It came out of character: who had the most interesting people with the most interesting stories. "It wasn't so much like 'Let's go do the Crips. Let's go do the Aryan Brotherhood.' It was about let's cast a wide net and be led into the worlds by the characters." Sutter is putting the finishing touches on the final episodes of "Outlaw Empires" while also in preproduction for the fifth season of "Sons." And like the way he portrays his fictional characters, he aims to give viewers a new look at a group of people who have been largely portrayed in a certain way. "It's a challenging thing to do when you're dealing with guys covered in swastikas," Sutter said. "You try to go in and give it some context, so people have some point of view to why people did what they did. It doesn't mean you're going to get behind it." He added, "The challenge is similar to writing 'Sons.' When you write an anti-hero, it's that balance between 'anti' and 'hero.' You can't make them too righteous and good so they don't feel dangerous or believable. But you can't write them so deplorable that the audience can't get behind them. It's similar with this series." "Kurt Sutter's Outlaw Empires" airs at 10 p.m. ET Mondays on Discovery

'Grey's Anatomy,' 'Scandal' ratings rise for finales

"Scandal" stars Jeff Perry, Tony Goldwyn and Kerry Washington (EW.com) -- Three Thursday night dramas were greeted with larger audiences for their final episodes of the season, but one NBC comedy tied its all-time low. ABC's "Grey's Anatomy" delivered 11.1 million viewers and a 3.9 rating, up 11 percent from last week and marking its best rating in three months. Check out EW.com's interview with "Grey's" showrunner Shonda Rhimes about last night's two shocking exits here. Bigger news: Rhimes' "Scandal" (7.5 million, 2.4) was up too, and not just a little. The political soap was up 26 percent, which is expected to mark a series high for the show (even after its rating is adjusted later today to account for some "Grey's" overrun). "Scandal" started its brief midseason run modestly but, as we've noted before, seemed like it had the potential to grow. CBS' "The Mentalist" (13 million, 2.5) was also up a tick for its latest Red John-focused finale (our interview with creator Bruno Heller about the finale here). Lead-in "Person of Interest" (13.3 million, 2.5), however, was down a notch for its finale. All four dramas return this fall, though "The Mentalist" will shift to Sunday nights. Now, about that triple-header "Community" finale. Why is NBC moving this comedy to Friday nights? Ratings like this. "Community" (2.5 million, 1.3), given a shot in the 9 p.m. hour, tied its series low across two episodes, as well as its 8 p.m. episode (3 million, 1.3). At 8:30 p.m., "30 Rock" (2.9 million, 1.3) didn't fare any better. At 10 p.m., "Awake" (2.1 million, 0.7) was down 22 percent from last week. Fox's "American Idol" (15.8 million, 4.2) was up 8 percent. "Touch" (6.3 million, 1.8), however, didn't take advantage of its boosted lead in, and fell 5 percent (Fridays!).