With her family by her side, Summer died May 17, 2012, at her Key West, Fla., home after a long battle with cancer.
Born LaDonna Gaines on New Year's Eve 1948 in Boston, the singer married Austrian actor Helmuth Sommer in 1971 and gave birth to their daughter, Mimi Sommer, in 1973. Although the couple divorced in 1975, she continued to use his last name (but spelled Summer) throughout her career.
In 1980, Summer wed musician Bruce Sudano. Married from 1980 until her death, the couple had two daughters, Brooklyn (born 1981) and Amanda (born in 1982).
Summer burst onto the scene with some of music's most audible, controversial and memorable moans and groans in 1975's "Love to Love You Baby."
"Last Dance," the 1978 hit song from the film Thank God It's Friday, in which Summer also appeared, became a dance-club anthem.
Pictured here posing for an album cover session in May 1978, Summer's Live and More was released later that year and achieved double-platinum status in the U.S.
Already an international superstar, the singer took the stage in January 1979 for a Unicef concert at the United Nations in New York City.
After 1983's post-disco era hit She Works Hard for the Money, most of Summer's studio albums were commercial disappointments.
On Oct.15, 2010, the same month her new single "To Paris With Love" reached No. 1 in the U.S., Summer performed during the David Foster and Friends concert in Las Vegas.