Donna Summer and Bruce Sudano Marriage Profile

Working together both before and after they married, Donna Summer and Bruce Sudano had a long-lasting successful marriage.

LaDonna Adrian Gaines aka Donna Summer: December 31, 1948 in Boston, Massachusetts.

Bruce Charles Sudano: September 26, 1948 in Brooklyn, New York.

Donna: On May 17, 2012, Donna Summer died at the age of 63 at her second home in Naples, Florida. She reportedly died from lung cancer which she battled privately.

Donna was buried in Nashville, Tennessee on May 23, 2012.

Paige Feigenbaum: "ET has learned that Summer was diagnosed with cancer 10 months ago and told only her husband and children of her diagnosis."
Source: Paige Feigenbaum. "New Details on Donna Summer's Death." ETonline.com. 5/17/2012.

Donna met Bruce abt. 1977 when she was working with the group Brooklyn Dreams.

Bruce and Donna were married on July 16, 1980 in Los Angeles, California at The Church on the Way. Their wedding ceremony was performed by born-again Christian Pastor Jack Hayford. Donna wore white organdy and lace.

"There were no celebrities there. It was an intimate, family affair," said Ms. Summer's manager, Susa Munao, who was maid of honor. Sudano's brother, Barry, was best man, and Ms. Summer's 7-year-old daughter by a former marriage, Mimi, was flower girl."
Source: "Queen Marries." The Prescott Courier. 7/18/1980.

Donna raised three daughters.

• Mimi Sommer: Born abt. 1973 in Munich, Germany.
• Brooklyn Sudano: Born in 1981 in Los Angeles, California. Newspaper reports of her birth state that Bruce assisted in the Lamaze delivery.
• Amanda Grace Sudano: Born in 1982.

Donna: Award winning singer, producer, actress, abstract expressionist artist, and songwriter.

"Donna Summer is now the only artist to have had a #1 charting dance hit in every decade since the 1970′s."
Source: "Video: Donna Summer on 'The Today Show' 5-30-08."

Bruce: Singer with Brooklyn Dreams, actor, songwriter, producer.

Video: Father-of-the-bride Bruce Sudano's It's Her Wedding Day dedicated to Amanda Grace.

Donna and Bruce lived in Florida and Tennessee.

Donna was previously married to Austrian actor/singer Helmuth Sommer from 1971 until 1976. They worked together in the European version of Hair: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical. They had one child.

Charles L. Sanders: "Donna says that she and Helmut had 'some very, very good days together' and that their breakup 'wasn't an ego thing with him or jealousy about my success,' because they actually separated before she became a star in Europe. 'It was simply that he and I come from very different backgrounds and we never really got to know each other well enough to stay together, but we're still good friends.'"
Source: Charles L. Sanders. "Donna Summer." Ebony. October, 1977. pg. 36.

Donna: "What I aspire to in my life, truly, is to be loving," she said. "And I don't always achieve that, but that's my aspiration."
Source: Donna Summer Biography. Biography.com.

Donna: "... if people are in abusive relationships, I think they need to get out of them or at least get help. And I think knowing that somebody that you maybe look at and admire has been in an abusive relationship, so, like Tina Turner. And the show is not to die, not to go to that level. But I could have gotten killed ... [why people stay in abusive relationships] Fear because they're afraid of the person, that the person will come after them and kill them, that the police -- that if they go to the police, they really won't the help they need and they'll be vulnerable all over."
Source: Larry King. "Interview with Donna Summer." CNN.com. 12/7/2003.

Linda Deutsch: "There are classic problems when the wife is a superstar and the husband is not, she [Donna] concedes. 'I can't say there aren't times he struggles with that,' she says. 'When we were living together, he used to keep a separate apartment just to keep a sense of himself until we got married ...He is certainly not Mr. Summer,' she adds solemnly. 'I'm Mrs. Sudano, and that's the way it's going to be.'"
Source: Linda Deutsch. "Donna Summer resurfaces, begins big tour." Wilmington Morning Star. 8/4/1981. pg. 3c

Linda Deutsch: "Out of the spotlight, she [Donna] got married and had a baby. And she learned to relax ... 'I'm going to keep doing that,' she says. 'I'm not going to make myself crazy. I've got a baby and a husband, and I'm going to live like a normal person' ... Her marriage, she says, was strengthened. 'It gave us a chance without outside pressure to get to know each other. It gave Bruce a chance to become the man of the family and not live in my shadow and the shadow of people around me.'"
Source: Linda Deutsch. "Disco queen is back." The Spokesman-Review. 8/01/1981. pg. 16.