Donna Summer's 15 greatest songs, ranked

29 April 2025, 11:06

Donna Summer's greatest songs. Picture: Getty Images

By Mayer Nissim

Donna Summer was the Queen of Disco

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When Disco burst into life in the 1970s, there were a number of absolutely massive acts serving up enormous bangers for the dancefloor.

Hits by the likes of Chic, the Bee Gees, ABBA, Gloria Gaynor, Boney M and many more have endured, but there's only one true Queen of Disco: Ms Donna Summer.

Donna Summer released 17 albums across a stunning career before her untimely death in 2012, aged just 63.

She released over 85 singles in that time, including four US chart-toppers and sixteen number one hits on the US Dance Club Songs listings.

So we're spoiled for choice when it comes to picking Summer's very best, but we've given it our best shot, rounding up her 15 greatest singles below.

Heaven Knows

Heaven Knows - Donna Summer Brooklyn Dreams | The Midnight Special

For someone with such a stunning, singular voice, Donna Summer played remarkably well with others.
She went on to record bigger and better known duets, but 'Heaven Knowns' recorded with the group Brooklyn Dreams (with vocals from the band's Joe 'Bean' Esposito) can easily rub shoulders with them.
It charted at number 4 in the US and was a fine example of the polished disco Donna seemed to produce almost effortlessly in the late '70s.
Love Is in Control (Finger on the Trigger)

Donna Summer - Love Is In Control (Finger On The Trigger) (Official HD Music Video)

For her tenth studio album, the self-titled Donna Summer, the Queen of Disco hooked up with Quincy Jones.
With Jones hot on the heels of Michael Jackson's solo breakthrough Off the Wall it was a match made in dance heaven. Lead single 'Love Is in Control (Finger on the Trigger)' was co-written by Jones with Rod Temperton (and Merria Ross).
Donna was actually pregnant while they made the album, which wasn't very fun, but you wouldn't guess that from this slick, funky slice of R&B.
On The Radio

Donna Summer - On The Radio (Clip Officiel)

By the end of the '70s, Donna and her regular producer/co-writer Giorgio Moroder were very much on a roll.
They recorded this catchy slice of disco pop for the Adrian Lyne's debut movie Foxes (which starred Jodie Foster and Runaways star Cherie Currie), but waste not, want not, it was also the title track of Donna's massive compilation album On the Radio: Greatest Hits Volumes I & II.
Dim All The Lights

Donna Summer - Dim All The Lights (Live, The Donna Summer Special, 1980)

The third single from Donna's MASSIVE Bad Girls album was produced by Giorgio Moroder with Pete Bellotte and successfully melded the disco sound of the music with a more timeless soul vibe.
When it came to writing the song, it was all Donna: her only hit single that she wrote completely by herself, and one that went all the way to number two in the US charts.
And if that wasn't enough, the song also featured a 16-second note held by Ms Summer. So much more than just a disco queen.
MacArthur Park

Donna Summer - MacArthur Park (from VH1 Presents Live & More Encore!)

Formerly known as Westlake Park, the real-life MacArthur Park in LA was renamed after US war hero General Douglas MacArthur.
Written by Jimmy Webb, the song was an absolutely massive hit when it was recorded by RIchard Harris (yes, that Richard Harris) way back in 1968. It was a hit once more a couple of years later when Waylon Jennings, too.
But we'll always bat for Donna Summer's disco reworking from 1978, which went all the way to the top of the Billboardf Hot 100, number five in the UK, and earned Donna her first Grammy nomination.
This Time I Know It’s for Real

Donna Summer - This Time I Know It's For Real (Official HD Music Video)

Many might have worried that Donna Summer was yesterday's woman by the end of the 1980s, but with 'This Time I Know It's For Real' she proved that she could easily hold her own with the popstars of the day.
Rather than Giorgio Moroder, she joined forces with the Stock Aitken Waterman team and rightly earned a number three single in SAW's native UK and a number seven hit in the US, too.
It's as catchy as you'd expect from Team SAW, but with that bit of style, class and melancholy that only Donna Summer could provide.
She Works Hard for the Money

Donna Summer - She Works Hard For The Money

The peak of the disco era was over by 1983, but Donna's collaboration with producer Michael Omartian from that year became one of her biggest hits, proving she wasn't just a genre flash in the pan.
The lyrics were inspired by Donna's emotions when she saw a lady passed out in the loos at a posh restaurant, despite the telly being on at full blast.
The phrase "She works hard for the money" popped into Donna's head and sparked the words and energy behind this dancestastic slice of pop, as well as giving its name to her album from that year.
The Wanderer

Donna Summer - The Wanderer (Official HD Music Video)

The start of a new decade marked a big change for Donna Summer as she left Casablanca Records and moved to Geffen.
She stuck with regular producers Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte, but took the opportunity to shift her sound away from the pure disco she had pioneered at the end of the 1970s and branch out into a poppier, new wave.
Still, everything she touched turned to gold, including 'The Wanderer', the title track from her Geffen debut, with her voice not a million miles away from her pre-disco work.
Bad Girls

Donna Summer - Bad Girls (Official Music Video)

The title track and second single from the Bad Girls album (we'll get to the first soon enough), 'Bad Girls' really rubber stamped Donna Summer's position as the true Queen of Disco.
A collaboration, 'Bad Girls' was co-written by Summer herself with the members of Brooklyn Dreams and produced by Donna's dream team of Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte.
The song was apparently inspired by an incident where a police officer mistook one of Donna's assistants for a sex worker.
Amazingly, Casablanca Records wanted Donna to give the song to Cher. No way. Donna kept it back a couple of years before recording it herself and more than proving that she was the woman to deliver this funked up slab of disco. Another US number one.
State of Independence

Donna Summer - State of Independence (Official HD Music Video)

'State of Independence' was actually first released by its authors Yes star Jon Anderson and Vangelis in 1981 (it appeared on their second album The Friends of Mr Cairo), but their original didn't really catch the imagination despite the all-star lineup.
It was a year later when Donna Summer got her hands on the song, and enlisted an all-star choir including Lionel Richie, Dionne Warwick, Kenny Loggins, Stevie Wonder, Peggy Lipton and many others.
It still wasn't a massive US hit on its release, though it did go to number 14 in the UK and even top the Dutch charts. A 1990 re-release did okay and a 1996 remix brought it back into the UK top 20.
By then, Moodswings also had a minor hit with their Chrissie Hynde-fronted version called 'Spiritual High (State of Independence)'
Hot Stuff

Donna Summer -- Hot Stuff Video HQ

"It's the Arsenal off-side trap, isn't it? Lomper here is Tony Adams, right? Any bugger looks like scoring... we all step forward in a line... and wave our arms around like a fairy."
Let's get this out the way first. The Full Monty. The dole queue scene. Absolute classic. But that scene only works because everybody knew that song back to front before the film.
Written by Pete Bellotte, Harold 'Axel F' Faltermeyer and Keith Forsey, it was the lead single from the all-conquering Bad Girls. It reached number 1 and has remained one of her biggest songs.
The track still had plenty of disco shimmer, but also some pop-rock oomf thanks to Steely Dan/Doobie Brother guitarist Jeff 'Skunk' Baxter.
Last Dance

Donna Summer - Last Dance [Original Video] (1978)

Have you heard of the 1978 musical comedy Thank God It's Friday? It wasn't exactly well-received, but this Motown/Casablanca production still has something of a legacy.
That's not just because of early appearances by Jeff Goldblum, Dera Winnger and future Berlin star Terri Nunn, but also because of its discotastic soundtrack.
As well as Commodores 'Too Hot ta Trot', Donna Summer contributed 'With Your Love' and the stunning 'Last Dance', which she performed in the movie in character as Nicole Sims.
Written by Paul Jabara (though arranger Bob Etsy claims significant credit), the song wasn't just a number three hit, but it also won the Academy Awad for Best Original Song.
No More Tears (Enough Is Enough)

No More Tears (Enough Is Enough)

There are duets and then there are duets. You rarely get two stars as big as Donna Summer and Barbra Streisand were in 1979 collaborating at the very peak of their powers, but that's just what we got with 'No More Tears (Enough Is Enough)'.
Written by Paul Jabara and Bruce Roberts, there was a bit of jostling for position - it was released on both Donna's Cadsablanca label and Streisand's Columbia. It featured on Babs's Wet studio album and Donna's On the Radio: Greatest Hits Volumes I & II compilation.
In fact, they only added the 'No More Tears' to the title and and opening line ("It's raining, it's pouring...") so it would fit Barbra's Wet album concept. But on the record at least the two powerhouse vocalists achieved a perfect equilibrium.
It got to number one and has remained one of both women's most well-loved songs, though sadly they never performed it live together in concert.
Love to Love You

Donna Summer - Love To Love You Baby

One of the sexiest songs in the history of pop. So sexy, in fact, that it was even banned from the airwaves
Donna wrote it herself with Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte and while the words were pretty raunchy ("Do it to me again and again"), it was the ooooohs and AAAAAAAHHHHs that really got the censors hot under the collar.
It's said that they turned the lights down in the studio and Donna chanelled thoughts of Marilyn Monroe to get the mood right.
I Feel Love

Donna Summer - I Feel Love

Simply one of the most groundbreaking songs in the history of popular music.
Incredibly the song was first released as a B-side, appearing as the flip to 'Can't We Just Sit Down (And Talk It Over)'.
That release was only a small hit, but when people switched sides and gave 'I Feel Love' a swirl their ears couldn't quite comprehend what they were hearing.

Donna Summer I Feel Love Original 8 minute 12" version 1977

A couple of months later someone had the sensible idea to re-release the single with the sides switched, and 'I Feel Love' became the globe-conquering smash it was always destined to be.
It "only" reached number six in the US, but here in the UK it went all the way to number one as it should.
More than just one of the best disco songs, 'I Feel Love' is one of the most influential electronic hits of all time, inspiring everyone from David Bowie and The Human League to Underworld and Kylie Minogue in the years and decades since its release.
That mashup of groundbreaking Moog loops and four-on-the-floor drums paved the way for the techno and house revolutions... and it still sounds like the future today. A masterpiece.