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Before her anointing as queen of disco debauchery in the late 1970s, Donna Summer was a good, churchgoing girl — with a terrible secret.
“I was molested by a minister when I was in my teens,” the late music legend says in a new documentary, “Love to Love You, Donna Summer,” premiering Saturday on HBO. “It’s not pain I could have spoken about, but it’s something that I have to always incorporate into my reality.”
The childhood trauma left her “feeling guilty” — even as she was feeling love from fans around the world at the peak of her musical powers.
As a result, despite having 11 Top 10 hits between 1976 and 1980, including four No. 1 smashes, Summer had “a secret life” that was more troubled than triumphant.
“The most dismal days of my existence were at the height of my career,” the “MacArthur Park” singer admits to her daughter Brooklyn Sudano, who directed the film along with Oscar winner Roger Ross Williams.
“It was like wearing an evening gown that was too tight … Everything was popping out, and I needed more space.”
Growing up in a deeply religious Boston household as Donna Gaines, Summer found herself inspired by gospel great Mahalia Jackson.
“I remember getting a spanking for wearing red fingernail polish because to my father … that was what whores wore,” Summer says.
But after moving to Greenwich Village at 19 during the summer of 1968, Summer discovered her inner hippie while living above Cafe Wha? on MacDougal Street.
