The surprised, sincere and heartfelt reactions continue to roll in as the news of Disco Queen Donna Summer's untimely passing Thursday (May 17) spreads far and wide. Summer influenced the music industry as a whole, but her impact is especially felt in today's electronic dance music — which includes current club-anthem king Flo Rida.
"I was just looking at something with her months ago," the "Wild Ones" singer told. "Today, when I got a text message [about her death], I thought, 'Wow, she passed away.' She definitely is one of those iconic people when it comes down to the dance scene and all that. My condolences go out to all her family. She definitely influenced what I do."
Speaking to Summer's genre-bending influence, house-music forefather Frankie Knuckles called her unforgettable hit "I Feel Love" one of the most commercial electronic pieces of music ever written.
"Today you can hear its influence on all popular Dance music, House, Techno, Trance," he told in a statement. "She was deemed 'The Queen Of Disco.' She's been sampled and ideas of her songs have crept into today's popular dance music by everybody. Her association with [legendary record producer] Giorgio Moroder set the tone for what Dance Music is all about."
"Donna Summer RIP I FEEL LOVE FOR YOU," Swedish dance-pop princess Robyn tweeted, adding a link to a Summer performance of "I Feel Love."
The reception of Summer's iconic 1977 anthem essentially revolutionized music, not to mention the rest of her chart-toppers that would soon follow.
"One day in Berlin, [Brian] Eno came running in and said, 'I have heard the sound of the future,' " David Bowie famously wrote in the liner notes to Sound and Vision. "He puts on 'I Feel Love,' by Donna Summer. ... He said, 'This is it, look no further. This single is going to change the sound of club music for the next 15 years.' Which was more or less right."
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