She was born as LaDonna Adrian Gaines in Boston, Massachusetts as the 3rd of 7 children for Andrew Gaines (a butcher) and Mary Gaines (schoolteacher). At the age of 10 she replaced a vocalist at the church. In High school she performed in school musicals and left just before graduation to join the blues rock band Crow. To become a role in the musical 'Hair' she moved to Munich, Germany where she learned the German language (which she became fluent in). Later she moved to Austria and joined the Vienna Volksoper. She married the Austrian actor Helmuth Sommer and gave birth to her daughter in 1973. Before she released her first singles, among them a German version of “Aquarius“ from the musical 'Hair'. In Munich she met producer Giorgio Moroder and Peter Bellotte who both lived in Germany at that time. The trio forged a working relationships and Donna was signed to their record label. On the cover of her record though happened to be a mistake and instead of Donna Sommer it appea
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