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American Morning

Interview With Donna Summer

Aired October 22, 2003 - 09:41   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Donna Summer was the voice of a generation, the Disco Generation. And at its height in the '70s she was the queen of the sound.
But the singer, seen here three years ago in her TV special, "VH1 Presents Donna Summer," hit some rough times, as well, in her life. And she covers it all in her memoir called "Ordinary Girl." Accompanying the book is a CD set which features the very best of Donna Summer.

(MUSIC)

O'BRIEN: I could listen to that all day. It's nice to have you. Good morning. Thanks for joining us. I'm just a huge fan. What a joy for me to talk to you.

I was surprised that the title of the book is "Ordinary Girl" and not, you know, "Queen of Disco." Why not?

DONNA SUMMER, DISCO ICON: Because I'm just an ordinary person that did some extraordinary things. But I think that I'm just a normal girl, you know. That's where the stretch is on the girl part. It's not on the ordinary part at all.

O'BRIEN: Your career really got under way in Germany. You went there, you were in musicals, four or five I think. Did really well. Came back to the U.S. and became a giant superstar. What was that like for you then?

SUMMER: It was sort of like being in Times Square on New Year's Eve, you know, and you want to go home. And you're in the middle and you can't get out. So it's a very, very, very busy, very stressful difficult time.

O'BRIEN: Overall bad?

SUMMER: I would say there were good things about it. But I think that just the labor, what you have to do to succeed is just really difficult.

O'BRIEN: You write about the depression that you felt in your book. I mean, you talk about how you're at the height of your career, at the moment where everyone would think you say finally I made it, I am a giant superstar.

You were depressed. You're contemplating suicide. You're at a hotel window, sticking your foot out to kind of get a feel of maybe you should jump over the edge.

SUMMER: No, I wasn't getting a feel. I was jumping over. I was attempting to go. I didn't plan it. I just decided, I'm out of here.

O'BRIEN: Maid walks in and stops you essentially?

SUMMER: Yes, exactly.

O'BRIEN: What happened then?

SUMMER: Then I sought help. I got help. I realized that I had a serious problem with depression, and I went to a doctor and he gave me some medication.

O'BRIEN: You eventually decided that actually your career was going to have to take a back seat. You have children, married.

How hard was that to do? When you're surrounded, when you're wildly successful and you're surrounded by a bunch of people who are invested in seeing you not only succeed but continue to churn out hits and make money for the team, that's got to be hard to say, whoa, I'm done.

SUMMER: Nobody wants you to stop, obviously because you're a moneymaking machine. But you have to make the decision and you have to move forward. So I took time off to have babies and do all that.

O'BRIEN: Any regrets now that you did that?

SUMMER: No, not at all. It was the best thing in my life.

O'BRIEN: You still sing and you've been married for some unheard of number of years.

SUMMER: In Hollywood.

(LAUGHTER)

O'BRIEN: It really is like, wow.

SUMMER: Exactly.

(CROSSTALK)

O'BRIEN: Because that's an -- 20-some odd years.

SUMMER: Yes.

O'BRIEN: You've got three grown children.

SUMMER: Yes.

O'BRIEN: What lessons do you talk to your girls about? They're all musical...

SUMMER: Yes, they all want to go in the business at some point. O'BRIEN: Do you roll your eyes and say, oh, no, don't do it?

SUMMER: Not at all. I think that they should. I think they have a good background and understanding that it's work, that it's painful and that it's not the glamour business that it looks like it is on the surface. And I think they're well prepared for it, actually.

O'BRIEN: We were talking a little bit ago about how, you know, I if could sing along with some of your -- would you be offended if I did it right in front of you?

SUMMER: No, go right ahead.

O'BRIEN: No, you haven't heard my voice. It's pretty bad.

You're still performing a lot, all the time. But you don't have the string of No. 1 hits that you had. It was always, next, next, next. Is that hard or do you feel like you've come to a new place?

SUMMER: Not really. I haven't really been recording in the last several years. I haven't wanted to. And even though I had to deal with Sony and now I'm on Universal again, I will probably put out a new record soon.

And no, having the hits is just more work. And I mean, I'm established. So I'm not worried about having a hit at this point in my career. It would be nice if you have a hit. But I don't think it's necessary to continue with my career at this point.

Well I'd like to have one.

O'BRIEN: How hard was it to write the book after all these years? You have quite a story to tell. It must have been difficult.

SUMMER: Yes, very difficult.

O'BRIEN: It's a great book.

SUMMER: Painful.

O'BRIEN: Yes, I would imagine. You have a great story to tell. Donna Summer, so nice to have you as a guest. We certainly appreciate it.

SUMMER: Me too.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired October 22, 2003 - 09:41   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Donna Summer was the voice of a generation, the Disco Generation. And at its height in the '70s she was the queen of the sound.
But the singer, seen here three years ago in her TV special, "VH1 Presents Donna Summer," hit some rough times, as well, in her life. And she covers it all in her memoir called "Ordinary Girl." Accompanying the book is a CD set which features the very best of Donna Summer.

(MUSIC)

O'BRIEN: I could listen to that all day. It's nice to have you. Good morning. Thanks for joining us. I'm just a huge fan. What a joy for me to talk to you.

I was surprised that the title of the book is "Ordinary Girl" and not, you know, "Queen of Disco." Why not?

DONNA SUMMER, DISCO ICON: Because I'm just an ordinary person that did some extraordinary things. But I think that I'm just a normal girl, you know. That's where the stretch is on the girl part. It's not on the ordinary part at all.

O'BRIEN: Your career really got under way in Germany. You went there, you were in musicals, four or five I think. Did really well. Came back to the U.S. and became a giant superstar. What was that like for you then?

SUMMER: It was sort of like being in Times Square on New Year's Eve, you know, and you want to go home. And you're in the middle and you can't get out. So it's a very, very, very busy, very stressful difficult time.

O'BRIEN: Overall bad?

SUMMER: I would say there were good things about it. But I think that just the labor, what you have to do to succeed is just really difficult.

O'BRIEN: You write about the depression that you felt in your book. I mean, you talk about how you're at the height of your career, at the moment where everyone would think you say finally I made it, I am a giant superstar.

You were depressed. You're contemplating suicide. You're at a hotel window, sticking your foot out to kind of get a feel of maybe you should jump over the edge.

SUMMER: No, I wasn't getting a feel. I was jumping over. I was attempting to go. I didn't plan it. I just decided, I'm out of here.

O'BRIEN: Maid walks in and stops you essentially?

SUMMER: Yes, exactly.

O'BRIEN: What happened then?

SUMMER: Then I sought help. I got help. I realized that I had a serious problem with depression, and I went to a doctor and he gave me some medication.

O'BRIEN: You eventually decided that actually your career was going to have to take a back seat. You have children, married.

How hard was that to do? When you're surrounded, when you're wildly successful and you're surrounded by a bunch of people who are invested in seeing you not only succeed but continue to churn out hits and make money for the team, that's got to be hard to say, whoa, I'm done.

SUMMER: Nobody wants you to stop, obviously because you're a moneymaking machine. But you have to make the decision and you have to move forward. So I took time off to have babies and do all that.

O'BRIEN: Any regrets now that you did that?

SUMMER: No, not at all. It was the best thing in my life.

O'BRIEN: You still sing and you've been married for some unheard of number of years.

SUMMER: In Hollywood.

(LAUGHTER)

O'BRIEN: It really is like, wow.

SUMMER: Exactly.

(CROSSTALK)

O'BRIEN: Because that's an -- 20-some odd years.

SUMMER: Yes.

O'BRIEN: You've got three grown children.

SUMMER: Yes.

O'BRIEN: What lessons do you talk to your girls about? They're all musical...

SUMMER: Yes, they all want to go in the business at some point. O'BRIEN: Do you roll your eyes and say, oh, no, don't do it?

SUMMER: Not at all. I think that they should. I think they have a good background and understanding that it's work, that it's painful and that it's not the glamour business that it looks like it is on the surface. And I think they're well prepared for it, actually.

O'BRIEN: We were talking a little bit ago about how, you know, I if could sing along with some of your -- would you be offended if I did it right in front of you?

SUMMER: No, go right ahead.

O'BRIEN: No, you haven't heard my voice. It's pretty bad.

You're still performing a lot, all the time. But you don't have the string of No. 1 hits that you had. It was always, next, next, next. Is that hard or do you feel like you've come to a new place?

SUMMER: Not really. I haven't really been recording in the last several years. I haven't wanted to. And even though I had to deal with Sony and now I'm on Universal again, I will probably put out a new record soon.

And no, having the hits is just more work. And I mean, I'm established. So I'm not worried about having a hit at this point in my career. It would be nice if you have a hit. But I don't think it's necessary to continue with my career at this point.

Well I'd like to have one.

O'BRIEN: How hard was it to write the book after all these years? You have quite a story to tell. It must have been difficult.

SUMMER: Yes, very difficult.

O'BRIEN: It's a great book.

SUMMER: Painful.

O'BRIEN: Yes, I would imagine. You have a great story to tell. Donna Summer, so nice to have you as a guest. We certainly appreciate it.

SUMMER: Me too.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com