The Grammy-Winner Performs Crowd Favorites and Selections From Her 2008 Release, Crayons

FRIDAY AND SATURDAY, AUGUST 22 AND 23, 2008, AT 8:30 PM

The August 22 Concert is generously sponsored by Sunset Marquis Hotel & Villas. The August 23 Concert is generously sponsored by Gallo Family Vineyards. Media sponsor for August 23: Los Angeles Magazine

Pop-culture icon Donna Summer treats Hollywood Bowl audiences to two evenings of non-stop energy, Friday and Saturday, August 22 and 23, at 8:30 p.m. The multiple Grammy-winner and legendary singer-songwriter performs selections from her 2008 release Crayons, which has produced two No. 1 dance singles, “I’m A Fire” and “Stamp Your Feet,” as well as other chart-topping hits that helped make her a household name, such as the sultry “Love to Love You, Baby,” the defiant “Bad Girls,” the disco dance anthem “Last Dance” and more.

Summer rocketed to international superstardom in the mid-1970s when her groundbreaking merger of R&B, soul, pop, funk, rock, disco and avant-garde electronica catapulted underground dance music out of the clubs of Europe to the pinnacles of sales and radio charts around the world. Maintaining an unbroken string of hits throughout the ‘70s and ‘80s, most of which she wrote, Summer holds the record for most consecutive double albums to hit No. 1 on the Billboard charts (three) and is the first female to have four No. 1 singles in a 12-month period; three as a solo artist and one as a duo with Barbra Streisand.

Crayons, Summer's bold and long-awaited new collection of songs, is her first full-length studio album of newly penned material since 1991's Mistaken Identity and her first new release since VH1 Presents: Live & More Encore!, the CD (and DVD) companion to her top-rated VH1 television special, which returned her to the Billboard Top 200 in 1999. Crayons debuted at No. 17 on the Billboard Top 200 chart, making it Summer's highest debuting album ever, and it debuted at No. 5 on the Billboard R&B chart.

Summer's popularity continues to attract audiences for her recordings and live performances as well as substantial media coverage. USA Today recently raved, “She still has the hot stuff…” and the Chicago Sun Times wrote, “Twenty years after disco's heyday, Summer is still having the time of her life…”

A five-time Grammy winner, DONNA SUMMER was the first artist to win the Grammy for Best Rock Vocal Performance, Female (1979, "Hot Stuff") as well as the first-ever recipient of the Grammy for Best Dance Recording (1997, "Carry On"). In 2004, she became one of the first inductees, as both an Artist Inductee and a Record Inductee (for 1977's "I Feel Love") into the Dance Music Hall of Fame in New York City. It is estimated that Donna Summer has sold more than 130 million records worldwide. Summer's triumphant return to the United States as a key figure of the then-emerging disco genre was a result of her 1975 international hit, “Love to Love You Baby,” which was produced by Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte. The song rose to No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and paved the way for such international hits as "MacArthur Park," "Bad Girls," "Hot Stuff," "Dim All The Lights," "On The Radio," and "Enough Is Enough," as well as the Grammy and Academy award-winning theme song "Last Dance," from the film Thank God It's Friday, which remains a milestone in her career. In 1980, Summer became the first artist to sign with David Geffen's new label, Geffen Records, leaving her disco days behind and moving into the next phase of her career. In the years that followed, Summer collaborated with writers and producers such as Quincy Jones, Michael Omartian and England's dance-pop production compound Stock Aitken Waterman and produced a steady stream of hits from State of Independence, featuring Michael Jackson on backing vocals, to the abiding feminist anthem "She Works Hard For The Money," one of the most-played songs of all-time and the infectious “This Time I Know It’s For Real.” In 1994, she released Endless Summer, a greatest hits retrospective, containing a new song, "Melody of Love," which became Billboard's No. 1 Dance Record of the Year. She also released the critically acclaimed gem Christmas Spirit, a collection of Summer's original songs and holiday standards recorded with the Nashville Symphony Orchestra. Summer spent the '90s continuing to tour, performing to sold-out audiences worldwide. In 1997, when the new "Best Dance Recording" Category was created at the Grammy Awards, Summer was the first winner with her fifth career Grammy award for "Carry On." In addition to her Grammys, Summer has earned six American Music Awards, 11 gold albums, two platinum singles, and 12 gold singles. She is also the first female artist to have a No. 1 single and No. 1 album on the Billboard charts simultaneously (“Live & More;” “MacArthur Park” 1978) a feat she also repeated six months later (“Bad Girls” & “Hot Stuff” in 1979). She has charted 21 No.1 hits on the Billboard Disco/Dance charts over a period of 25 years, a milestone solidifying her as THE Queen of Dance. In addition to her recording and performing career, Summer is an accomplished visual artist whose work has been shown at exhibitions worldwide including Steven Spielberg's "Starbright Foundation Tour of Japan" and The Whitney Museum as well as a prestigious engagement at Sotheby's in New York. In 2003, Random House published her autobiography, "Ordinary Girl," co-authored with Marc Eliot. Also that year, Universal released The Journey, containing all of her original hits, as well as three new songs.

One of the largest natural amphitheaters in the world, with a seating capacity of nearly 18,000, the HOLLYWOOD BOWL has been the summer home of the Los Angeles Philharmonic since its official opening in 1922, and in 1991 gave its name to the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, a resident ensemble that has filled a special niche in the musical life of Southern California. The 2004 season introduced audiences to a revitalized Hollywood Bowl, featuring a newly-constructed shell and stage and the addition of four stadium screens enhancing stage views in the venue. To this day, $1 buys a seat at the top of the Bowl for many of the Los Angeles Philharmonic's concerts. While the Bowl is best known for its sizzling summer nights, during the day California's youngest patrons enjoy "SummerSounds: Music for Kids at the Hollywood Bowl," the Southland's most popular summer arts festival for children, now in its 40th season. Attendance figures over the past several decades have soared: in 1980 the Bowl first topped the half-million mark and close to one million admissions have been recorded. In February 2008, the Hollywood Bowl was named Best Major Outdoor Concert Venue for the fourth year in a row at the 19th Annual Pollstar Concert Industry Awards. The Bowl's summer music festival has become as much a part of a Southern California summer as beaches and barbecues, the Dodgers, and Disneyland.

EDITORS PLEASE NOTE:

FRIDAY, AUGUST 22, 2008, AT 8:30 PM

SATURDAY, AUGUST 23, 2008, AT 8:30 PM

HOLLYWOOD BOWL, 2301 N. Highland Ave. in Hollywood



DONNA SUMMER



The August 22 Concert is generously sponsored by Sunset Marquis Hotel & Villas.
The August 23 Concert is generously sponsored by Gallo Family Vineyards. Media sponsor for August 23: Los Angeles Magazine

Tickets ($10 - $114) are on sale now at HollywoodBowl.com, at the Hollywood Bowl Box Office (Tuesday–Sunday, noon–6 p.m.), by phone 323.850.2000 or by calling Ticketmaster at 213.480.3232, and at all Ticketmaster outlets. Groups of 10 or more may be eligible for a 20% discount, subject to availability; call 323.850.2050 for further details.

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