LaDonna Adrian Gaines (December 31, 1948 – May 17, 2012), known by her stage name Donna Summer, was an American singer, songwriter, and painter. She gained prominence during the disco era of the late-1970s. A five-time Grammy Award winner, she was the first artist to have three consecutive double albums reach No. 1 on the United States Billboard album chart and charted four number-one singles in the U.S. within a 12-month period. Summer has reportedly sold over 140 million records, making her one of the world's best-selling artists of all time.

While influenced by the counterculture of the 1960s, she became the front singer of a psychedelic rock band named Crow and moved to New York City. Joining a touring version of the musical Hair, she left New York and spent several years living, acting, and singing in Europe, where she met music producers, Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte.

Summer returned to the U.S., in 1975 with commercial success of the song 'Love to Love You Baby', followed by a string of other hits, such as "I Feel Love", "Last Dance", "MacArthur Park", "Heaven Knows", "Hot Stuff", "Bad Girls", "Dim All the Lights", "No More Tears (Enough Is Enough)" (duet with Barbra Streisand), and "On the Radio". She became known as the "Queen of Disco", while her music gained a global following.

Donna Summer is the tenth studio album of American singer Donna Summer, released in 1982. It featured the Top 10, Grammy-nominated "Love Is in Control (Finger on the Trigger)" single.

Back story

Having left Casablanca Records, with whom she had had some of the biggest selling and most popular hits of the disco era in the 1970s, Summer had signed to Geffen Records in 1980 and had continued working with Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte, with whom she had written the vast majority of her hits. However, label owner David Geffen had been disappointed with the chart performance of The Wanderer, Summer's debut album for Geffen and rather than release the followup; I'm a Rainbow which Summer had recorded with Moroder/Bellotte, Geffen had Summer record a new album with Quincy Jones from whom a production credit - given Jones' track record particularly his work with Michael Jackson - Geffen felt would guarantee a commercial smash. The resultant Donna Summer album was the first time the singer had worked with a producer other than Moroder and Bellotte since 1974 save for the one-off track "Down Deep Inside (Theme from "The Deep")" which was produced by John Barry for the film The Deep, and the No More Tears (Enough is Enough) duet with Streisand which was co-produced by Gary Klein of The Entertainment Company.

"Protection" is a song written by Bruce Springsteen for Donna Summer. It was originally featured on the 1982 Donna Summer album which was produced by Quincy Jones. In 1997 it was also included on One Step Up/Two Steps Back: The Songs Of Bruce Springsteen. It was released as a single in Belgium and Japan and was nominated for a Grammy Award as Best Female Rock Vocal Performance alongside Linda Ronstadt, Pat Benatar, Bonnie Raitt, and Kim Carnes.

David Geffen approached Jon Landau, Springsteen’s manager and producer, and asked if Springsteen would be interested in writing a song for Summer. Summer had just recently signed for Geffen Records. Springsteen agreed to write a song and, while working with Gary U.S. Bonds, he gathered the E Street Band to record a demo. However, when Landau heard the result, "Cover Me", he persuaded Springsteen to keep that song for himself. Springsteen then wrote "Protection". He recorded a version with the E Street Band at The Hit Factory during January or February 1982 and registered it at the United States Copyright Office on March 8, 1982. In the same month Springsteen and Roy Bittan also travelled to Los Angeles to help record Summer’s version of the song. Bruce and Donna allegedly also recorded a duet vocal version at her sessions but it remains unreleased. On the released version by Summer, Springsteen played the guitar solo and can clearly be heard on fadeout vocals. Springsteen’s own version of the song was seriously considered for Born In The USA, however it remains unreleased. He has never performed the song in concert, although it was rehearsed in early 1988 for the upcoming Tunnel Of Love Express Tour.