Dance
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How does a song become a gay anthem? Like the LGBTQ+ community itself, our soundtrack is vast and diverse. We have recorded our history and contribution to the culture through music, and with this list we acknowledge and remember the forerunners that have made possible the positive changes we’ve seen over the decades. These songs […]
Unapologetically gay disco pioneer Sylvester was one of the many LGBTQ artists whose lives were cut short by the AIDS epidemic in the ’80s while the Republican-led government willfully ignored the crisis or actively blamed its victims. But while Sylvester, the human being, died at 41 of AIDS-related complications in 1988, Sylvester, the Queen of Disco, is immortal — and Pride Month 2023 finds the legend being honored twofold.
A newly available anthology, Disco Heat: The Fantasy Years 1977-1981, draws on the six albums he recorded for Fantasy Records, covering his three Billboard Hot 100 top 40 hits – “Dance (Disco Heat),” the undying classic “You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)” and a version of “I (Who Have Nothing)” — as well as rare 12-inch mixes. After that, New York City’s venerable Lincoln Center is saluting the trailblazer with a tribute concert featuring performances from Inaya Day, Mykal Kilgore, Dawn Richard, Byron Stingily and Kevin Aviance on June 15.
Finally, it seems, the world is catching up to Sylvester – even if it is 50 years after his debut album. But when “You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)” began to gain traction in 1978, most people simply weren’t ready for a human as mightily real as Sylvester.
“The thing was, my brief for promoting Sylvester was to tell him to downplay his gayness,” Sharon Davis, who worked as a publicist for Fantasy Records in the U.K. in the late ‘70s, tells Billboard. “The U.K. just was not ready for this type of open-minded artist. And it was felt that his career could be dead in the water if he promoted his gayness, despite having an international dance hit under his belt.”
Regardless of any brief from the record company, Sylvester was hardly closeted. He wore women’s clothing, hit the stage wearing makeup and took gender-bending flamboyance to peaks that even a glam-era David Bowie never dared to scale.
Rudy Calvo, a veteran makeup artist who has worked with everyone from Patti LaBelle to Chaka Khan to Natalie Cole, remembers the first time he saw Sylvester and the Hot Band perform at L.A.’s Whisky a Go Go in 1973. “Sylvester and his posse hit the stage like an 5F tornado,” Calvo raves. “His hair was in a turban, and he was wearing lots and lots of bracelets you could hear clinking in the back of the room. His face was painted to perfection, which added to the drama of his androgynous stage persona.”
Davis – whose book Mighty Real: Sharon Davis Remembers Sylvester is currently being expanded and rewritten now that the film rights have been picked up – says Sylvester casually used feminine and masculine pronouns. “Sylvester was happy being a man,” Davis explains. “In leisure time, if he was in gay company, he would use the term ‘she’ but in public always referred to himself as ‘he.’” While she admits that the androgynous imagery of glam rockers like Bowie and Marc Bolan helped bring about “a certain tolerance in the U.K. music business,” people weren’t fully ready to embrace a gay-gay disco star. “Being bisexual seemed to be the get-out clause at that time,” she opines.
Despite Sylvester’s flashy threads — and a falsetto that soared so high it scraped heaven — both Davis and Calvo describe him as comparatively reserved in private. “He was quiet, softly spoken,” Davis says. “I loved the calmness about him. Yet he could be as stubborn as a mule if he didn’t want to do something.” Calvo – who became friends with Sylvester not long after he caught the artist’s 1973 show at the Whisky – recalls him similarly. “He was totally different from the person you saw on stage,” Calvo says. “The way he dressed, he seemed very flamboyant; in reality, he was very low-key.”
Calvo says he and Sylvester bonded over a shared love for “underground artists like Betty Davis” and a mutual respect for each other’s styles. The afternoon before Calvo caught Sylvester’s Whisky set in ’73, he had been scouring a flea market in West Hollywood for the perfect outfit to wear to the show. After picking up “a vintage yellow bowling shirt with silver threading woven throughout” to complement his bell-bottoms and platforms, Calvo clocked a striking man with bright pink hair also browsing the selections. Later that night, backstage at the Whisky, both Calvo and Sylvester realized they had been admiring each other’s fashion sense from afar at the flea market. “Oh, you were the guy at the flea market with the cool haircut,” Sylvester told Calvo when the makeup artist took off his hat to reveal a “short-spiked cockatoo” haircut. In turn, Sylvester “lifted off his turban to reveal his hidden pink electric hair,” says Calvo.
Four years after they first met, Calvo gave Sylvester a preview listen to Patti LaBelle’s self-titled debut album. “The first time he heard the song ‘You Are My Friend,’ he said, ‘I could do something like this.’” Two years later, Sylvester released a live cover of the song (backed by The Weather Girls) on his Living Proof album; the song became a top 30 hit on what’s now called the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart and appears on the Disco Heat: The Fantasy Years 1977-1981 anthology. At one concert, the soul icon and the disco pioneer even performed it together. “When he hit the stage, it was like a church experience,” Calvo says. “He brought that energy of gospel to his music. It was like disco gospel.”
“His smile was wonderful, as it lit up his face, and his lisp so attractive,” Davis says. “A beautiful man on many levels. I shall always be grateful to have his friendship. And call him my brother.”
Courtesy Photo
David Guetta, Anne-Marie and Coi Leray hit No. 1 on Billboard’s Dance/Mix Show Airplay chart dated June 3 with “Baby Don’t Hurt Me.”
Guetta achieves his 13th leader on the list, tying him — again — with Calvin Harris for the most since the chart began nearly 20 years ago, in August 2003. On the May 20 ranking, Harris pulled ahead of Guetta thanks to “Miracle” with Ellie Goulding. Notably, that track, which led for two weeks, was remixed by Guetta.
Until their latest leaders, Guetta and Harris were tied with Rihanna, who boasts 12 No. 1s.
The chart’s new leading song, a reworking of Haddaway’s Eurodance classic “What Is Love” (which reached No. 11 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1993), is Anne-Marie’s third Dance/Mix Show Airplay No. 1 and Leray’s first. The song earned core-dance airplay on SiriusXM’s BPM, KMVQ-HD2 San Francisco and Music Choice’s Dance/EDM channel, among other outlets, May 19-25, according to Luminate.
(The Dance/Mix Show Airplay chart measures radio airplay on a select group of full-time dance stations, along with plays during mix shows on around 60 top 40-formatted reporters.)
Here’s a look at Guetta’s 13 Dance/Mix Show Airplay No. 1s.
Title, Weeks at No. 1, Year(s):
“Baby Don’t Hurt Me,” with Anne-Marie & Coi Leray, one to-date, 2023
“I’m Good (Blue),” with Bebe Rexha, 14, 2022-23
“Heartbreak Anthem,” with Galantis & Little Mix, 2021
“Bed,” with Joel Corry & RAYE, three, 2021
“Let’s Love,” with Sia, 2020
“Stay (Don’t Go Away),” feat. Raye, 2019
“Turn Me On,” feat. Nicki Minaj, three, 2012
“Without You,” feat. Usher, two, 2011
“Gettin’ Over You,” with Chris Willis, feat. Fergie & LMFAO, two, 2010
“Sexy Chick,” feat. Akon, six, 2009
“When Love Takes Over,” feat. Kelly Rowland, nine, 2009
“Love Is Gone,” with Chris Willis, 2007
“The World Is Mine,” feat. JD Davis, two, 2007
On the multimetric Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart, “Baby” bounces 3-2 for a new high. The track earned 10.2 million radio airplay audience impressions (up 13%) and 4.1 million official streams (up 9%) and sold 1,000 downloads (up 3%) in the tracking week. Concurrently, the song bows on the Hot 100 at No. 96.
‘Whistle’ Is Working
Additionally on Dance/Mix Show Airplay, Jax Jones jumps to his ninth top 10 and Calum Scott scores his first with “Whistle” (11-9).
Plus, Paul Woolford and MNEK each add a third top 10 and Lewis Thompson achieves his first with “16 Again” (12-10).
Minogue’s Best Rank
Kylie Minogue’s “Padam Padam” parades onto Hot Dance/Electronic Songs at No. 12 – the week’s top debut and her highest rank among 15 appearances (dating to the chart’s start in 2013). The track, which introduces Minogue’s forthcoming album Tension (Sept. 22), earned 1.4 million streams and sold 2,000 downloads May 19-25, following its May 18 release.
Previously, Minogue placed three other top 20 tracks on the chart: “Real Groove,” with Dua Lipa (No. 15, 2021), “Magic” (No. 17, 2020) and “Say Something” (No. 18, 2020).
Plus, “Padam Padam” pushes to No. 1 – becoming Minogue’s her first leader – on the Dance/Electronic Digital Song Sales chart. It started at No. 5 a week earlier after only one day of availability.
Good ‘Look’
Further on Hot Dance/Electronic Songs, Odetari vaults to his third top 10 and cade clair claims his first with “Look Don’t Touch” (24-10). The song drew 2.3 million streams in its first full week of availability.
Gorillaz is heading out on the road for a special tour this fall. On Tuesday (May 30), the group announced The Getaway 2023 tour, which is scheduled to take place in September. The limited run of shows will take place across four dates in the United States — as explained in the tour’s official description […]
This week in dance music: We got the backstory of the new Donna Summer doc from the film’s creators, broke down why not one but two Avicii documentaries are currently in production, saw Daft Punk’s Random Access Memories return to the No. 1 spot on Dance/Electronic Albums via the release of its 10th anniversary edition and chatted with the producer’s of the one and only Movement festival, which launches today (May 26) in Detroit.
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And guess what. There’s more. Let’s get it into it.
Swedish House Mafia, “See The Light”
The Artists: The no-introductions-necessary Swedes.
The Label: Republic Records
The Spiel: As Fred again.. has made “emotion” one of the predominant trends of commercial dance music over the last year-plus, the producer’s good pals and collaborators Swedish House Mafia get overtly blissful with “See The Light.” (In fact Fred’s actual fingerprints seem to be on this one, with Sebastian Ingrosso thanking Fred for his help on “See The Light”s arrangement via Discord.) First teased during their Ultra Music Festival set back in March, the song is a gently propulsive dancefloor hymn that sounds a lot like light itself and features spirited vocals from Philly rapper Fridayy. The track arrives as part of EA Sports’ Formula 1 soundtrack, released in conjunction with the Monaco Grand Prix happening this weekend.
The Vibe: Hugging everyone in your immediate vicinity while crying uncontrolled happy tears at the end of the set.
Folamour, “Poundland Anthem”
The Artist: Marseille-based house producer Folamour.
The Label: Columbia France/Ultra/ FHUO Records
The Spiel: A standout from the producer’s seventh studio album Manifesto, the nearly six-minute “Poundlound Anthem” is a lush and maximally effervescent thrill ride that effortlessly incorporates brass, disco strings and a persistent synth reminiscent of Chemical Brothers’ “Swoon,” and which throughout remains as sleek as it is joyous.
The Producer Says: “At times fearlessly,” the artist write in the actual manifesto he wrote in conjunction with the album, “we manage to knock down walls which conceal our hopes. We overlook the boundaries which are forced upon us, along with the difficulties strewn on the path we take to achieve feat. We head towards the other and share who we are, our values, our ideas, we create new families. We open our minds to new music, smells and stories. We fill the world with new colors and sounds, we trigger new opportunities towards what is possible. This way, the freedom of not being compromised, not letting anyone impose who we are and remaining true to what we believe, gives us wings to find the beautiful and extraordinary, a feeling of being alive, not to mention, the fire within us, a gem in the making.”
The Vibe: Beautiful, extraordinary, a feeling of being alive.
Hamdi, “Counting”
The Artist: Oxford-born producer Hamdi, who’s been rinsed by everyone from Porter Robinson to Skrillex to Fred again.. to Knife Party and Zeds Dead.
The Label: Deadbeats
The Spiel: After much hype and a breakout set at EDC Las Vegas last weekend, the rising U.K. producer drops “Counting,” which pairs a jittery buzzsaw bassline with rapper Princess Superstar declaring, on repeat, “One, two, three, four, let me hear you scream if you want some more,” with the high pitch of these vocals playing deliciously off the low-end they’re laid on.
The Vibe: Like a Jane Fonda workout for wooks.
Jungle, “Dominoes”
The Artists: The ever-consistent and always artful U.K. duo Jungle.
The Label: Caiola Records
The Spiel: Jungle’s latest gives light Khruangbin vibes, with a stoney guitar riff layered up with soft percussion and soul vocals, altogether creating a warm sunbeam of a track that comes with one of the duo’s signature choreographed dance videos, this one featuring a single elegantly arranged tracking shot. The song is from the duo’s forthcoming LP, Volcano, out August 11.
The Vibe: Lazy Sunday with the object of your affection.
Kungs & Carlita, “Shadows”
The Artists: Club world queen bee Carlita and French producer Kungs.
The Label: Val Production
The Spiel: Lifting lyrics straight from the bible (check Psalm 23:1–6’s “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death..”), the pair indeed deliver peaks and valleys with a build/release club track built from a steady kick, tough electro and one big wind up that will legit have you fearing no evil.
The Vibe: Cups runneth over.
London Grammar, “Baby It’s You” (Dot Major Remix)
The Artists: The venerable U.K. indie electronic trio, as remixed by its own Dot Major, who’s entered his solo career phase.
The Label: Ministry of Sound Recordings
The Spiel: London Grammar’s supremely dreamy 2021 track “Nothing Else Matters” is pared way down by Majors, who keep the mood lush while adding a darker and decidedly sexier vibe while making space for Hannah Felicity May Reid’s stunner of a voice. The song is the first release from a remix package of the group’s work coming July 21 that will feature edits by Joris Voorn, Jamie Jones, Goddard and more.
The Vibe: Making eyes across the dancefloor.
Detroit’s beloved electronic music festival, Movement, returns to Hart Plaza tomorrow (May 27) for its 21st edition. While the fest’s 30,000 attendees partake in sets by Basement Jaxx, Skrillex, Kaskade, Kevin Saundreson, DJ Minx and many more, employees of Paxahau—the local independent rave promoter that’s produced Movement since 2006—will spend the weekend like they always do: taking notes on how to improve for next year.
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In 2000, the house and techno (with a little bit of hip-hop) fest became, along with Ultra and EDC, among the first few dance music festivals to launch in the U.S. It was the first to put its locally forged genre, techno, on a stage.
Yet unlike Ultra and EDC, which are now synonymous with EDM and all its glitzy commercial fanfare, Movement has remained rather minimalist in its approach—it’s really still all about the music, sans fireworks and mega-stages.
“This is a labor of love that all of us clustered around since we were young,” Paxahau Founder Jason Huvaere says of the company’s tight-knit team of OG ravers. “Detroit techno culture is what we committed to years ago, it’s second nature. The sustainable business part is another thing.”
But in an increasingly difficult landscape for independent event promoters, Paxahau is still turning a profit. The company is run by a team of 15 year-round, full-time employees across four departments: marketing and communications, production, talent, and creative. During Movement, they bring in an event staff of 350 to help bring the event to life.
Before taking over the festival as producer in 2006, Paxahau was first connected to Movement by throwing its afterparties. It stays true to that early ethos by now hosting its official afterparties, many in collaboration with labels, artists and other promoters. The company also hosts dance events at their partner venues throughout the year—Magic Stick, TV Lounge and Spot Lite, and for events over 1,500 people, at Detroit’s Masonic and Russell Industrial Center. Last year, they hosted 56 shows.
Movement 2022
Nick LeTellier
But like the other independent dance festivals across the country that survived the COVID shutdown (Southern California’s Lightning in a Bottle and CRSSD, Elements in Pennsylvania and Florida’s jam-band infused Hulaween among them), Movement has faced the existential threat of continually rising production costs – from cryo to porta-potty rentals.
“It was like a generation lost,” Huvaere says of people working in event production and other related jobs. He cites a 25 percent increase in production costs, a drastic uptick unheard of in prior years, and a continued rising of prices.
To offset this, Paxahau had to raise 2023 ticket prices but remain focused on fair rates, with three-day tier two GA passes going for $279 plus fees. (By comparison, Ultra’s 2024 tier two weekend GA price is set at $400 and Goldenvoice’s Portola 2023, a two-day fest, tier two GA passes are $360. Passes for the three-day Elements go for $289.)
A big reason Movement still exists at all is because the loyalty of its fanbase. Huvaere calls the third of Movement 2020 ticket-holders that held onto their passes (instead of requesting refunds) after the festival was cancelled during the pandemic as the main reason the festival survived. “I don’t know that I heard any other story in all of my conference calls, shared emails and comparing notes [with other festival organizers] that had that kind of a response,” he says.
A partnership with Twitch, who reached out to Paxahau early in the pandemic about doing exclusive livestreams on their platform, also provided a lifeline to both the company and the rich pool of Detroit artists that participated, including Detroit residents DJ Holographic, Eddie Fowlkes, Juan Atkins and many more. (Movement itself is not livestreamed, although select sets are recorded for later release.) 1.2 million unique viewers from the U.S., Canada, England, Germany, Russia and beyond tuned into the Paxahau Twitch channel during the lockdown to get their Detroit house and techno fix.
Surprisingly, livestreaming DJ sets is at the core of how Paxahau was born. Back in 1998, when the Detroit underground electronic scene was getting snuffed out by the police and the internet, Paxahau turned to the burgeoning world wide web to transmit techno. While it’s now easy to livestream a DJ set from anywhere with a decent internet connection, back in the dial-up days, Paxahau had to install an ISDN line, build a server rack and use Winamp software to create what was then called “a Shoutcast.”
Fans with their Shoutcast server address could type it into their Winamp and tune in, and Paxahau would celebrate when they had 12 simultaneous listeners. When a club called Motor started regularly booking dance music, Paxahau wired up the club and began livestreaming from there.
By 2000, they started producing parties again and in 2006 became the torchbearers for Movement when techno forefather Kevin Saunderson dropped out of hosting the sixth Movement festival after doing so the year prior. Paxahau was set to co-produce Saunderson’s stage at the fest, so they reached out to the City of Detroit and petitioned to run the event and keep it alive.
“The event at that time was a mess,” says Huavere. “It lost money six years in a row and had had three different producers. We wanted to do whatever we could to stabilize it, and the city wanted to do whatever they could to identify the stabilizing agent to it.”
While Paxahau got help that first year via “some great relationships that all came together to help us,” after that, they committed as Movement’s sole producers. “Fast forward a few years after that experience, we had a couple of rainstorms, wind storms, cancellations and mishaps – there’s all kinds of things that beat up festival promoters, and we definitely got beat up,” says Huavere. But “over time, through the natural process of evolution, the festival itself has come of age, and we’ve come of age.”
Detroit’s downtown has also changed drastically over the last 20-plus years, with its renaissance finally taking hold around 2008. Billions of dollars have gone into restoring once long-abandoned historical buildings in the area, with the city’s downtown now filled with hotels, bars and restaurants. Huvaere says the city has supported Movement from the beginning and that “techno culture is very celebrated by city residents and staffers.”
Movement 2022
Jacob Mulka
Movement’s ticket revenue is meant to match the cost of throwing the festival, with merch and beverage sales, along with the funds generated by partnerships, allowing them to turn a profit. Their annual festival budget is designed to match the audience size, typically 30,000 attendees each day, although this number can be impacted by the heavy rains common during spring in Michigan.
Corporate partners—many of whom Paxahau has worked with for years—are an important part of what keep the festival thriving. (“If we didn’t have sponsors, you’d notice,” Huavere says.) Larger partners like Red Bulls and JARS Cannabis underwrite the costs of building certain stages, while online music gear superstore Sweetwater hosts the Movement studio, a tent providing fans and DJs with hands-on learning about how electronic music is made.
For Paxahua, it’s essential that sponsoring brands are aligned with the vibe of the fests. The festival doesn’t actually even have a sales team, with all of these relationships established organically over the years, with a focus on long-term partnerships.
Above all, promoting Detroit dance music and supporting local artists is the most important thing Paxahau and Movement continue to do. “We have all been working together for almost 30 years. This is all one big organism, one big family,” Huavere asserts. Paxahau has hosted events with Craig and Saunderson – who Huavere says have long been “actively promoting their brand and Detroit all over the world” – since the company’s earliest days, and both techno legends often do stage takeovers at the fest.
Jason Huvaere
Courtesy of Movement
For Paxahau, supporting the next generation of Detroit talent is also an “absolute duty,” with rising stars DJ Holographic and Henry Brooks among the acts the team saw play in small local venues and knew just had it.
“Watching these artists develop over time and seeing them play in front of a larger and larger crowd and seeing the way that crowd reacts,” Huavere says, “that’s probably one of the best parts about this project, being part of and feeling that evolution.”
Part of the beauty of attending Movement as an out-of-town house and techno lover is experiencing the city, culture and people that made techno. Many of its founders and early innovators are still active on the scene, sharing their music and wisdom with the next generation of ravers and DJs. So too is Movement an excellent place to be reminded of, and educated on, dance music’s roots as a Black, queer urban American artform.
Bigger companies have expressed interest in acquiring Paxahau, but with Movement’s position as one of the few remaining indie dance festivals, Huavere is grateful to not have to adhere to a business structure that doesn’t align with the company’s values and vision.
“One of the great things about [Paxahau’s] culture is we aren’t goal-focused, but direction-focused,” he says. “It’s always been about the trajectory, the journey, the emotion. It’s never been about, ‘I need to get this thing done,’ or ‘I need to get this thing acquired.’ For the future, I just want to preserve that.”
Daft Punk revisits the No. 1 spot on Billboard’s Top Dance/Electronic Albums chart (dated May 27) with Random Access Memories. The set, originally released in 2013, surges from No. 9 with 40,000 equivalent album units in the United States, up 1,046%, in the week ending May 18, according to Luminate, after its 10th anniversary edition, which contains nine extra tracks, arrived May 12.
It’s the LP’s 22nd week at No. 1 and first since the chart dated March 15, 2014. Dating to the survey’s 2001 inauguration, only six titles have spent more time on top (led by Lady Gaga’s 2008 release The Fame, with 175 weeks at No. 1).
Meanwhile, the French duo, which disbanded in 2021, adds a 38th week at the summit, across six leaders, the fourth-most weeks totaled on top. (Lady Gaga, again, leads, with 244.)
Concurrently, Random Access Memories restarts on the all-genre Billboard 200 at No. 8, marking its 10th week in the top 10. It led in its first two weeks on the chart in June 2013, becoming the pair’s sole No. 1.
Daft Punk also hits the multimetric Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart with newly released Random Access Memories track “Infinity Repeating (2013 Demo),” at No. 11. The act’s 19th entry begins with 2 million official streams.
Plus, the act’s 2013 crossover smash (and key driver of the album’s longevity), “Get Lucky,” featuring Pharrell Williams, sports an 18% jump to 2.6 million streams. The single ruled Hot Dance/Electronic Songs for 13 weeks (marking the act’s lone leader) and reached No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2013.
Alison Goldfrapp’s ‘Love of Dance Music’ Sparks Solo Debut
Alison Goldfrapp bows on Top Dance/Electronic Albums with her debut solo effort, The Love Invention (No. 12; 3,000 units).
“On The Love Invention, I was on a mission to make an album where the songs would be rhythm- and beat-based, fueled by feelings of euphoria and joy,” the English musician tells Billboard. “Influences came from a love of dance music, synth-pop, house and Italo-disco. I have been blown away by everyone’s reactions to the album.”
The influential duo bearing her last name – Goldfrapp comprises Alison Goldfrapp and collaborator Will Gregory – has logged four top 10s: Black Cherry (No. 4, 2003); Supernature (No. 5, 2006); We Are Glitter (No. 8, 2006); and Head First (No. 3, 2010).
Minogue’s Day Leads to Debut
Kylie Minogue’s “Padam Padam” enters the Dance/Electronic Digital Song Sales chart after only one day of availability, following its May 18 release, at No. 5 (700 sold). The genre cornerstone adds her third top 10 (since the chart began in 2010), after her cover of Lady Gaga’s “Marry the Night” (No. 3, 2021) and “Say Something” (No. 3, 2020).
The new song introduces Minogue’s album Tension, due Sept. 22.
Airplay Hits To Not ‘Sleep’ On
Shifting to the Dance/Mix Show Airplay chart, Regard rockets to his seventh top 10 and Ella Henderson earns her fifth with “No Sleep” (11-6). The track is collecting core-dance airplay on Music Choice’s Dance/EDM channel, WCPY (Dance Factory FM) Chicago and KMVQ-HD2 San Francisco, among other outlets.
Plus, Rita Ora rolls to her fifth top 10 and featured act Fatboy Slim scores his second with “Praising You” (22-10). The track, a reimagination of the latter’s 1999 classic “Praise You,” also advances on Pop Airplay (32-29). (The Dance/Mix Show Airplay chart measures radio airplay on a select group of full-time dance stations, along with plays during mix shows on around 60 top 40-formatted reporters.)
EDC Las Vegas is thumping to life starting Friday (May 19) at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, with more than 400,000 attendees expected for the three-day bacchanal. But if you can’t make it, you can still kind of be there via the festival’s official livestream, which begins tonight at 6:45 p.m. PT via the InsomniacTV […]
“I have a secret life. You’re looking at me, but what you see is not what I am.”
That’s just one of the illuminating self-reflections peppered throughout the new documentary Love to Love You, Donna Summer. The film premieres on HBO this weekend (May 20), coinciding with the anniversary of Summer’s death from lung cancer on May 17, 2012.
“The timing wasn’t pre-planned,” Summer’s daughter and the film’s co-director Brooklyn Sudano tells Billboard during a recent phone interview. “But with the anniversary of her passing, it feels like a full-circle moment; like it was meant to be.”
As was the pairing with her co-director, Academy Award winner Roger Ross Williams, because the duo have delivered a loving-yet-unvarnished look at the real woman — Donna Adrian Gaines — behind the artist who kept the club floors crowded with hot disco, R&B and pop hits such as “Love to Love You Baby,” “I Feel Love,” “Hot Stuff,” “Bad Girls” and “She Works Hard for the Money.”
As Williams noted to Billboard, Summer “was so much more than” the Queen of Disco. And through strikingly candid comments and recollections by family (including husband Bruce Sudano and daughters Mimi, Brooklyn and Amanda), creative colleagues (producer Giorgio Moroder), Summer herself and others, the documentary peels away the various layers underneath the star persona.
The five-time Grammy Award winner was also a daughter, sister, wife, mother, abuse survivor, painter and a very spiritual being, all while wrestling with the demands and sacrifices that come with stardom. Just as insightful are the accompanying family home movies and backstage/on-the-road videos that Summer shot, as well as memory-evoking concert footage that underscores what a multi-talent she truly was.
Brooklyn Sudano
Maria Dunlap Berlin
Asked what her mother’s reaction would be after watching Love to Love You, Donna Summer, Sudano says, “She would probably be laughing hysterically and saying, ‘See I told you so,’ because she always called me ‘the reporter.’ As a kid, I was always the great sharer of news at the dinner table. So it seems appropriate that my first film report is on her. [Laughs] But I think she’d be very proud.”
Below, find more from Billboard‘s interview with Sudano and Williams:
Before filming began, what was your vision?
Sudano: I had become a mother myself and had lost my mother. So I was grappling with that process and trying to understand it. At the same time, so many people were coming up to me and sharing their personal stories about interacting with my mom or how impactful her music had been in their own lives. I just felt there was so much to say and so much that people didn’t fully understand about my mother and her artistry. So about seven years ago, I talked to my dad about it and he’s like, “Let’s do it.” Then after a bit of time, Roger and I crossed paths. We were able to collaborate in a way that has been truly magical; we were lock-stepped in our vision.
Williams: It had been my dream to make a film about Donna Summer as I’m a huge fan. And when I met Brooklyn, the dream came true. It’s been an incredible journey; from the beginning we had the same vision of not making your typical music documentary, to really dive deep into the emotional core of who Donna was as a person and an artist.
How difficult was it to draw such candid comments from those you interviewed?
Sudano: I don’t think you can really understand somebody or their artistry unless you really know who they are; to see what they’ve been through. It gives deeper meaning to her journey and music. A lot of people were hesitant at first when they began speaking to Roger and I. But they were able to get things off their chest. It was cathartic for them talk about my mother in a way that they hadn’t been able to before. I give everybody credit for being honest and willing because it made the movie what we wanted it to be: deeply personal and deeply grounded. Hopefully, that will set this film apart from anything that’s ever been done on her life before.
Williams: Being interviewed by Donna’s daughter, I think, gave everyone in Donna’s life permission to open up and tell the truth. There were a lot of tears of joy and sorrow. It was a mourning and healing process for everyone involved. They got to talk about a woman they love.
Roger Ross Williams
Justin Bettman
What was the hardest challenge in doing this project?
Williams: For me, the most difficult part was sorting through such an incredible treasure trove of Donna’s home movies, videos and thousands and thousands of photos. There was so much material to create the collage that we did.
Sudano: I agree. When you have a personality and a life like my mother’s that was so full and spans decades, the challenge was in crystallizing all the moments that were the most impactful. And then the songs … using them in a way that was fresh but also as a way to move the storytelling forward. In trying to weave all those things together, I give a lot of credit to our amazing editor, Enat Sidi. Finding the proper structure in making this feel like a real immersive experience was probably the trickiest part.
What one thing did you learn in the process?
Sudano: A better depth of understanding about how intense stardom felt like for my mother and the sacrifices that it took for her and our family … like being a mother and having to be away from her daughters so much. As much as it’s my mother’s story, it’s our individual stories as well because we are part of her. On a personal level, having these conversations with other family members has brought a lot of healing for us. I just have a deep respect and gratitude for my mother’s sacrifices — and respect for the strength it took for her to survive that. What she did was not easy.
Williams: That Donna had this incredible sense of humor. The home movies that Donna would shoot or videos she filmed backstage and on the road were just hilarious. It was a real insight into her personality. Like many, I just knew Donna as the Queen of Disco. But she was so much more than that. She was the first woman to win a rock ‘n’ roll vocal Grammy [for “Hot Stuff” in 1980, when the best rock vocal performance, female prize was first awarded]. I mean come on … that’s an amazing accomplishment. She was the first Black woman artist to have a video on MTV. She was the first in so many things as an artist.
What do you want viewers to take away after watching?
Williams: Donna Summer is an incredibly layered, complex artist who, in my opinion, has been under-appreciated. Everyone who watches this film will see her immense talent and all the facets of her artistry. She deserves that.
Sudano: I want people to understand that my mother was a real artist. That she used her gifts to spread love, joy and healing. And I hope that she’s remembered in the great lexicon of music and culture as somebody who was impactful and influential. This film is an extension of that legacy.
EDC Las Vegas, one of the world’s biggest music festivals, is set to launch tomorrow (May 19) at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Ahead of the event, Insomniac Events CEO Pasquale Rotella has warned of myriad travel delays attendees may face while getting to the mega-fest.
In an Instagram post ahead of the event, Rotella wrote that “If you’re flying to Vegas, it’s important to know there is ongoing construction at Harry Reid International Airport/McCarran Airport that has resulted in regular flight delays. If you’re driving, know there is construction along the 15 freeway on the way to Vegas that is causing delays depending on the time of day.”
As reported by Fox5Vegas, current airport delays are due to high winds, along with one runway currently closed for scheduled maintenance. Meanwhile, a 10.7 mile stretch of Interstate 15 connecting the Las Vegas Strip to the Motor Speedway is under construction, as the Interstate is widened from four to six lanes, along with the addition of a new weigh station, enforcement improvements, truck parking and an interchange addition.
These improvements are happening ahead of Las Vegas hosting the 2024 Super Bowl at the city’s freshly built Allegiant Stadium, and the city hosting the Formula 1 Las Vegas Grand Prix this November.
“If you have the flexibility to adjust your travel plans, you may want to consider arriving earlier,” Rotella’s post continues. “These potential issues are likely to be exacerbated with so many ravers coming to town. I highly recommend keeping in touch with your airlines to stay up to date on any flight schedule changes or other important information.”
The Las Vegas Motor Speedway is located roughly 17 miles north of the Vegas Strip via I-15. The three-day festival annually hosts roughly 400,000 attendees and this year will feature more than 230 dance artists including Kaytranada, Alison Wonderland, Martin Garrix, Armin van Buuren and many (many) of the world’s leading dance/electronic acts.
Traffic to and from the event is typically heavy, with attendees arriving largely by car and shuttle, and many artists and high-rolling attendees opting to skip traffic by taking a helicopter from the Strip to the Speedway.
Check out Rotella’s full statement via Instagram below: