Gay icon Donna Summer is among the six
artists to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum
later this year.
Summer died at the age of 63 in May
after losing a battle with cancer.
Summer is best known for her
contributions to the disco era. Early hits such as the
17-minute-long dance track Love to Love You Baby, I Feel
Love, Bad Girls and On the Radio propelled Summer to the
international stage.
A born-again Christian, Summer faced
controversy in the mid 80s when she was accused of saying that AIDS
was a punishment from God for the immoral lifestyle of gays. She
denied that she ever made such a comment, saying it was “a terrible
misunderstanding.”
“A couple of the people I write with
are gay,” she told gay glossy The Advocate in 1989, “and
they have been ever since I met them. What people want to do with
their bodies is their personal preference.”
Also scheduled to be inducted on April
18 at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles are Heart, Albert King, Randy
Newman, Public Enemy and Rush.