'9/11 dust killed Donna Summer' - Singer's cancer linked to terror attacks

DONNA Summer's lung cancer is believed to have been caused by toxic dust particles that smothered New York after Al-Qaeda brought down the World Trade Centre.
The singer, who died today in Florida aged 63, was in New York on September 11, 2001.

She was in an apartment when a cloud of asbestos, lead and mercury filled the sky. It is believed that the cancer was triggered by her inhaling the toxic particles.

She once said of her experiences that day: "I was really freaked out by the horrific experiences of that day.

"I couldn’t go out, I didn’t want to talk to anybody. I had to keep the blinds down and stay in my bedroom. I went to church and light came back into my soul. That heaviness was gone."

Although the attacks killed about 3000 people on the day, the toxic cloud is still claiming lives. About 1000 people exposed to the particles have died, 350 of them from cancer.

Dr John Howard, the 9/11 Federal Health Director, said: "I think it is plausible that many people will die of the many conditions we’ve seen due to their exposure."

Yesterday tributes poured in for Summer, whose music defined disco and the Seventies. Summer broke through by working with Italian producer Giorgio Moroder, who produced Love to Love You Baby, a song that shattered the notion of the short dance hit.

It ran for 17 trance-like minutes and marked her as a seductive and sexual star of the incoming disco era which would dominate music throughout the 1970s.

Her family issued this statement: “Early this morning, we lost Donna Summer Sudano, a woman of many gifts, the greatest being her faith. While we grieve her passing, we are at peace celebrating her extraordinary life and her continued legacy.”

She will be remembered for songs such as Bad Girls, Hot Stuff, MacArthur Park and particularly the ecstasy-infused I Feel Love.

Summer was born LaDonna Adrian Gaines in Boston in 1948 and cited gospel as her first influence, but was also taken with the big voice of white singer Janis Joplin.

She moved to New York in her late teens where she appeared in a Broadway production of the musical Hair.

She then travelled to Europe where she met Moroder, with whom she collaborated on her most successful hits.

Summer won five Grammy Awards and innumerable best vocal performances. One of her most recent public appearances was on American Idol in 2008. She had reportedly been suffering lung cancer for several years.

The Los Angeles Times reported that Summer was one of the few artists who was able to transform into a pop-rock sound after disco died, and had one of her biggest hits in the 1980s with She Works Hard for the Money.