Donna Summer Fans Thrilled At Hall Of Fame Nod

Donna Summer, the disco diva who passed away in May at the age of 63, didn’t live to see her Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction — but fans are thrilled that the influential star is finally getting a nod after succumbing to cancer earlier this year.

Donna Summer’s Hall of Fame acknowledgment comes with this year’s batch of honorees — as we reported earlier, Rush, Public Enemy and Heart also got tapped for 2013 induction — but the disco queen’s recent passing makes the honor both bittersweet and poignant for the beloved singer’s legion fans.

Summer died in Florida just six months ago after a bout with lung cancer — and it was later revealed that the chanteuse believed that dust from the 9/11 attacks in lower Manhattan caused her to become ill with the ultimately fatal disease.

In previous induction sets, fans of Donna Summer feel that the singer has been ignored despite her contributions to not only music itself, but the culture surrounding it. The Boston Herald posted a reaction piece that makes a good case for inducting Summer solely on her paving the way for later big deal artists to evoke the “bad girl” image themselves:

“The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame passed over Summer repeatedly over the years. But she won five Grammys and ruled the charts with such blockbusters as ‘Last Dance,’ ‘Bad Girls,’ ‘On the Radio’ and ‘She Works Hard for the Money.’ She also provided the blueprint for the modern pop diva — without Summer’s sound and style, there would be no Madonna, Janet Jackson or Rihanna.”

Do you feel Donna Summer’s Hall of Fame nod would have been better timed while she was still here to receive the honor?