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Editorial

Donna Summer’s powerful voice was the soul of Dorchester

Every dance track on the radio today, every wedding that ends with the anthem “Last Dance,” owes a debt to Donna Summer, the Dorchester-born singer and songwriter who died this week at 63. Summer’s big, smooth, confident voice, honed through years of singing gospel as a child at Grant AME Church in the South End, helped catapult her to stardom. As a singer and a lyricist, Summer channeled emotion and empathy.

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