Although I never met Donna Summer, she was a very important person in my life and the news of her passing yesterday covered me with extreme sadness.  Her influence touched me in every way and formed my ideals as a child-  I wanted to look like her, sing like her and dress like her.   I was captivated by her extreme beauty, flawless skin, perfectly applied makeup and luxe curly hair (mine was was horribly pin straight and thus began my love affair with hot rollers).  Her voice was strong and powerful, but also sexy and at times, angelic and her outfits- do I even need to mention her outfits?  Yes Soldiers.. yes I do!  Sparkling, shimmering and always at the height of disco fashion giving her the perfect stage presence to accompany her supreme talent.  Indeed, I spent hours listening to her albums, dancing in my bedroom and longing for the day I would be old enough to be inside a real disco and look fabulous while I danced under the glorious flashing lights.   Forward to today and here I am.

She was everything– a mentor, an idol and an icon and in her honor, I considered “going black” on Sparkle Video Day for the first time ever as a moment of silence.  However, after much thought I realized that was not the right thing to do, especially as Da General of the Sparkle Army.  It’s my duty to make sure that sparkling is our first priority, no matter what comes our way.  This is our duty and together we will continue to bring light, love, sparkles and Sparkle Videos to the world and that, Soldiers, is exactly how we honor Donna Summer- forever The Queen.