Mary Gaines Bernard is an American singer best known for her work with her sister,

Donna Summer LaDonna Adrian Gaines (December 31, 1948May 17, 2012), known professionally as Donna Summer, was an American singer and songwriter. She gained prominence during the disco era of the 1970s and became known as the " Queen of Disco", while her mus ...

Biography

Bernard was born in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

, and her parents, Andrew and Mary Gaines, raised their 6 children as devout

Christians Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

. The family worshiped at Boston's Grant

African Methodist Episcopal Church The African Methodist Episcopal Church, usually called the AME Church or AME, is a Black church, predominantly African American Methodist Religious denomination, denomination. It adheres to Wesleyan-Arminian theology and has a connexionalism, c ...

, and it was here that their love of music was nurtured. In the late 1960s, Bernard's sister, Donna, was offered a role in the

European European, or Europeans, or Europeneans, may refer to: In general * ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe ** Ethnic groups in Europe ** Demographics of Europe ** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe ...

cast of the hit musical, ''

Hair Hair is a protein filament that grows from follicles found in the dermis. Hair is one of the defining characteristics of mammals. The human body, apart from areas of glabrous skin, is covered in follicles which produce thick terminal and f ...

''. Donna returned to the United States in late 1975 as her song, '' Love to Love You Baby'', was climbing the charts. Donna's first headlining

tour Tour or Tours may refer to: Travel * Tourism, travel for pleasure * Tour of duty, a period of time spent in military service * Campus tour, a journey through a college or university's campus * Guided tour, a journey through a location, directed b ...

was in 1976, and Mary along with sister Dara joined Donna's band as back-up singers. Gaines marriage to Gerardo Bernard which produced 5 children, most notably famed romance novelist Gerardo LTD Bernard; writer of Falling from Grace or his widely popular children series. Bernard remains as one of Summer's back-up singers, and is most known to fans for the duet she sings with Donna on the hit record, ''

No More Tears (Enough is Enough) "No More Tears (Enough Is Enough)" is a 1979 song recorded by American singers Barbra Streisand and Donna Summer. It was written by Paul Jabara and Bruce Roberts, and produced by Giorgio Moroder and Gary Klein. The song was recorded for Streis ...

''. In 1978 Bernard, along with sister Dara, and Carlena Williams formed the short lived group,

Sunshine Sunlight is a portion of the electromagnetic radiation given off by the Sun, in particular infrared, visible, and ultraviolet light. On Earth, sunlight is scattered and filtered through Earth's atmosphere, and is obvious as daylight when th ...

. They have a song (''Take It To The Zoo'') featured on the

soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack o ...

to the movie, '' Thank God It's Friday'', and they worked on songs for an album titled Watch'n Daddy Dance. This album was never released.→ The three singers continued to tour with Summer through her 1981 tour, and Mary along with Dara toured with their sister through 1987. After 1989 Mary continued to tour with her sister often joined by her brother-in-law,

Bruce Sudano Bruce Charles Sudano (born September 26, 1948) is an American singer-songwriter, noted for creating songs for artists such as Michael Jackson, Dolly Parton, Reba McEntire and his late wife, the Grammy Award-winning singer Donna Summer. Sudano is t ...

, Yvonne Hodges and other back-up vocalists. This continued until Donna Summer died from cancer in May, 2012. Currently, Bernard works with the music ministry at

Calvary Chapel Fort Lauderdale Calvary Chapel Fort Lauderdale (CCFL) is an evangelical, charismatic megachurch in Florida, with over 20,000 worshipers attending on average. Founded in 1985 by Bob Coy and his wife Diane, it is affiliated with the Calvary Chapel movement. CCFL ...

. She has also released her first solo recording, '' ou Made It', which features contemporary

Gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words an ...

songs. In 2007, she recorded a

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus, Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by country, around t ...

song, ''Make December Stay'', that has been featured on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

. It was announced that she will stage a tribute concert in honor of her late sister on December 31, 2015 in

Delray Beach, Florida Delray Beach is a city in Palm Beach County, Florida, Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. The population of Delray Beach as of April 1, 2020 was 66,846 according to the 2020 United States census, 2020 United States Census. Located 52 miles ...

Published works

Discography

As Sunshine: * Take It To The Zoo, track from Thank God It's Friday, Original Soundtrack album, 1978,

Casablanca Records Casablanca Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group and operated under Republic Records. Under its founder Neil Bogart, Casablanca was most successful during the disco era of the mid to late 1970s. The label currently f ...

. * Live and More, Live and studio album from Donna Summer, 1978, Casablanca Records.

Filmography

As Mary Bernard: *

A&E Biography ''Biography'' is an American documentary television series and media franchise created in the 1960s by David L. Wolper and owned by A&E Networks since 1987. Each episode depicts the life of a notable person with narration, on-camera interviews, ...

, Donna Summer, 1994. * A Hot Summer Night With Donna,

concert A concert is a live music performance in front of an audience. The performance may be by a single musician, sometimes then called a recital, or by a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra, choir, or band. Concerts are held in a wide variety a ...

video and

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...

, 1983,

Polygram Records PolyGram N.V. was a multinational entertainment company and major music record label formerly based in the Netherlands. It was founded in 1962 as the Grammophon-Philips Group by Dutch corporation Philips and German corporation Siemens, to be a ...

. *

VH1 VH1 (originally an initialism of Video Hits One) is an American basic cable television network based in New York City and owned by Paramount Global. It was created by Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment, at the time a division of Warner Commun ...

Presents, Donna Summer, Live and More, Encore!, concert video, DVD, and audio recording, 1999,

Sony Records Sony Records was a record label founded by R&B duo Ike & Tina Turner in 1963. It was not affiliated with Sony Group Corporation. Ike Turner produced singles by members of the Kings of Rhythm and the Ikettes on Sony Records. Records on the label ...

. * VH1 Behind The Music, Donna Summer, 1999. * WE Network, Intimate Portrait, Donna Summer, 2003.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bernard, Mary Gaines 21st-century African-American women singers American women singers Musicians from Boston Living people Year of birth missing (living people)