Donna Summer passed away a little over 24 hours ago, and already, some sensational stories surrounding her death are popping up. It's being reported that the 'Last Dance' singer and queen of disco believed she contracted lung cancer from inhaling the toxic air that hovered over New York City in the wake of the 9/11 tragedy.

TMZ reports that sources close to the late singer, who died yesterday (May 17) at the age of 63, was living in New York City during the 9/11 crisis, in an apartment located close the Ground Zero site. The insider claims that Summer was paranoid about breathing the air, which was laced with a horrible odor after the buildings came down.

Even as time passed, Summer became more and more convinced that the air was toxic. An insider said she would spritz disinfectant into the air on a near-constant basis. It's not just nameless sources, either. Onetime 'Dance Fever' host Deney Terrio said that whenever has saw the 'Hot Stuff' hitmaker after 9/11, she would hang silk sheets in the dressing room as a preventative method. She wanted to create a barrier between herself and the dust.

Summer was a smoker and spent time in clubs where people smoked before it was a banned activity, so friends tried to tell her that was likely a contributing factor to her lung cancer, but she wasn't having any of it.

Additionally, Summer, a Born Again Christian, felt that 9/11 was somehow a metaphysical attack on Christians and that her illness was a result of the attack.

Watch Donna Summer Perform 'Last Dance' Live

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