She will survive, indeed! As a poster child for the disco era, an advocate for the power of resilience, and an artist who has mastered the craft of the comeback, Gloria Gaynor has proven that her triumphant classic, "I Will Survive" isn't just her signature hit — it's become her mantra.
In addition to her triumphant classic (which won the only GRAMMY ever given for Best Disco Recording, in 1980), Gaynor has carved out a unique career full of risk, reward and longevity. That includes taking major bets on herself, including self-funding and releasing her 2019 spiritual album, Testimony — which earned her a second GRAMMY 40 years after her first, this time for Best Gospel Album.
Along the way, Gaynor faced both health and financial issues and stayed true to the meaning of the song. These days, she's been on a victory lap, still a queen of the modern disco scene — even releasing a track with another club icon, Kylie Mingoue, with 2021's "Can't Stop Writing Songs About You" — while basking in the enduring legacy of "I Will Survive."
Now 80, the legend's inspiring story of highs and lows is on full display in the new documentary aptly titled Gloria Gaynor: I Will Survive, which premiered at the 2023 Tribeca Film Festival and hits select theaters for one day only on Feb. 13. Gaynor reflected with GRAMMY.com about the hit that made her a household name, its lasting effects and her remarkable longevity.
I know it's been an eight year-long process working on the new documentary. What was it like bringing it to life with director Betsy Schechter?
It was difficult because I was working and there were things happening in both our lives that hindered us from coming together from time to time and progressing with the process — so part of what made it take so long was personal reasons. It was fun and tedious, but most of the time it was fun.
What was it like seeing your emotional story on screen for the first time?
Well, I went through several emotions. It was kind of cathartic. It was surprising to see the reactions of people in the audience with me. When I was watching it on my own, I was like, "Is this going to be popular?" Because when you're watching your own life, you don't think anything big of it. You think everybody has the same problems and stories. But it was mixed emotions.
People are saying they're learning new things about me that they've never known before or suspected. But a lot of people are also saying that they're being encouraged, and uplifted, and empowered by what they've seen in the documentary. It's been really wonderful, when it comes to the response. It's been tremendous.
In the midst of production of the documentary, you entirely self-funded the album Testimony which later won a GRAMMY for Best Roots Gospel Album in 2020. Why was it important for you to release this independently and take on that risk?
Because I really believed it was something that God would have me do. When He calls you to do it, of course you do it. Unless I was totally wrong in what I believed I heard, in which case it'd just be an experience.
But I really felt I had been called to do this, because it was something I've wanted to do for many years. My old management didn't think it was important. He was so interested in the money that would not come from whatever other music I did. So he thought, why bother? But for me, it was more than money.
What did vindication of the subsequent GRAMMY win mean to you?
It was awesome and very, very validating for me. Just uplifting and encouraging. The GRAMMY is an award that comes from your peers; people who are in the business who know what it takes to record an album or talent when they hear it. It was extremely rewarding for me to win a GRAMMY for that album that was so not championed by everybody in the business.
And leading up to the win, what was it like when you heard you were nominated?
It was like, "Okay, if this happens I'm going to be flying high." And for sure I was.
But this wasn't your first GRAMMY, because I know that distinction goes back to 1980 for "I Will Survive." Do you remember anything from that night?
Well, I was not familiar with the filming of the televising of the GRAMMYs; it was my first time there and I was actually not there when I received the GRAMMY.
Where were you?
I was in the restroom! I thought I could run to the restroom and get back and seated before it started, and then [my category came up]. Someone else received my GRAMMY and held it for like five years.
Five years, why?
I didn't even know who had it. But it was Tom Moulton, who was the geneious mixologist who did "Never Can Say Goodbye" and "I Am What I Am." He received the award for me and kept it before I even found out where it was. [But] I got it back from him!
"I Will Survive" was waiting for you for a couple years until you recorded it. So what did you say and what did songwriters Freddie Perren and Dino Fekaris say when you decided to record it?
What had happened was, I was sent to record a song that the record company president had chosen because he was newly over from England and had a hit with a song there ("Substitute", originally by the Righteous Brothers). He wanted to repeat the success of it here in the United States with me.
They asked me what could be on the B side because they weren't sure about it, and wondered what kind of songs I liked. So I said, "I like songs that are thoughtful, meaningful and touch people's hearts and have a good melody." So they said, "Well, we think you're the one we've been waiting for to record this song we wrote two years prior." I was like, "Okay, what song is that?"
When I read the lyrics I said, "What are you stupid, you're going to put this on the B-side? This is a timeless lyric. I'm standing here relating to this song since I had a back brace on from a surgery I had just had. I'm relating it to the fact that my mother passed away a few years prior, something I never thought I'd survive. Everybody is going to relate every traumatic situation they're going through with this song. Any situation they find seemingly insurmountable, they can relate." So they said, "Well, that's the deal we made." So I said, "Well, if it's for me then it won't stay on the B-side."
What happened when it was released?
It was definitely on the B-side, but they gave us a box of records, and there were 25 in a box, and we took them to Studio 54 and asked the DJ there, Richie Kaczor, to play it. When he did, the audience definitely responded to it, so I thought, "Okay, this jaded New York audience is losing their mind over this record, I have no doubt I'm right that this is a hit."
So I asked him to give the records to his DJ friends in New York to play it, and they did and people began to request it on radio. The stations started calling the label: "Where is this record people keep asking for?" And the rest is history.
The song has impacted so many people over the years. Do you have any special memories of hearing how it impacted someone?
What immediately comes to mind is a situation that happened when I was in Italy. I had actually rewritten the words because I had become a devout Christian and wanted it reflected in the song. So I changed it from saying "It took all strength I had not to fall apart" to "Only the Lord can give me strength not to fall apart." And then when it said, "Now you see me somebody new," I changed it to say "He made me somebody new."
After I sang those words for the first time at the concert in Italy, afterwards a young lady came to me and said, "You saved my life. I've been living here for almost a year and its been really, really difficult for me and I was going to home to commit suicide. But now that I've heard you sing that song, I know where my strength can come from and I don't have to die." I'll never forget her.
Before "I Will Survive" you had an early hit with "Never Can Say Goodbye," which was originally recorded by the Jackson 5. Take me inside the studio for that one.
What I remember about recording that song is that we went into the studio, the track had been done and now I'm putting my vocal on it. The producer told me, "Look, you can't sing it like Michael Jackson. You have to do your own thing with it. Let's stop now, go home and rehearse it and stop trying to sing it like Michael."
I was so frustrated and came back the next day after not rehearsing anything, because I thought, This is the way I sing it. So when I got into the studio I knew I wanted to do something different, so I thought of the words and tried to make them really personal to me and just do it. My attitude after I finished was, "That's it, and if you don't like it, too bad!" And as I was thinking that, he jumped up from the console and said, "That's the take!"
Clive Davis first signed you to Columbia Records in 1973. How quickly did your life change after that?
I was taken to Columbia and introduced by Paul Leka, a producer there at the time, and he was the one who introduced me to Clive. What I remember most of all is that Clive had me do three auditions; I went to New York to sing for him three times. I said, "There's no way this man has to hear me sing three times before he determines I can sing, he just likes my voice and wants a free concert." [Laughs]
He finally did sign me, but unfortunately right after I recorded my first song he left to form his own company. And I was not signed to Clive, I was signed to RCA, so he couldn't take me with him and I remained at Columbia. So my career took a different course I'm sure than if I had been signed to him specifically.
New generations continue to discover your music and "I Will Survive," and you've even recorded new material as of late with people like Kylie Minogue. What has your recent resurgence been like?
It's wonderful, I feel like I have not missed my calling and that I'm on the path I'm supposed to be on. It's extremely rewarding, validating and encouraging. It's wonderful. I feel like a family heirloom, passing me down from one generation to another.
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