Gloria Gaynor

Gloria Gaynor is an American singer, best known for the disco era hits; "I Will Survive", "Never Can Say Goodbye", "Let Me Know (I Have a Right)" and "I Am What I Am".

Gaynor was a singer with the Soul Satisfiers, a jazz/pop band, in the 1960s. Her first solo single was "She'll Be Sorry/Let Me Go Baby" in 1965. Her first real success came in 1975 with the release of her album Never Can Say Goodbye, which established her as a disco artist. The first side of this album consisted of three disco songs with no breaks in between the songs. This 19-minute dance marathon proved to be enormously popular, especially at dance clubs. The album was instrumental in introducing disco music to the public, "Never Can Say Goodbye" becoming the first song to top Billboard magazine's dance chart.

Capitalizing on the success of her first album, Gloria Gaynor quickly released her second album, Experience Gloria Gaynor, later that same year. While this album was also successful, it was not quite as popular as her previous album in the mainstream.

Some of her lesser-known singles include "Honey Bee", "Casanova Brown", and "Let's Make A Deal" reached the Top 5 on Billboard's disco charts. After her 1976 album, I've Got You, Gaynor shifted from her hit production team, to work with other productions.

In the next few years, Gloria Gaynor released the albums Glorious and Park Avenue Sound, but would only enjoy a few moderate hits. However, in late 1978, with the release of her album Love Tracks, she climbed the pop charts again because of her song "I Will Survive". The song has become something of an anthem of female emancipation, and is still a staple of office parties and karaoke nights. The song was awarded the only Grammy Award ever for Best Disco Recording in 1980.

In late 1979, she released the album I Have a Right which contained her next disco hit, "Let Me Know (I Have a Right)", which featured Doc Severinsen of The Tonight Show fame, on trumpet solo. Gaynor also recorded a disco song called "Love Is Just a Heartbeat Away" in 1979 for the vampire movie Nocturna: Granddaughter of Dracula which featured a number of disco songs.

In 1980 and again in 1981, Gaynor released two disco albums which were virtually ignored in the United States due to the backlash against disco, which began late in 1979. The album's singles barely registered on Urban contemporary radio, where disco music remained popular.

In 1983, she released an album entitled Gloria Gaynor, in which she rejected disco for mid-tempo R&B and Pop style songs. The album contained a patriotic song called "America" as well as a new version of "I Will Survive". In this new version of "I Will Survive", she changed the lyrics of the song in order to advertise her new conversion to Christianity. The album was not a success in the Pop, Dance or Urban market and proved to be a turn off to all other than her devoted fans.

Gaynor would achieve her final success in the '80s with the release of her album I Am Gloria Gaynor in 1984. This was mainly due to the song "I Am What I Am", which became a hit at dance clubs, and then on the Club Play chart in late 1983/early 1984. "I Am What I Am" made Gaynor a gay icon. Her 1986 album, The Power of Gloria Gaynor, was almost entirely composed of cover versions of other songs that were popular at the time.

Gaynor's career received a revitalizing spark in the early and mid 1990s with the worldwide Disco revival movement. In 2001, Gaynor performed "I Will Survive" at the 30th Anniversary Concert for Michael Jackson.

In 2002, she released her first album in over 15 years, entitled, I Wish You Love. The two singles released from the album, "Just Keep Thinking About You" and "I Never Knew", both topped Billboard's Hot Dance Music/Club Play. Both singles also secured moderate to heavy Dance format radio airplay.

In 2004, Gaynor re-released her 1997 album The Answer as a follow up to her successful album I Wish You Love. The album includes her popular club hit "Oh, What a Life".

In September 2005, Gaynor was inducted in the Artist Inductees category along with fellow disco legends Chic and the late Sylvester. Her classic anthem "I Will Survive" was inducted under the Records Inductees category.

After almost 30 years of its release, Gaynor continues to ride the success of "I Will Survive", touring the country and the world over and performing her signature song on dozens of TV shows. A few successful remixes of the song during the 1990s and 2000s along with new versions of the song by Lonnie Gordon, Diana Ross, Chantay Savage, rock group Cake and others.

Music Videos

 * I Will Survive