I Will Survive


"I Will Survive" is a hit song first performed by American singer Gloria Gaynor, released in October 1978. It was written by Freddie Perren and Dino Fekaris. A top-selling song after its initial release, it sold 14 million copies worldwide and has remained a popular disco anthem, as well as being certified platinum by the RIAA.
The song's lyrics describe the narrator's discovery of personal strength following an initially devastating breakup. It received heavy airplay in 1979, reaching number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and on the UK Singles Chart on consecutive weeks. The song is also frequently recalled as a symbol of female empowerment. In 2016, the Library of Congress deemed Gaynor's original recording to be "culturally, historically, or artistically significant" and selected it for preservation in the National Recording Registry.

Releases

Originally released as the B-side to a cover version of the Righteous Brothers song "Substitute", "I Will Survive" became a worldwide hit for Gaynor when disc jockeys played that side of the record instead. "Substitute" appeared on the Billboard Bubbling Under the Hot 100 chart for four weeks in October–November 1978, peaking at No. 107. "I Will Survive" then entered the Billboard Hot 100 in December that year and reached No. 1 on the chart in March 1979. The song received the Grammy Award for Best Disco Recording in 1980, the only year the award was given.
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A promotional video was filmed in 1979 at the New York discothèque called Xenon. Sheila Reid-Pender of Harlem is the featured skater in the video from the skating group, The Village Wizards. Although three videos were filmed that day, the "I Will Survive" video was the only one to survive. Gaynor was not present during the taping of the rollerskating segment of the video. Gaynor and Pender met for the first time on July 7, 2014 in New York at the 92nd St. YMCA after Gaynor's lecture and promotional signing of her book 'We Will Survive'. In this book, Gaynor said, "I wanted everybody—including myself—to believe that we could survive".
Following the success of fellow 1970s disco stars Sister Sledge with remixed singles in the UK in 1993, "I Will Survive" was also remixed and released that summer. This remix reached number five on the UK Singles Chart.
In November 2013, Gaynor released a gospel album entitled We Will Survive, which includes a new, updated remix of "I Will Survive" by DJ Shpank in both extended and radio edit formats.

Impact and legacy

VH1 placed "I Will Survive" at #1 in their list of 100 Greatest Dance Songs in 2000.
Rolling Stone listed the song at number 492 in their List of Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time in 2004.
Billboard placed it at number 97 in their ranking of The Billboard Hot 100 All-Time Top Songs in 2008.
In 2012, "I Will Survive" was ranked at #2 in Rolling Stone poll of The Best Disco Songs of All Time.
The Daily Telegraph ranked "I Will Survive" #48 in their The 100 Greatest Songs of All Time list in November 2016.
In 2017, the song was ranked number 7 in Paste Magazine's The 60 Best Dancefloor Classics list.
Pitchfork Media featured it in their list of 50 Songs That Define the Last 50 Years of LGBTQ+ Pride in 2018. They added,
"“I Will Survive” probably would’ve become a gay anthem even without the specter of AIDS. It has an undeniable flair for the dramatic: After moving through that filigreed piano intro, you can imagine a lone spotlight shining on Gloria Gaynor as she drags the man dumb enough to break her heart and crawl back for more. It was released as disco’s wave was beginning to break, topping the Billboard charts a few months before the infamous Disco Demolition Night at Comiskey Park. Had the story ended there, it’d represent the last, best gasp of a culture beaten into temporary irrelevance by thinly-veiled racism and homophobia."

Accolades

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Personnel

Recorded by Gloria Gaynor

Chart performance

Chart Peak position
Belgium 32

Year-end charts

Chart Rank
Australia25
Canada RPM Top Singles20
South Africa16
UK6
US Billboard Hot 1006

All-time charts

ChartPosition
UK Singles 132

Sales and certifications

Cake version

covered the song soft rock-style in 1996, on their album Fashion Nugget. In addition to many subtle changes, lead singer John McCrea altered the lyrics. The music video of Cake's version features McCrea as a city parking enforcement officer driving around in a Cushman three-wheeled scooter as he leaves tickets on various cars. This version was a top 30 hit for the band in March 1997 on the US Modern Rock Tracks, peaking at #28.

Track listing

; CD single
  1. "I Will Survive" – 4:14
  2. "Rock 'n' Roll Lifestyle" – 4:12
; Promo CD single
  1. "I Will Survive" – 3:52
  2. "I Will Survive" – 5:11

    Chantay Savage version

R&B singer Chantay Savage covered the song in 1996 as a ballad. Her version peaked at #24 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, and was certified Gold by the RIAA.

Track listing

;12" single
Side A
  1. "I Will Survive"
  2. "I Will Survive"
  3. "I Will Survive"
Side B
  1. "I Will Survive"
  2. "I Will Survive"

    Chart positions

Diana Ross version

In 1996, American singer Diana Ross released a cover of "I Will Survive". It was released on her 1995 album, Take Me Higher. The song is produced by Narada Michael Walden and peaked at number 14 in the United Kingdom. It also reached number 3 in Iceland and number 16 in Scotland. In the United States, it peaked at number 37 on the Billboard Dance Music Charts. Ross also performed it during her celebrated Super Bowl XXX halftime show in 1996.

Track listing

; CD single, United Kingdom
  1. "I Will Survive" - 4:48
  2. "I Will Survive" - 4:31
  3. "I Will Survive" - 3:58
4 "Voice Of The Heart" - 4:55
; CD maxi, Europe
  1. "I Will Survive" - 4:46
  2. "I Will Survive" - 4:02
  3. "I Will Survive" - 3:56
  4. "I Will Survive" - 8:58

    Chart positions

Hermes House Band version

from the Netherlands, covered the song la la la-style in 1994, and scored several number 1 hits in the Netherlands, Belgium and France with this version. They sold more than 2.5 million copies of I Will Survive-la-la-la worldwide. In 2018 the band reached No.1 in French hitlist after the win from FIFA World Cup French Team.

Chart positions

Leah McFall version

contestant, Leah McFall, performed the song on the first live show in the style of Chantay Savage. Following the programme, the studio recording of the performance was released and reached number three on UK iTunes. The song debuted at number sixteen on the UK Singles Chart on 9 June 2013, and in the following week it reached number eight.

Chart positions

Other cover versions

' version from her 1979 album, I Will Survive, peaked at #21 in the U.S. Country Chart, #9 in the Canadian Country Chart, and #47 in the UK Singles Chart. Her version earned her a Grammy Award nomination for Best Country Vocal Performance, Female.
Puerto Rican singer Sa-Fire recorded a cover of the song for the 1989 comedy film She-Devil. Her cover incorporated the house and hip-hop genres with the disco genre. A music video was filmed that featured clips from the movie. Sa-Fire's version of the song was successful, peaking at #53 on the Billboard Hot 100.
British recording artist Robbie Williams incorporated the string-laden instrumental bridge in a section of his 2000 song Supreme, which became a major hit in several European markets.

Popular culture

In 1998, the song became an anthem and gained more popularity in France when the France national football team won the 1998 FIFA World Cup.
In 1999, Gaynor performed the song at the school prom on That '70s Show episode 19 "Prom Night" to cheer up a disheartened, lovelorn Fez, who disco-dances and bumps with her as the song is performed.
It is featured in the 1994 Australian film The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert as a lip sync song performed by drag queens Mitzi Del Bra, Bernadette Bassinger, and Felicia Jollygoodfellow at an Australian Aboriginal corroboree. The song proves to be a symbol of the vitality and resistance in the face of discrimination exhibited by the two groups: the LGBTQ+ community and the Aboriginal Australian community.
It was featured in the jail scene and closing for the 2000 movie The Replacements.
It is featured in the 2012 film Zero Dark Thirty.
It is featured on video games, SingStar Dance and Just Dance 2014, released in 2013.
It is featured during the ending credits of the 2015 movie The Martian, in which the protagonist left behind on Mars must find a way to survive.
In the French film One Man and His Cow, the protagonist sings a Raï-style version of the song at a village festival.
It appears in a 2017 TV commercial for Capital One, which features Gaynor and Charles Barkley.
"I Will Survive" has been covered in several animated films. In Rio 2, it was sung by Nigel the cockatoo, played by Jemaine Clement. The 2008 Danish-German film Disco Ormene features the song performed by Gloria the earthworm. In 2007's Noah's Ark, an Argentine-Italian animated comedy adventure film, a version of the song is performed by a panther named Panthy.
"I Will Survive" has been featured as welcome back return song for broadcasting legend Tony Blackburn to BBC Radio on New Year's Eve 2016 after his temporary departure.
The song's tune is used in the ABS-CBN TV Plus Go TV commercial featuring Anne Curtis.