I Will Survive
Dino Fekaris stood in his room during the mid-1970s after losing his job at Motown Records. He had spent seven years as a staff writer there before being let go. A television played a theme song from the film Generation performed by Rare Earth. Fekaris jumped up and down on his bed shouting that he would make it as a songwriter. He teamed up with Freddie Perren to write the track but no singer appeared for two years. Polydor asked Perren to produce Substitute for Gloria Gaynor in 1978. The label allowed him to produce a B-side if he agreed. Gaynor told them she wanted songs that touched people's hearts. Producers handed her lyrics scribbled on brown paper. She recognized the hit immediately.
The single entered the Billboard Hot 100 in December of 1978. It reached number one on the chart in March 1979. The record spent three non-consecutive weeks at the top spot. It also peaked atop the UK Singles Chart and Irish Singles Chart. Sales figures show over 15 million copies sold worldwide. The Recording Industry Association of America certified the track Platinum. Gaynor tried to persuade the label to release it as an A side initially. The label refused and kept it as the flip side to Substitute. Her husband took copies to Studio 54 DJ Richie Kaczor who loved the song. DJs began playing that side instead of the intended A side. Popularity forced the label to switch the release strategy.
Pitchfork included the song in their list of fifty songs defining the last fifty years of LGBTQ Pride. They noted the track would have become a gay anthem even without the specter of AIDS. The lyrics describe personal strength following a devastating breakup. Disco culture faced thinly veiled racism and homophobia during its decline. The song topped charts months before Disco Demolition Night at Comiskey Park. France men's national football team made the instrumental sub-theme their unofficial anthem in 1998. They won the FIFA World Cup for the first time as hosts that year. Younger generations embraced the chant twenty years after original release. The Hermes House Band remix popularized the la la la la la section.
The Library of Congress selected the recording for preservation in 2016. Officials deemed it culturally historically or aesthetically significant. Billboard magazine ranked it number thirty-five on their best pop songs list in 2023. The same publication placed it at number twenty-one on their dance songs list in 2025. Rolling Stone listed it at number two hundred fifty-one in their 2021 update. VH1 ranked the track number one among greatest dance songs in 2000. The Grammy Hall of Fame inducted the song in 2012. It won Best Disco Recording at the 22nd Annual Grammy Awards in 1980. That award category existed only for a single year.
Billie Jo Spears recorded her version in February 1979 at Jack Clement Recording Studio. Larry Butler produced the track which became a country hit peaking at number twenty-one. Chantay Savage released a ballad cover on the 23rd of January 1996 through RCA Records. Her version peaked at number twenty-four on the US Hot 100 and went gold. Cake altered lyrics to include profanity during their 1996 album Fashion Nugget recording. John McCrea changed the phrase about a stupid lock to my fucking lock. Gaynor stated she did not like that specific change. Diana Ross released a cover on the 14th of April 1996 as a Motown single. Hermes House Band topped Dutch charts with their La La La remix in 1994.
A promotional video filmed in 1979 took place at Xenon Discotheque in New York. Roller skater Sheila Reid-Pender from The Village Wizards danced on the floor. Gaynor was not present during the taping of the roller skating segment. Three videos were shot that day but only this one survived. The video features Gaynor singing interspersed with dance sequences. It received over four million views within two months after HD remastering in 2022. Gaynor met Pender for the first time on the 7th of July 2014 at the 92nd St YMCA. She wrote in her book We Will Survive that everyone should believe they could survive. The clip remains an enduring presence in digital media archives today.
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Common questions
Who wrote the song I Will Survive by Gloria Gaynor?
Dino Fekaris and Freddie Perren wrote the track. Fekaris conceived the idea after losing his job at Motown Records in the mid-1970s.
When did the single I Will Survive reach number one on the Billboard Hot 100?
The record reached number one on the chart in March 1979. It entered the Billboard Hot 100 in December of 1978 before spending three non-consecutive weeks at the top spot.
Why was I Will Survive originally released as a B-side instead of an A-side?
Gloria Gaynor initially wanted songs that touched people's hearts but producers handed her lyrics scribbled on brown paper for Substitute. Her husband took copies to Studio 54 DJ Richie Kaczor who loved the song and DJs began playing that side instead of the intended A side.
What awards has the recording I Will Survine won or been inducted into?
It won Best Disco Recording at the 22nd Annual Grammy Awards in 1980. The Grammy Hall of Fame inducted the song in 2012 and the Library of Congress selected it for preservation in 2016.
Who recorded a country version of I Will Survive in February 1979?
Billie Jo Spears recorded her version in February 1979 at Jack Clement Recording Studio. Larry Butler produced the track which became a country hit peaking at number twenty-one.