Gloria Gaynor

Biography

Gloria Fowles (born September 7, 1943), known professionally as Gloria Gaynor, is an American singer, best known for the disco era hits "I Will Survive×I Will Survive1979 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 2 tracksAI Will Survive4:53BPlease, Be There4:30" (1978) which is one of the best-selling singles in history to date, having sold over 15 million copies worldwide, and "Let Me Know (I Have a Right)" (1979), "I Am What I Am×I Am What I Am1983 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 2 tracksAI Am What I Am5:56BI Am What I Am (dub mix)5:10" (1983), and her version of "Never Can Say Goodbye×Never Can Say Goodbye1975 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 8 tracksA1Honey Bee6:00A2Never Can Say Goodbye6:28A3Reach Out, I’ll Be There6:15B1All I Need Is Your Sweet Lovin’2:47B2Searchin’2:55B3We Belong Together2:51B4False Alarm3:40B5Real Good People3:02" (1974). She received the Kennedy Center Honor in 2025.

Early life

Gloria Fowles was born in Newark, New Jersey, to Daniel Fowles and Queenie Mae Proctor. Her grandmother lived nearby and was involved in her upbringing. "There was always music in our house", Gaynor wrote in her autobiography I Will Survive. She enjoyed listening to the radio, and to records by Nat King Cole and Sarah Vaughan. Her father played the ukulele and guitar and sang professionally in nightclubs with a group called Step 'n' Fetchit. Gloria grew up as a tomboy; she had five brothers and one sister. Her brothers sang gospel and formed a quartet with a friend.
Gaynor was not allowed to sing with the all-male group, nor was her younger brother Arthur, as Gloria was a girl and Arthur was too young. Arthur later acted as a tour manager for Gaynor. The family was relatively poor, but Gaynor recalls the house being filled with laughter and happiness, and the dinner table being open to neighborhood friends. They moved to a housing project in 1960, where Gaynor attended South Side High School; she graduated in 1961.
"All through my young life I wanted to sing, although nobody in my family knew it", Gaynor wrote in her autobiography. Gaynor began singing in a nightclub in Newark, where she was recommended to a local band by a neighbor. After several years of performing in local clubs and along the East Coast, Gaynor was signed in 1971 at Columbia Records.

Early years

Gaynor was a singer with The Soul Satisfiers, a jazz and R&B music band of the 1960s. She recorded "She'll Be Sorry" as Gloria Gaynor in 1965, for Johnny Nash's "Jocida" label. Her first real success came in 1973 when she was signed to Columbia Records by Clive Davis. The fruit of that was the release of the single "Honey Bee×Honey Bee1974 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 2 tracksAHoney Bee2:58BCome Tonight2:36".
Moving on to MGM Records she finally hit with the album Never Can Say Goodbye×Never Can Say Goodbye1975 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 8 tracksA1Honey Bee6:00A2Never Can Say Goodbye6:28A3Reach Out, I’ll Be There6:15B1All I Need Is Your Sweet Lovin’2:47B2Searchin’2:55B3We Belong Together2:51B4False Alarm3:40B5Real Good People3:02, released in 1975. The first side of the album consisted of three songs ("Honey Bee", "Never Can Say Goodbye", and "Reach Out, I'll Be There"), with no break between the songs. This 19-minute dance marathon proved to be enormously popular, especially at dance clubs. All three songs were released as singles via radio edits and all of them became hits. 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. It was also a hit on the mainstream Pop Charts, peaking at No. 9, and on the R&B Charts, reaching No. 34 (the original version by The Jackson 5 had been a No. 2 hit on the Hot 100 in 1971). It also marked her first significant chart success internationally, making it into the Top 5 in Australia, Canada, Germany and the UK. The song would go on to be certified silver by the British Phonographic Industry, and subsequently gold in the US.
Gaynor released her next album, Experience×ExperienceJuly 1975 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 8 tracksA1Casanova Brown6:22A2(If You Want It) Do It Yourself5:56A3How High the Moon6:35B1The Prettiest Face I’ve Ever Seen3:02B2What’ll I Do4:36B3Tell Me How3:12B4I’m Still Yours3:31B5Walk On By5:44 Gloria Gaynor, in September 1975. The singles "Honey Bee" (1974), "Casanova Brown" (1975), and "Let's Make a Deal" (1976), as well as her cover of the Four Tops' "Reach Out, I'll Be There", became hits in nightclubs and reached the Top 5 on Billboard's disco charts. "(If You Want It) Do It Yourself×(If You Want It) Do It Yourself1975 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 2 tracksA(If You Want It) Do It Yourself2:49BI’m Still Yours3:28" was a No. 1 disco hit—peaking at No. 98 on the Pop Charts and No. 24 on the R&B Charts. Gaynor's cover of "How High the Moon×How High the Moon1975 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 2 tracksAHow High the Moon2:50BMy Man’s Gone2:24" topped the US Dance Charts, and made the lower parts of both the pop and R&B charts, as well as achieving some international chart success. She has recorded some 16 albums since her 1976 album I've Got You, including one in England, one in Germany, and two in Italy.

Major mainstream breakthrough

During the next few years, Gaynor released two albums Glorious×Glorious1977 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 8 tracks1Why Should I Pay3:382As Time Goes By5:053(Includes the Hands of Time) Most of All9:154We Can Start All Over Again5:075Sweet Sweet Melody4:526Life Ain’t Worth Living2:587This Side of the Pain3:158So Much Love4:41 and Gloria Gaynor's Park Avenue Sound×Park Avenue Sound13 March 1978 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 7 tracksA1This Love Affair4:15A2Part Time Love (Is a Full Time Job)4:19A3Everytime You Make Love to Me4:06A4For the First Time in My Life3:49B1You’re All I Need to Get By5:11B2After the Lovin’ / Sweet Sounds for My Baby6:12B3Kidnapped5:16, but would only enjoy a few more moderate hits. However, in late 1978, with the release of her album Love Tracks×Love Tracks27 November 1978 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 8 tracksA1Stoplight3:41A2Anybody Wanna Party?5:14A3Please, Be There4:30A4Goin’ Out of My Head5:35B1I Will Survive8:02B2You Can Exit5:16B3I Said Yes3:59B4Substitute3:15, she climbed the pop charts again with her smash hit single "I Will Survive×I Will Survive1979 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 2 tracksAI Will Survive4:53BPlease, Be There4:30". The lyrics of this song were written from the point of view of a woman, recently dumped, telling her former lover that she can cope without him and does not want anything more to do with him. The song has become something of an anthem of female emancipation. Originally, "I Will Survive" was a B-side when Polydor Records released it in late 1978. The A-side, a song called "Substitute", then a recent worldwide hit for South African girl-group Clout, was considered more "radio friendly". Gaynor won a Grammy for "I Will Survive" at the 22nd Annual Grammy Awards, and also received nominations for Grammy Award for Record of the Year and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. "I Will Survive" is ranked No. 492 on Rolling Stone's list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time", and ranked at No. 97 on Billboard magazine's "All-Time Hot 100".
As a disco number, the song was unique for its time by virtue of Gaynor's having no background singers or lush production. And, unlike her first disco hits, the track was not pitched up to make it faster and to render Gaynor's recorded voice in a higher register than that in which she actually sang. In late 1979, she released the album I Have a Right×I Have a Right24 September 1979 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 8 tracksA1Let Me Know (I Have a Right)8:24A2Say Somethin’5:16A3You Took Me in Again6:43A4Don’t Stop Us4:11B1Tonight7:19B2Can’t Fight the Feelin’4:30B3Midnight Rocker6:09B4One Number One4:40, containing her next disco hit, "Let Me Know (I Have a Right)", which featured Doc Severinsen of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson fame, playing a trumpet solo. Gaynor also recorded a disco song called "Love Is Just a Heartbeat Away" in 1979 for the cult vampire film Nocturna: Granddaughter of Dracula, which featured several of disco songs.

Stateside career

In 1980 and again in 1981, Gaynor released two disco albums that were virtually ignored in the United States due to the backlash against disco, which began late in 1979. The album×The Album2014 · Album · CompilationSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 36 tracks · 2 discsDisc 11Never Can Say Goodbye4:102I Will Survive3:453I Am What I Am4:584Feel So Real4:325Everybody Wants To Rule The World4:146Don´t You Dare Call It Love4:457Suddenly3:418Top Shelf4:549He´s Out Of My Life3:3110I Want To Know What Love Is3:5311(What A ) Wonderful World3:0812Mighty High4:4113The Heat Is On3:5514I Say A Little Prayer3:3815Eeny Meeny Macka Rack4:0016Don´t Go Soft On Me4:5917Chain Of Whispers5:2718The Eye Of The Tiger3:56Disc 21I´ll Be There4:302Strive3:503Remember4:174Try A Little Tenderness4:525If You Want It (Do It Yourself)4:266Wonderful Day4:107I Choose Joy4:298Never Be Lonely5:049First Be A Woman4:5010Together We Can3:5411The Answer4:2112I´ll Apologise4:4713Guess Who?4:3014Shine On Silver Moon4:4915The Love Affair4:1916You Are The First, The Last, My Everything3:5117Oh Happy Day5:2118I Will Always Love You3:05's singles barely registered on urban contemporary radio, where disco music remained popular. In 1982, having looked into a wide variety of faiths and religious movements, she became a Christian and began to distance herself from a past she considered to be sinful. That same year, she released an album of mid-tempo R&B and pop-style songs entitled Gloria Gaynor.
Gaynor would achieve her final success in the 1980s with the release of her album I Am Gloria Gaynor×I Am Gloria Gaynor20 January 1984 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 8 tracksA1I Am What I Am5:56A2Chain of Whispers5:23A3Strive4:52A4Eeny Meeny Macker Rack4:01B1Bullseye4:49B2Only in a Love Song4:37B3I’ve Been Watching You4:30B4More Than Enough3:55 in 1984. This was mainly due to the song "I Am What I Am×I Am What I Am1983 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 2 tracksAI Am What I Am5:56BI Am What I Am (dub mix)5:10", which became a hit at dance clubs, and then on the Club Play chart in late 1983/early 1984. "I Am What I Am" became a gay anthem and made Gaynor a gay icon. Her 1986 album, The Power×The Power1986 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 14 tracks1The Eye of the Tiger3:532Every Breath You Take2:523Broken Wings5:174What a Wonderful World3:115I Want to Know What Love Is3:576Feel So Real4:367He's Out of My Life3:358Every Time You Go Away4:099Careless Whisper5:4610The Heat Is On3:5911Suddenly3:4512The Power of Love4:1913Don’t You Dare Call It Love4:5014Medley: I Will Survive / Never Can Say Goodbye / Reach Out / I Am What I Am9:32 of Gloria Gaynor, was almost entirely composed of cover versions of other songs that were popular at the time.

Career revival

Gaynor's career received a revitalizing spark in the early- and mid-1990s with the worldwide disco revival movement. During the late 1990s, she dabbled in acting for a while, guest-starring on The Wayans Bros, That '70s Show (singing "I Will Survive×I Will Survive1979 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 2 tracksAI Will Survive4:53BPlease, Be There4:30"), and Ally McBeal, before doing a limited engagement performance in Broadway's Smokey Joe's Cafe. In 2001, Gaynor performed "I Will Survive" at the 30th Anniversary concert for Michael Jackson.
Gaynor returned to the recording studio in 2002, releasing her first album in more than 15 years, I Wish You Love×I Wish You Love10 September 2002 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 15 tracks · 2 discsDisc 11Gotta Be Forever3:332Gone Too Long3:023Just No Other Way4:004I Never Knew (LP version)4:265All the Man3:426Just Keep Thinking About You3:067I Wish You Love3:438Stronger3:209Let It Rain5:1310No One Can Love You More4:1111You Keep Running3:0312I’m Here for You5:12Disc 21I Will Survive (English version)6:462I Never Knew (Hex Hector, HQ2 remix)4:163I Will Survive (Spanglish version)4:41. The two singles released from the album, "Just Keep Thinking About You×Just Keep Thinking About You16 January 2001 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 5 tracks1Just Keep Thinking About You (Jonathan Peters’ Sound Factory club mix)10:092Just Keep Thinking About You (Jonathan Peters’ Sound Factory dub)8:343Just Keep Thinking About You (Almighty mix)7:574Just Keep Thinking About You (Cruz & Bags vocal mix)7:515I Will Survive (karaoke version)4:02" and "I Never Knew", both topped Billboard's Hot Dance Music/Club Play. Both singles also secured moderate to heavy dance format radio airplay. The latter song also charted No. 30 on Billboard's Adult Contemporary chart. In 2004, Gaynor re-released her 1997 album The Answer×The Answer24 October 1997 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 15 tracks1You’ll Be Mine4:582Rippin’ It Up3:323Oh, What a Life4:044You5:025Reunion3:496Perfect World3:247The Answer4:128Jealousy3:269It’s My Time4:3010Set Me Free3:4011Oh, What a Life (Alex Natale remix)3:3612Rippin’ It Up (Berman Brothers remix)3:5213Perfect World (P.E.T.E. / F. Reinert remix)9:0214Mighty High (C. Padovano / B. Guerrini remix)5:0715I Will Survive (Yo Viverer) Flamenco3:56 (also released under the title What a Life) as a follow-up to her successful album I Wish You Love. The album includes her club hit "Oh, What a Life".
In late 2002, Gaynor appeared with R&B stars on the "Rhythm, Love, and Soul" edition of the PBS series American Soundtrack. Her performance of the disco hit "I Will Survive" and new single "I Never Knew" was included on the accompanying live album that was released in 2004.
On September 19, 2005, Gaynor was honored twice when she and her music were inducted into the Dance Music Hall of Fame, in the "Artist" category, along with fellow disco artists Chic and Sylvester. Her classic anthem "I Will Survive" was inducted under the "Records" category. In January 2008, the American Diabetes Association named Gaynor the Honorary Spokesperson of the 2008 "NYC Step Out to Fight Diabetes Walk".
More television appearances followed in the late 2000s with 2009 appearances on The John Kerwin Show, The Wendy Williams Show, and The View to promote the 30th anniversary of "I Will Survive". In 2010, she appeared on Last Comic Standing and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Gaynor released a contemporary Christian album in late 2013.
Forty years after 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, as well as constant recurrent airplay on nearly all soft AC and rhythmic format radio stations have helped to keep the song in the mainstream. Gaynor said of her biggest hit in a 2012 interview: "It feels great to have such a song like that because I get kids five and six years old telling me they like the song, and then people seventy-five and eighty. It's quite an honor." The song was revived yet again in 2015 for the film The Martian, where it is used at the end as the credits roll.

On May 16, 2015, Gaynor was awarded the honorary degree of Doctor of Music by Dowling College. In 2017, she made a cameo appearance as a flight attendant in a Capital One commercial, while Samuel L. Jackson, Charles Barkley, and Spike Lee sang "I Will Survive".
In 2016, "I Will Survive" was selected for induction into the Library of Congress' National Recording Registry.
On May 6, 2017, Gaynor performed with her band at the Library of Congress' celebration of disco music at Bibliodiscotheque, a disco dance party in the Great Hall of the Thomas Jefferson Building.
Due to the devastation wreaked by Hurricane Harvey on the state of Texas in August 2017, Gaynor rewrote the lyrics to "I Will Survive", changing the title to "Texas Will Survive", and posted a video of herself singing the song on Twitter on August 30, 2017.
In December 2019, "I Will Survive" trended on TikTok and Gaynor performed the dance at the LifeMinute TV studios in Times Square, NY.
In January 2020, she won her second Grammy Award in her career, 40 years after her first, for her roots gospel album Testimony×Testimony7 June 2019 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 10 tracks1Amazing Grace5:082Back on Top3:353He Won’t Let Go4:164Joy Comes in the Morning2:595Only You Can Do3:466Singin’ Over Me3:437Talkin’ ’bout Jesus3:148Take My Hand, Precious Lord4:179Man of Peace4:3010Day One4:01, winning Best Roots Gospel Album at the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards.
In 2021, Gaynor returned to disco music when she recorded "Can't Stop Writing Songs About You" with Australian singer Kylie Minogue for the reissue of Minogue's fifteenth studio album Disco entitled Disco: Guest List Edition. The collaboration occurred following Gaynor praising Minogue for keeping disco alive with her album of the same name.
In April 2021, Gaynor recorded "Brand New" with the veteran Contemporary Christian band MercyMe.
In 2022, Gaynor competed in season eight of The Masked Singer as "Mermaid" who rode around on a giant clam-like vehicle that the Men in Black had to push around. After being eliminated on "Andrew Lloyd Webber Night" alongside Mario Cantone as "Maize", Gaynor did her encore performance of "I Will Survive".
On February 7, 2025, Gaynor released "Fida Known", the lead single to her EP "Happy Tears×Happy Tears6 June 2025 · EPSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 5 tracks1Fida Known3:172When I See You3:423Happy Tears3:174Invincible3:455Reaching for the Gold2:41" and her first solo release since 2019. This was then followed up by the EP's second single, "When I See You×When I See You9 May 2025 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1When I See You3:42", on May 9, 2025. The EP was released on June 6, 2025.
On August 13, 2025, President Donald Trump named Gaynor as one of the honorees for the annual Kennedy Center Honors, to be presented in December 2025.

Personal life

Gaynor married her manager Linwood Simon in 1979. The couple divorced in 2005. She has no children. According to Gaynor, while she always wanted children, her ex-husband never desired any. She is also a supporter of and financial donor to the Republican Party.