One of the most popular female disco stars of the 1970s,
Gloria Gaynor Inspired millions of women with her most famous tune, “
I Will Survive” and continues to perform and record to this day. Born Gloria Fowles on September 7, 1949 in Newark, New Jersey, Gaynor started singing at an early age and joined the Soul Satisfiers, a jazz/pop band, in the 1960s. She recorded her first solo single "She'll Be Sorry/Let Me Go Baby" in 1965. Her first real taste of success came in 1975, with the release of her album Never Can Say Goodbye, which established her as a disco star
Continued...
with the hit Gloria Gaynor songs, "
Honey Bee", "
Never Can Say Goodbye" and "Reach Out, I'll Be There.” It was with these hugely popular dance club tunes that Gaynor would receive credit for starting the whole disco movement; indeed, “Never Can Say Goodbye" became the first song to top Billboard magazine's dance chart. In late 1978, with the release of her album Love Tracks, Gaynor once again climbed the pop charts on the strength of her single, “I Will Survive,” which became a worldwide anthem for women who had overcome being dumped by their lovers. The song was awarded the first and only Grammy Award for Best Disco Recording in 1980 (the category was discontinued upon disco's fall from favor shortly afterward) and has become a staple at karaoke parties and social gatherings everywhere.
With the demise of disco, Gaynor also fell from fans’ grace. In 1982, she became a
Christian and began to distance herself from a past she considered to be sinful by recording inspirational and patriotic songs that never quite struck a chord with the previous lovers of her music. Gaynor came back in 1996 with the revival of disco and performed on several television variety programs. She returned to the recording studio in 2002, releasing her first album in 20 years, entitled, I Wish You Love. In September 2005, Gaynor was honored twice when she and her music were inducted into the Dance Music Hall of Fame. She 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. Over the course of her lengthy career, Gloria Gaynor has, indeed, proven that she is the ultimate survivor.
