I Will Survive

For other uses, see I Will Survive (disambiguation).

"I Will Survive"
US 7-inch vinyl single
Single by Gloria Gaynor
from the album Love Tracks
A-side"Substitute"
ReleasedOctober 23, 1978 (1978-10-23)
Recorded1978
StudioMom & Pop's Company Store, Los Angeles, California
Genre
Length
  • 4:56 (album version)
  • 3:15 (single version)
  • 8:01 (12" version)
LabelPolydor
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
  • Freddie Perren
  • Dino Fekaris
Gloria Gaynor singles chronology
"Let's Make a Deal"
(1976) 		"I Will Survive"
(1978) 		"Anybody Wanna Party?"
(1979)
Music video
"I Will Survive" on YouTube

"I Will Survive" is a song recorded by American singer Gloria Gaynor, released in October 1978 by Polydor Records as the second single from her sixth album, Love Tracks (1978). It was written by Freddie Perren and Dino Fekaris. The song's lyrics describe the narrator's discovery of personal strength following an initially devastating breakup. The song is frequently regarded as an anthem of female empowerment, as well as a disco staple.[2][3][4]

"I Will Survive" received heavy airplay in 1979. The single spent three non-consecutive weeks at number one on the US Billboard Hot 100, and also peaked atop the UK Singles Chart and Irish Singles Chart. It was later certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).[5] It won Best Disco Recording at the 22nd Annual Grammy Awards, and also received a nomination for Record of the Year and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance.

In 2016, the Library of Congress deemed Gaynor's original recording to be "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" and selected it for preservation in the National Recording Registry. In October 2023, Billboard ranked it among the "500 Best Pop Songs of All Time".[6]

  1. ^ Breihan, Tom (November 15, 2022). "George McCrae - "Rock Your Baby". The Number Ones: Twenty Chart-Topping Hits That Reveal the History of Pop Music. New York: Hachette Book Group. p. 108.
  2. ^ Kaminski, Elizabeth; Taylor, Verta (2008). "We're Not Just Lip-synching Here: Music and Collective Identity in Drag Performances". In Reger, Jo; Myers, Daniel J.; Einwohner, Rachel L. (eds.). Identity Work in Social Movements. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. p. 58. ISBN 978-0-8166-5139-9. Retrieved April 26, 2009 – via Google Books.
  3. ^ Nadine Hubbs (2007). "'I Will Survive': musical mappings of queer social space in a disco anthem". Popular Music. 26 (2): 231–244. doi:10.1017/s0261143007001250. S2CID 146390768. Retrieved April 26, 2009.
  4. ^ "'I Will Survive': Radio 4 celebrates the enduring success of Gloria Gaynor's classic song". BBC. Retrieved March 19, 2016.
  5. ^ Garfield, Bob (January 31, 2012). "'I Will Survive': the ridiculous and the sublime". The Guardian. Retrieved September 19, 2013.
  6. ^ "The 500 Best Pop Songs: Staff List". Billboard. October 19, 2023. Retrieved October 20, 2023.