| "Eye of the Tiger" | ||||
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| Single by Survivor | ||||
| from the album Rocky III and Eye of the Tiger | ||||
| B-side | "Take You on a Saturday" | |||
| Released | May 1982[1] | |||
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| Length | 4:04 (album version) 3:45 (single version) | |||
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| Survivor singles chronology | ||||
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"Eye of the Tiger" | ||||
| Music video | ||||
| Eye of the Tiger on YouTube | ||||
"Eye of the Tiger" is a song by the American rock band Survivor. It was written as the theme song for the 1982 film Rocky III and released that year as a single from Survivor's third album, Eye of the Tiger.
Sylvester Stallone, the director and star of Rocky III, enlisted Survivor to write the song after the band Queen denied him permission to use their song "Another One Bites the Dust". They derived lyrics, including the title, from dialogue in the film, and conceived a riff with chord changes to match the punches in the boxing scenes.
"Eye of the Tiger" reached number one on the charts of many countries. In the US, it was number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for six weeks, spent 15 consecutive weeks in the top ten, and was the second-bestselling single of 1982. It was certified platinum in August 1982, for sales of two million copies. In the UK, "Eye of the Tiger" sold 956,000 copies and was number one on the UK Singles Chart for four consecutive weeks.
At the 25th Annual Grammy Awards, "Eye of the Tiger" won Best Rock Performance by Duo or Group with Vocal and was nominated for Song of the Year. At the 55th Academy Awards, it was nominated for Best Original Song.
- ^ "RIAA certifications for "Eye of the Tiger"". Recording Industry Association of America.
- ^ Holden, Stephen (July 28, 1982). "The Pop Life; RCA Gambling on Kenny Rogers". The New York Times. Retrieved April 16, 2018.
- ^ Stosuy, Brandon (January 5, 2009). "VH1's 100 Greatest Hard Rock Songs". Stereogum. Retrieved October 28, 2024.