For those who weren’t there, it’s hard to imagine the impact of the arrival of Disco. For a decade, it made New York City the center of the universe, the decadent, dazzling and glamorous palace of all the night life in the world. Disco created a whole new heaven of stars, and the biggest of these was Gloria Gaynor.
Lavish, luminous, a powerhouse performer, Gloria Gaynor exploded onto the scene with the first big Disco hit, “Never Can Say Goodbye”. It was the title track to her 1973 album, the first album of non-stop programmed dance music and this would pretty much change the face of the record industry. Gloria would later be listed in the “1982” World Book Encylopedia as ‘proponent of New Music.” From that year up until 1981, she put out an album every year, and every one of them went “Top 40.”
In 1975, she was crowned “Queen of the Discos,” in front of thousands of adoring New York City fans. In 1978, came an album called “Love Tracks,” which featured the era’s biggest dance hit, the inspirational…..“I WILL SURVIVE”.
This song resonated among defiant hearts around the world, selling 14 million copies practically overnight, it turned Gloria into an icon and winning her the following year’s Grammy Award for Best Disco Record.
In 1984, Gloria came out with the terrific album, “I Am What I Am”, with a title song of passionate affirmation strong enough to musically reunite a culture scattered by the closing of the clubs and the pall that Aids was now casting over city night life For Gloria, it would be another big hit.
Gloria has toured the world performing in some 75 countries, giving concerts before Princess Grace Of Monaco and the families of President Carter and Sadat, among others. Although Gloria was all the while performing occasionally in select clubs in the U.S., she spent a great deal of time in Europe, where her fans, particularly the French and the Italians, worshipped her. Between 1985 and 1990 she released some 6 albums in Italy. The albums increasingly reflected her own new music, including some self-penned and some gospel, and some would include the favorites her fans wouldn’t let die.
Then, something extraordinary happened. A huge 70s revival started in America; with it – Disco – and Disco’s biggest star. Gloria appeared in the spectacular, “Celebration of the 70s, with renditions of “I Will Survive” and “Never Can Say Goodbye” that showed she hadn’t lost one iota of her power or her luster. Gloria Gaynor, who never went away, was back!
Gloria’s autobiography for St Martins Press, “I Will Survive” tells you not only how she survived, but how anyone can survive the struggle and heartache that life all too often brings.
Gloria has touched audiences in more than 80 countries with her electrifying performances. On September 19, 2005 Gloria, along with her hit song “I Will Survive” were inducted into the Dance Music Hall of Fame during a ceremony in New York City. “I Will Survive”, has been featured on the soundtrack of more than a half dozen major motion picture releases, and VH-1 honored Ms. Gaynor with the number one spot during their countdown of the Top 100 Dance Records of All Time.