I Will Survive - Single Version

This female-empowerment anthem is about moving on after a bad relationship. Over the years, it has taken on meaning for people who have overcome just about any difficult situation, but for the song's lyricist, Dino Fekaris, it was about getting fired by Motown Records, where he was a staff writer. Says Fekaris: "They let me go after almost seven years. I was an unemployed songwriter contemplating my fate. I turned the TV on, and there it was: a song I had written for a movie theme titled Generation was playing right then (the song was performed by Rare Earth). I took that as an omen that things were going to work out for me. I remember jumping up and down on the bed saying, 'I'm going to make it. I'm going to be a songwriter. I will survive!"

This song was written by the former Motown producers Freddie Perren and Dino Fekaris. Perren was a co-writer on three #1 Jackson 5 hits: "I Want You Back," "The Love You Save" and "ABC." Fekaris' biggest co-write with Motown was "I Just Want to Celebrate" by Rare Earth, but he also placed tracks with The Temptations and The Four Tops. When Perren and Fekaris left Motown, they formed their own production duo and scored big with Peaches & Herb, taking "Reunited" to #1. When they wrote "I Will Survive," they had nobody to sing it. The pair agreed that the next diva that came their way would get the song. That diva was Gloria Gaynor, whose record company called Perren looking for production work on a song called "Substitute," which was originally recorded by the Righteous Brothers. They took the gig, and Gaynor agreed to record "I Will Survive" as the B-side. Gaynor leaned the song from a demo Perren and Fekaris made for her, and both songs were recorded in the session. Everyone involved in the recording knew that "I Will Survive" was the superior track, but the president of Gaynor's record company specifically ordered "Substitute," and released it as the A-side as planned. "Substitute" peaked at #107 in October 1978, but club DJs started playing started playing the B-side, and soon radio stations were also playing "I Will Survive." Polydor finally released the single with the sides flipped, and "Survive" peaked at #1 in the US in March 1979.

This won the 1979 Grammy for Best Disco Recording, beating out "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough," "Bad Girls," "Boogie Wonderland" and "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?" It was the first and last time the Grammy was offered in this category, but not the last win for Gaynor, who won Best Roots Gospel Album 40 years later in 2019 for Testimony.