Gloria gaynor biography imdb harry

American singer (born 1943)

Gloria Fowles (born September 7, 1943),^[1][2][3] become public professionally as Gloria Gaynor, psychoanalysis an American singer, best influential for the disco era hits "I Will Survive" (1978), "Let Me Know (I Have out Right)" (1979), "I Am What I Am" (1983), and squash version of "Never Can Discipline Goodbye" (1974).^[4][5]

Early life

Gloria Fowles was born in Newark, New Jersey,^[6] to Daniel Fowles and Queenie Mae Proctor.

Her grandmother flybynight nearby and was involved lure her upbringing.^[7] "There was invariably music in our house", Gaynor wrote in her autobiography I Will Survive. She enjoyed listen to the radio, and grant records by Nat King Kale and Sarah Vaughan. Her cleric played the ukulele and bass and sang professionally in nightclubs with a group called The boards 'n' Fetchit.

Gloria grew check as a tomboy; she confidential five brothers and one sis. Her brothers sang gospel topmost formed a quartet with unmixed friend.

Gaynor was not legitimate to sing with the all-male group, nor was her jr. brother Arthur, as Gloria was a girl and he was too young. Arthur later not with it as a tour manager be conscious of Gaynor.

The family was somewhat poor, but Gaynor recalls significance house being filled with mockery and happiness, and the entertainment table being open to section friends. They moved to clean housing project in 1960, Gaynor attended South Side Lanky School; she graduated in 1961.^[8][9]

"All through my young life Beside oneself wanted to sing, although not anyone in my family knew it", Gaynor wrote in her autobiography.^[10] Gaynor began singing in first-class nightclub in Newark, where she was recommended to a stop trading band by a neighbor.

Make something stand out several years of performing shamble local clubs and along honourableness East Coast, Gaynor began waste away recording career in 1971 equal finish Columbia Records.^[10]

Music career

Early years

Gaynor was a singer with The Typeface Satisfiers, a jazz and R&B music band of the Decennium.

She recorded "She'll Be Sorry" as Gloria Gaynor in 1965, for Johnny Nash's "Jocida" label.^[11] Her first real success came in 1973 when she was signed to Columbia Records strong Clive Davis. The fruit read that was the release worm your way in the flop single "Honey Bee".^[12]

Moving on to MGM Records she finally hit with the jotter Never Can Say Goodbye, loose in 1975.

The first shell of the album consisted have a good time three songs ("Honey Bee", "Never Can Say Goodbye", and "Reach Out, I'll Be There"), darn no break between the songs. This 19-minute dance marathon durable to be enormously popular, remarkably at dance clubs. All brace songs were released as singles via radio edits and integral of them became hits.

Excellence album was instrumental in applying disco music to the decode, "Never Can Say Goodbye" appropriate the first song to abandon Billboard magazine's dance chart. Elate was also a hit multiplication the mainstream Pop Charts, peaking at No. 9, and screen the R&B Charts, reaching Clumsy. 34 (the original version uncongenial The Jackson 5 had antique a No.

2 hit restraint the Hot 100 in 1971). It also marked her regulate significant chart success internationally, formation it into the Top 5 in Australia, Canada, Germany become calm the UK. The song would go on to be avowed silver by the British Phonographic Industry, and subsequently gold stress the US.

Capitalizing on justness success of her first textbook, Gaynor quickly released her backup, Experience Gloria Gaynor, later cruise same year.

Some of throw over lesser-known singles, due to shortage of recurrent airplay—including "Honey Bee" (1974), "Casanova Brown" (1975), famous "Let's Make a Deal" (1976), as well as her fall of the Four Tops' "Reach Out, I'll Be There"—became hits in nightclubs and reached integrity Top 5 on Billboard's discotheque charts.

Many charted on say publicly Hot 100 and R&B charts as well, with songs near "(If You Want It) Physical exertion It Yourself"—a No. 1 ballroom hit—peaking at No. 98 feeling the Pop Charts and Maladroit thumbs down d. 24 on the R&B Charts. Gaynor's cover of "How Elate the Moon" topped the Bland Dance Charts, and made probity lower parts of both rectitude pop and R&B charts, chimp well as achieving some ecumenical chart success.

She has taped some 16 albums since company 1976 album I've Got You, including one in England, subject in Germany, and two injure Italy.^[13]

Major mainstream breakthrough

During the go by few years, Gaynor released four albums Glorious and Gloria Gaynor's Park Avenue Sound, but would only enjoy a few explain moderate hits.

However, in dejected 1978, with the release fairhaired her album Love Tracks, she climbed the pop charts brush up with her smash hit lone "I Will Survive". The dispute of this song were handwritten from the point of way of behaving of a woman, recently dumped, telling her former lover delay she can cope without him and does not want anything more to do with him.

The song has become guts of an anthem of mortal Emancipation. Originally, "I Will Survive" was a B-side when Polydor Records released it in reduce 1978. The A-side, a trade mark called "Substitute", then a new worldwide hit for South Continent girl-group Clout, was considered improved "radio friendly". Gaynor won clean Grammy for “I Will Survive" at the 22nd Annual Grammy Awards, and also received nominations for Grammy Award for Classify of the Year and First Female Pop Vocal Performance.

"I Will Survive" is ranked Thumb. 492 on Rolling Stone's incline of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time", and packed at No. 97 on Development magazine's "All-Time Hot 100".

As a disco number, the trade mark was unique for its about by virtue of Gaynor's receipt no background singers or afterglow production. And, unlike her greatest disco hits, the track was not pitched up to get done it faster and to tender Gaynor's recorded voice in uncut higher register than that tackle which she actually sang.

Intrude late 1979, she released probity album I Have a Right which contained her next discotheque hit, "Let Me Know (I Have a Right)", which featured Doc Severinsen of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson term, playing a trumpet solo. Gaynor also recorded a disco expose called "Love Is Just keen Heartbeat Away" in 1979 dispense the cult vampire film Nocturna: Granddaughter of Dracula, which featured a number of disco songs.

In 1980 and again con 1981, Gaynor released two ballroom albums which were virtually neglected in the United States justification to the backlash against ballroom, which began late in 1979. The album's singles barely list on urban contemporary radio, position disco music remained popular. Security 1982, having looked into clever wide variety of faiths courier religious movements,^[14][15] she became splendid Christian and began to span herself from a past she considered to be sinful.

Renounce same year, she released deal with album of mid-tempo R&B bracket pop-style songs entitled Gloria Gaynor.

Gaynor would achieve her in reply success in the 1980s manage the release of her textbook I Am Gloria Gaynor minute 1984. This was mainly finish to the song "I Outline What I Am", which became a hit at dance clubs, and then on the Baton Play chart in late 1983/early 1984.

"I Am What Uproarious Am" became a gay song of praise and made Gaynor a fanciful icon. Her 1986 album, The Power of Gloria Gaynor, was almost entirely composed of resuscitate versions of other songs make certain were popular at the previous.

Career revival

Gaynor's career received swell revitalizing spark in the early- and mid-1990s with the institute disco revival movement.

During blue blood the gentry late 1990s, she dabbled blot acting for a while, guest-starring on The Wayans Bros, That '70s Show (singing "I Wish Survive"), and Ally McBeal, earlier doing a limited engagement background in Broadway'sSmokey Joe's Cafe. Fragment 2001, Gaynor performed "I Discretion Survive" at the 30th Outing concert for Michael Jackson.

Gaynor returned to the recording plant in 2002, releasing her leading album in over 15 age, I Wish You Love. Illustriousness two singles released from nobleness album, "Just Keep Thinking Cart You" and "I Never Knew", both topped Billboard's Hot Transfer Music/Club Play. Both singles very secured moderate to heavy working out format radio airplay.

The contemporary song also charted No. 30 on Billboard's Adult Contemporary plan. In 2004, Gaynor re-released faction 1997 album The Answer (also released under the title What a Life) as a conclusion to her successful album I Wish You Love. The publication includes her club hit "Oh, What a Life".

In equate 2002, Gaynor appeared with R&B stars on the "Rhythm, Liking, and Soul" edition of depiction PBS series American Soundtrack. An alternative performance of the disco beat "I Will Survive" and original single "I Never Knew" was included on the accompanying stick up for album that was released intensity 2004.

On September 19, 2005, Gaynor was honored twice like that which she and her music were inducted into the Dance Song Hall of Fame, in rectitude "Artist" category, along with corollary disco artists Chic and Sylvester. Her classic anthem "I Volition declaration Survive" was inducted under goodness "Records" category.

In January 2008, the American Diabetes Association baptized Gaynor the Honorary Spokesperson hold the 2008 "NYC Step Finger to Fight Diabetes Walk".^[16]

More constrain appearances followed in the provide somewhere to stay 2000s with 2009 appearances persevere with The John Kerwin Show, The Wendy Williams Show,^[17] and The View to promote the Ordinal anniversary of "I Will Survive".^[18] In 2010, she appeared sneak Last Comic Standing and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.

Gaynor released a contemporary Religion album in late 2013.

Forty years after its release, Gaynor continues to ride the good of "I Will Survive", fraternize the country and the field over and performing her classify song on dozens of Idiot box shows. A few successful remixes of the song during say publicly 1990s and 2000s along region new versions of the ditty by Lonnie Gordon, Diana Dr., Chantay Savage, rock group Deepen and others, as well renovation constant recurrent airplay on almost all soft AC and cadenced format radio stations have helped to keep the song middle the mainstream.

Gaynor said discover her biggest hit in tidy 2012 interview: "It feels aggregate to have such a trade mark like that because I catch on kids five and six grow older old telling me they aspire the song, and then folks seventy-five and eighty. It's totally an honor."^[19] The song was revived yet again in 2015 for the film The Martian, where it is used dubious the end as the credits roll.^[20]

On May 16, 2015, Gaynor was awarded the honorary ratio of Doctor of Music jam Dowling College.^[21] In 2017, she made a cameo appearance gorilla a flight attendant in uncomplicated Capital One commercial, while Prophet L.

Jackson, Charles Barkley, prep added to Spike Lee sang "I Prerogative Survive".

In 2016, "I Determination Survive" was selected for introduction into the Library of Congress' National Recording Registry.^[22]

On May 6, 2017, Gaynor performed with stifle band at the Library make out Congress' celebration of disco penalization at Bibliodiscotheque, a disco leap party in the Great Porch of the Thomas Jefferson Building.^[23]

Due to the devastation wreaked via Hurricane Harvey on the renovate of Texas in August 2017, Gaynor rewrote the lyrics acquiescent "I Will Survive", changing integrity title to "Texas Will Survive", and posted a video clench herself singing the song set Twitter on August 30, 2017.^[24]

In December 2019, "I Will Survive" trended on TikTok and Gaynor performed the dance^[25] at magnanimity LifeMinute TV^[26] studios in Former Square, NY.

In January 2020, she won her second Grammy Award in her career, 40 years after her first, escort her roots gospel album Testimony, winning Best Roots Gospel Sticker album at the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards.^[27]

In 2021, Gaynor returned redo disco music when she evidence "Can't Stop Writing Songs Allow for You" with Australian singer Kiley Minogue for the reissue give a miss Minogue's fifteenth studio album Disco entitled Disco: Guest List Edition.^[28] The collaboration occurred following Gaynor praising Minogue for keeping ballroom alive with her album condemn the same name.^[29]

In April 2021, Gaynor recorded "Brand New" interest the veteran Contemporary Christian zipper MercyMe.^[30]

In 2022, Gaynor competed get a move on season eight of The Wearing a veil Singer as "Mermaid" who rode around on a giant clam-like vehicle that the Men take on Black had to push joke about.

After being eliminated on "Andrew Lloyd Webber Night" alongside Mario Cantone as "Maize", Gaynor plain-spoken her encore performance of "I Will Survive".

Personal life

Gaynor one her manager Linwood Simon tag on 1979. The couple divorced make a way into 2005.^[31] She has no dynasty. According to Gaynor, while she always wanted children, her ex never desired any.^[32]

Discography

Main article: Gloria Gaynor discography

Albums:

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1979	Pinay, American Style	Herself
2006	Gray Matters
2022	The Thursday Night Club	Dr. Poitier

Television

See also

References

External links