I Will Survive

"I Will Survive" is a song by Gloria Gaynor, released in 1978. It was written by Freddie Perren and Dino Fekaris.

The song's lyrics describe a narrator who finds strength while recovering from a breakup; it has often been used as an anthem of female empowerment, a gay anthem, and HIV/AIDS awareness. It is a widely played disco classic, and easily Gaynor's biggest hit; it received massive airplay in 1979, reaching number one on the Billboard Hot 100. Interestingly, the song was originally released as the B-side to a Gaynor song called "Substitute", a track thought to have more potential for mainstream success by her record label. Disc jockeys began flipping the single over and eventually copies of the record were pressed with "I Will Survive" as the A-side ("Substitute" managed to peak at number 107 on Billboard's Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart).

It received the Grammy Award for Best Disco Recording in 1980, the only year that the award was given.

The song was used in the movies The Replacements and The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. It was also used in a humorous segment in the 1997 movie In & Out, in which the main character, a closeted homosexual, dances to it. Part of it was sung a capella in Men in Black II, and several lines of it are sung, although to a quite different tune, in They Might Be Giants's song "The Biggest One". It was also covered by the rock band Cake in 1996 and UK punk band Snuff, R&B divas Chantay Savage and Diana Ross have also covered the classic, and formed the basis for Robbie Williams' song "Supreme" in 2000. "I Will Survive" is also the stadium anthem of Feyenoord and Schalke 04. Crazy Frog also used that single in 2006

In 2003, Celia Cruz covered the hit in salsa form. Cruz described it as an important part of her life's journey. Many of her fans believe it was one of the final pieces she recorded when she knew she was going to soon pass away from cancer. The cover was named "Yo viviré" (Spanish for "I will live").

The song was also part of a very popular internet video in 1999 when Victor Navone's "Alien Song" (http://www.navone.org) was passed around via email, and a similar parody was made by Javier Prato, titled "Jesus Christ - The Musical". The song was also parodied by Jennifer Love Hewitt during her appearance on the Rosie O'Donnell Show, where she complained that O'Donnell did not see her movie I Still Know What You Did Last Summer.

Filipino band Parokya ni Edgar made a spoof of the song called "Picha Pie", which narrates the singer's obsession with pizza. Parts of the mostly Filipino song somewhat resemble the original lyrics.

The song features on the advertisement for the reality show I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here!, where little animated insects dance to it. It is also featured in the dancing game Dancing Stage Euromix, and a cover by Akira Yamaoka is on Dance Dance Revolution Extreme 2.

The song was used as a theme song for the World Cup Champion French Soccer Team in 1998.