News concerning our dear sister in Christ
Gloria Gaynor’s ’Survive’ Endures as Disco Diva Explores Gospel
By Patrick Cole
April 14 (Bloomberg) -- Thirty-one years ago, Gloria Gaynor walked into a New York recording studio wearing a back brace and belted out a disco song the label considered a B-side at best.
“I Will Survive” turned the former cabaret singer into an icon as the song became a top-selling anthem of the disco era. In case you were on Mars at the time, it opens with: “First I was afraid, I was petrified, kept thinking how I couldn’t live without you by my side.”
Besides offering cheer to countless listeners down on their luck, the song about a jilted lover’s redemption also gave Gaynor a lift when she reflected on her own life’s sour moments. She had endured divorce and two abortions before she was 21 and lost her sister, Irma, who was murdered after trying to aid a stranger who was being beaten on the street. The singer suffered a spinal injury in 1978 when she fell onstage at New York’s Beacon Theatre and was briefly paralyzed from the waist down.
“That really enabled me to sing the song with great conviction and to believe in the song,” said a smiling and serene Gaynor, 59, while relaxing in the living room of her Somerset County, New Jersey, home. “The song gave hope and courage and empowerment to people of all ages and nationalities to make it through whatever adversity they face in life. It gave a voice to women in a man’s world.”
Last month, Gaynor released a 30th anniversary CD of the song in English and Spanish versions to celebrate its No. 1 ranking three decades ago on Billboard’s Hot 100 singles chart. “Survive” also holds the distinction of being the first and only Grammy Award winner for best disco recording in 1980.
Weddings, Cake
The song has been recorded in 20 languages, graced many a wedding reception, karaoke session and movie soundtrack and has been covered by artists ranging from Gladys Knight to the alternative rock band Cake.
“Survive” also has given Gaynor a comfortable lifestyle. Her 5,000-square-foot house, built in 1989, has a 12-seat home theater and floor-to-ceiling views of rolling hills. She still receives royalty checks for the tune written by Dino Fekaris and Freddie Perren that sold 14 million singles in the three years following its recording. She supplements that income with an evergreen performing career.
Gaynor said she hasn’t grown tired of standing in front of hundreds and watching them scream and cheer when she sings that opening lyric to “Survive.” Her legs tell a different story. She hobbles around her expansive home with a cane after a recent knee replacement operation.
“It was all that disco dancing that did this!” Gaynor, dressed in a cardinal-red blouse and navy-blue slacks, said about her knee.
Gospel Album
A born-again Christian since 1982, Gaynor is writing songs for a gospel album she hopes to release next year.
“After ‘Survive,’ I got to a point where I had everything that people would call success, but I felt unfulfilled,” she said. “My music is simply a vehicle by which I bring the love and knowledge of Christ.”
After her knee recovers, she’ll start rehearsing for a June tour that will take her to Mexico City and South America.
“The song has enabled me to meet people and make friends around the world,” she said. “So it has been a great blessing to me as well to have a vehicle I use to bless other people.”
(Patrick Cole is a reporter for Bloomberg News. Any opinions expressed are his own.)
*According to Bloomberg News Disco Diva and all around “survivor” Gloria Gaynor is writing songs for a gospel album that will be released next year. Gaynor says, “After ‘Survive’ I got to a point where I had everything that people would call success, but I felt unfulfilled. My music is simply a vehicle by which I bring the love and knowledge of Christ.” Ms. Gaynor has been a born-again Christian since 1982. Sat, May 2, 2009: http://www.eurweb.com/story/eur52627.cfm
To contact the writer on this story: Patrick Cole in New York at pcole3@Bloomberg.net.
Last Updated: April 14, 2009 00:01 EDT==========================================================
Find a frugal and affordable look
By JOY SEWING Copyright 2009 Houston Chronicle
April 8, 2009, 5:05PM
Jason Merritt Getty Images
Surviving a recession fashionably is sort of like weathering the disco era.
You have to keep trying until you find the right affordable look — or megahit, like Gloria Gaynor’s 1979 anthem I Will Survive.
Gaynor, who was in town earlier this year for a performance with the Houston Symphony, says while she’s celebrating 30 years of singing about being a survivor, she’s now ready to tell us how, especially when it comes to fashion.
“I miss the elegance in fashion,” she says. “In the ’ 70s, people cared how they looked. We might have looked crazy, but at least we cared.”
Here’s her advice for staying fashionable now:
Make the most of what you’ve got
“You have to get the most out of your looks,” she said, referring to outfits that transition from day to night.
Shop vintage
That’s where you’ll likely find timeless and affordable pieces . Gaynor says she still has a Norma Kamali off-white gown with fringe that she bought from a New York vintage boutique in the 1970s.
Don’t spend beyond your means
“If your outflow exceeds your income, your upkeep will be your downfall,” Gaynor says. Translation: If you can’t afford it, don’t buy it.
Be comfortable
Comfort often translates to confidence — that “survivor” attitude.
Have fun
Try incorporating one of Gaynor’s disco fashion staples — platform shoes, big shoulder pads, massive hair, cinched waists or glitter — into your look. But avoid too much or you’ll look dated.
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Gloria Gaynor: She Has Survived
by Lisa Irizarry/Photos by Saed Hindash Thursday March 19, 2009, 12:36 AM
When Gloria Gaynor began performing "I Will Survive," a song that would become an anthem for generations of women done wrong, she considered it simply a "timeless lyric."
But after more than three up and down decades in the music industry, the 1995 beating death of her sister, Irma Proctor, and her failed 24-year marriage, Gaynor says that for the first time in her life, she considers "I Will Survive," a personal declaration.
"I am actually singing that song for myself now," she says. And last month, Gaynor released a commemorative CD of the '70s hit to mark its 30 anniversary.
During a visit to her sprawling 5,500-square-foot contemporary-style home, The Green Brook resident talked about the new significance of the song in her life and spoke publicly for the first time about the 2005 breakup of her 30-year relationship with Linwood Simon, a former New York City Transit police officer and music publisher. Now on her own in the dream home she and Simon bought together in 1999 for $888,000, Gaynor still loves everything about the property, which is tucked into the foothills of the Watchung Mountains.
"The house was already here," Gaynor says, sitting in her comfortable living room lined with floor-to-ceiling windows -- a feature that initially drew her to the house.
"My ex-husband went around to find houses he liked and he loved this one. I said, "Okay, he loves it. I fell in love with it immediately. Let's get it.'"
Until then, the couple had been living in Simon's apartment in Cliffside Park, Bergen County.
"I saw how bright it was with the floor to- ceiling windows and skylights in the bedroom and terrace, and I just love modern structures. And I love the fact that the basement leads out to the backyard," she says.
"We weren't looking in a particular area -- I just loved driving up here when we first saw it. The houses are really beautiful."
It's a long way from the gritty streets of Newark where a little girl named Gloria Fowles was born in 1949, but Gaynor couldn't feel more comfortable in her country home.
"I've got country-style neighbors. We borrow cups of sugar from each other. We pick up each other's mail, but we're not in each other's face all the time. I was here well over a year before they knew who I was."
One neighbor welcomed her with a plant, a card and a map of the neighborhood. She was told where the post office and the nearest grocery store were.
"When there's a party, they'll bring a potato salad or a pan of something, and they invite me to their houses."
For a long time, everything was perfect -- and then it wasn't. "It was a fairytale for about 20 years," Gaynor says about her marriage.
"We had a fairytale meeting. I was working with his sisters, who were my background singers, and we became like sisters."
They showed her a picture of their brother one day, and right away Gaynor declared, "That's my husband!"
"We met four months later and it was love at first sight." She got pregnant on their honeymoon but lost the child.
"We were actually together 30 years. We went together five years and things were going fine, then little by little things started to change.
"I was married a lot longer than he was . . . Let's just say we just grew apart."
When Gaynor was inducted into the Disco Hall of Fame in 2006, she says her signature song took on a whole different meaning.
"I sang it for the first time for myself. Everything was going on but nobody knew about it," Gaynor says about her breakup.
"I sang a marathon version of it when I began to think about my own situation and sang it for about 10 minutes. I was really feeling empowered and I think it just dawned on me that the song had truly become the story of my life. And I was not only surviving, I was triumphant."
Today Gaynor's still in demand, performing her Disco hits, including another favorite, "Never Can Say Goodbye."
She says that despite her divorce, she hasn't said farewell to the concept of marriage. And she believes the future holds nothing but possibilities.
"I don't blame marriage," she says. "I do understand and appreciate the institution of marriage and I can look back and say I gave my all to the marriage and that it (ending) wasn't my fault. If anything, I was not setting up boundaries for myself. He was very controlling. I'd wonder, "Where do you end and I begin?'"
Gaynor says she's happy now, and that one day she might meet that special someone, but believes that you don't find love when you go looking for it.
"I attribute my happiness now to my faith." Gaynor became a born-again Christian in 1982. "I had come to a place in my life that everyone would call success, yet I felt unfulfilled. I'm a very analytical person, so I was very curious. I went on a quest to find out what can make a person feel fulfilled.
"I had cars, houses, jewels, furs, and a husband who loved me, and a career I was happy with. But I found fulfillment in my relationship with Christ," she says.
"The best way I can describe it is when you've had a huge meal -- soup to nuts -- yet you're not satisfied. Something didn't quite do it for me. Christ does not fulfill the human element, but he certainly fulfills every other need in your life. As far as I'm concerned, there's no better love affair."
In the future, Gaynor sees shifting her focus from singing to giving back to her community. She wants to help teenagers and other young people starting families without fathers.
"I want to establish a center in Newark with a large staff of people with degrees in psychology and marriage and family counseling," Gaynor says, noting that she was the "neighborhood babysitter" as a young girl living in the city. "It's a large vision that I have."
(Inside NJ- Star Ledger: 3-19-09)
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Gloria Gaynors Home
Gloria Gaynor's Pina Colada Cake Recipe
by Lisa Irizarry (NJ Star Ledger)
Thursday March 19, 2009, 12:19 AM
So when Inside Jersey writer Lisa Irizarry asked for the cake recipe during the interview, Gaynor offered to make it, right then and there.
"I have everything here I need to make it. The only thing is you have to take it with you," she told the writer. Apparently she didn't want to be tempted with leftover pastry.
As the session continued, the aroma of pina colada cake filled the house.
Gaynor also offered her guest a homemade dipping sauce for bread. But this recipe she wouldn't share because she plans to market it, she says.
"I like to go to the Macaroni Grill (in Edison) but I don't like olive oil," Gaynor says. "They have this great rosemary bread and I like to dip it in this. I take it in a little bottle to restaurants and someone else always ends up taking it home."
Gaynor says she loves coming up with her own culinary creations or adding her own touches to a recipe or a dish to make it her own. What made her think up a pina colada cake?
"I love pina coladas."
Pina Colada Cake
1 box Duncan Hines yellow cake mix
1 container Duncan Hines coconut pecan cake frosting
3 large eggs (room temperature)
1/3 cup whole milk
8 oz. shredded coconut
1 20-oz. can crushed pineapple
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup of (salted) melted butter
1. Blend cake mix with eggs
2. Blend in melted butter
3. Add and blend in pineapple
4. Blend in milk and sour cream (a small amount at a time, alternating the two)
5. Add and blend in coconut
6. Blend on medium speed for 4 minutes
7. Bake approximately 5 minutes longer than recipe on box recommends, then test with a toothpick in center of cake.
8. Allow layers to cool. Apply pecan frosting to the top and between layers.
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Gloria Gaynor: 'Surviving' in Christ
By Heather Salon
The 700 Club
CBN.com – SHE WILL SURVIVE
Gloria Gaynor is best known for singing the hit song, I Will Survive, which is still popular 30 years after its release. Gloria feels great that this song still resonates with audiences around the world. She feels this song is a gift that God has given her for the public, and she has shared this song in 85 countries where the impact has been positive.
One of the testimonies she has of the popular song is when she performed in Italy. Gloria sang the Christian version of the song where the lyrics point to God (“Only the Lord could give me strength not to fall apart…”). An Asian girl had missed her flight to go home and she was able to tell Gloria that the Christian version of the song helped keep her from committing suicide.
Gloria has steadily been releasing albums and performing since her 1978 breakout hit. In March of 2001, her single, Just Keep Thinkin’ About You, topped the Billboard Dance/Club charts at number 1, while her international hit, Last Night, with Giorgio Moroder debuted at number 1 throughout Europe. She was also the first artist to record an album especially for clubs. Gloria was the first to do a mega-extended dance medley party mix, releasing 12" dance singles that are now high-end collectors items.
In September 2002, she released the much anticipated U.S. album, entitled I Wish You Love - her first worldwide release in 15 years. This gave birth to four number 1 dance singles on Billboards Dance Charts, as well as her first top ten, I Never Knew, on Billboard's Adult Contemporary Charts. She also recorded a new version of I Will Survive in Spanglish, recorded live in Brazil. Also in 2002, she was honored at the World Music Awards in Monte Carlo with the coveted LEGEND award presented by long time fan Prince Albert.
Gloria made a splash on Broadway in the longest running musical revue, Smokey Joe’s Café, and on national TV as a guest star on such popular programs as That ‘70’s Show, Ally McBeal and more, introducing her to a whole new generation of fans. The film industry continues to feature I Will Survive on the soundtrack of more than a half dozen major motion picture releases. VH-1 honored Gloria Gaynor with the number one spot during their countdown of the Top 100 Dance Records of All Time for I Will Survive. 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 that took place in New York City. Gloria even found time to write an autobiography entitled, I Will Survive (St. Martin’s Press). She also lends her support to numerous charities, ranging from the likes of The Rita Hayworth Gala for Alzheimer’s to Revlon’s Annual Walk for Life.
Gloria still attends Christian Cultural Center, pastored by A.R. Bernard. To Gloria, the Bible is not a religious book, it is a book of life. She uses it in every area of her life. Her favorite Scripture passage is Proverbs 3:5-6, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.”
About Christians living in these current times, Gloria says, "Christians don’t have to worry about anything going on in the world today; we are protected, but only if we live by my favorite Scripture." She draws wisdom from the classic hymn, His Eye is on the Sparrow, …Jesus is my portion…
"God allows circumstances to build us up. God has got our back," Gloria said.
In March 2009, Gloria hopes to release her first gospel album. To commemorate the 30th Anniversary of I Will Survive, Gloria would like to put her Christian version of the song as a bonus track on the Gospel album.
Also, Gloria has been studying on-line to get her degree in psychology. She hopes to start a center for teenage parents in New Jersey when she graduates in 2010. She plans to retire from singing and devote all of her time to the center.
CHRISTMAS PRESENCE
Gloria has released her first Christmas album, Christmas Presence. Two songs that are special to her are God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen and Hark the Herald Angels Sing. She chose God Rest… because Christmas has gotten too commercial; like the line in the song says, “Remember Christ our Saviour was born on Christmas day…,” we need to dedicate Christmas Day to that thought. Hark the Herald… is a call for us to glorify God in our lives. God calls for us to worship Him, and worship is more for our benefit, not God’s. When we worship, we remind ourselves that God is behind us and we have nothing to worry about.
I AM WHAT I AM
“All through my young life I wanted to sing, although nobody in my family knew it,” Gloria said. She came by the desire early, since her mother and father sang, as well as her six brothers and one sister.
Gloria says her family was “poor but happy” growing up in Newark, New Jersey. Having been forced to attend church as a child by her strict mother, Gloria’s mom refused to go as an adult and didn’t make her children go, though Gloria always believed in God. One brother picked up a love for gospel music when he stayed with his grandmother and passed that love along to Gloria. Gloria was active in school singing groups, and after high school began singing in area nightspots while holding down a day job.
In terms of worldly success, Gloria says the 70s was her decade. New York City became the center of the musical universe with lots of new stars - and Gloria was up there shining among them. Gloria signed her first record contract when she was 19. Her song, Honey Bee, became immensely popular in the Clubs and was called the Disco
National Anthem. In 1973, Gloria made history as Billboard gave birth to the Disco Action Charts. Never Can Say Good-Bye bowed at number 1 on the charts and became the first Dance Song to reach number 1 status in dance music. It became a big, worldwide seller.
In 1975, Gloria was elected “Queen of the Discos,” after her initial success. Her career making song, I Will Survive, came along in 1978 and became a huge hit, selling 14 million copies within the first year. This seemed like a propitious time for Gloria since she was coming out of a difficult period in which she’d been hospitalized several weeks.
By this time she’d met her husband Linwood, a music publisher and former policeman. They married in October 1979, and later divorced in 2005. Through it all, Gloria has learned that her sense of worth and fulfillment is found only in Christ Jesus and she gives Him all the praise for what He’s done for her.
Survivor
It has been remade in punk, salsa, country, and rock versions. It has been recorded in Turkish, Japanese, Russian, Korean, French, and Portuguese. It has been warbled on The Muppet Show, parodied in an American Greetings e-card, and used to satirize Queen Elizabeth on a British TV puppet show. It has turned up on soundtracks ranging from Men in Black II to Ally McBeal—and a football movie called The Replacements. It has become an anthem for survivors of breast cancer, domestic violence, HIV/AIDS, and other causes.“If this is the only song I will be remembered for, I am so thankful,” says the woman whose high-voltage vocal rocketed it to number one in 1979.
“I Will Survive” has, to put it mildly, survived—and so has 58-year-old Gloria Gaynor, who began singing shortly after she graduated from Newark’s Southside High School and had her first professional gig soon thereafter at the Orbit Lounge in the city’s Ironbound section.
Trivia buffs note that when the song was first released in late 1978 it was actually the B side of the single, but disc jockeys liked it better than the A side. Nonetheless, Gaynor says, “I knew it was destined to be a hit. It’s more than just a feel-good song; it provides hope and encouragement and can be empowering.”
With Gaynor’s soaring vocal immortalizing lines like “I’ve got all my life to live, I’ve got all my love to give,” the song won the only Grammy ever bestowed on a disco tune. (In 1980, the category was eliminated in an anti-disco backlash.)
The song had great meaning for Gaynor even when she first recorded it. “I could relate to the lyrics,” she says. “I had boyfriend trouble, and was dealing with being a woman in show business. It made me think of my mother, who died from cancer in 1970. The lyrics truly celebrate the tenacity of the human spirit.” Next May, Gaynor will serve as honorary chairwoman of the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure, the breast-cancer research fundraiser that for the first time will be held in Newark.
Gaynor and her six siblings grew up in the care of their mother, Queenie Mae, who was separated from their father, Daniel Fowles, a vaudeville performer who was usually on the road. “My dad saw me one time, at the Paradise Lounge in Newark,” Gaynor recalls. “He came to a show where Cannonball Adderley and Yusef Lateef were also playing. It meant a lot to me because I know he could understand what I’d gone through to get to that place.
“My Mom sang, so I knew where my talent came from, but she wanted me to have something to fall back on,” Gaynor says. “I took bookkeeping and cosmetology, but I didn’t tell her that the reason I was taking the classes was so I could do my own makeup and finances when I became a performer!” Mike Curb, head of MCA Records, heard her sing, and signed her in 1974.
She has just released her seventeenth album, Christmas Presence, and hopes to release a jazz album next year. She’s still writing music and performing. “I do 50 to 100 shows a year,” she says. When she’s not touring, Gaynor enjoys cooking and spending time with her husband, Linwood Simon, family, and friends. She’s also pursuing a degree at Ellis College of New York Institute of Technology. Staying in New Jersey was a natural decision. “My family is here. I love Somerset County. It’s got rural charm and it’s a short ride to New York. I also love the New Jersey tap water.” (NJ Monthly Magazine)
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 7, 2008
ESSEX COUNTY EXECUTIVE DIVINCENZO
AND NEWARK COUNCIL PRESIDENT CRUMP WELCOME
SUPERSTAR GLORIA GAYNOR HOME TO ESSEX COUNTY
Singer is Recognized for Career Achievements and Charitable Activities;
NJPAC Concert Scheduled for Sunday, December 14th
Newark, NJ - Essex County Executive Joseph N. DiVincenzo, Jr. and Newark Council President Mildred Crump honored international superstar and Newark native Gloria Gaynor on Friday, November 7th in the Essex County Hall of Records. The celebration recognized the popular singer for her career achievements and charitable activities, and highlighted her return to Essex County to perform at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center later this winter. During the program, Ms. Gaynor got the crowd dancing on their feet when she took the microphone and sang her signature song "I Will Survive."
"Essex County is an amazing place that is rich in diversity and talent. We are always proud to raise awareness about the greatness that is born here, and welcome home Essex County natives whose impact has influenced our lives," DiVincenzo said. "Gloria Gaynor is a superstar who has always remembered her roots and has inspired generations with her music and signature song ‘I Will Survive.' Her successful music career and her contributions to the community make her a role model for others. It is an honor to welcome back a superstar like Gloria Gaynor, who has never lost touch with the place where she was born," he added.
"Once again, Gloria Gaynor has demonstrated that the City of Newark produces ‘the best.' Born and reared in Newark, she continues to honor her roots," Newark Council President Crump said. "I am so glad that we have the opportunity to honor her. She is a great lady with a great gift that she has shared with the world," she added.
"This is unbelievable. I can't express how overwhelmed I am at this great reception. I will leave here today with a renewed and strengthened resolve to be a role model for the young people of Newark and Essex County," Ms. Gaynor said. "I am really proud to be born and raised here and hold up the banner of my hometown wherever I travel," she added.
Gloria Gaynor was born at Beth Israel Hospital in Newark, graduated from South Side High School (now known as Shabazz) in 1961 and often attended Metropolitan Baptist Church in Newark with her family. Her first professional appearance was at the Cadillac Club at Halsey Street and Williams Street in Newark and her first paid performance was at a club in Newark's Ironbound.
Ms. Gaynor's first hit record was "Never Can Say Goodbye" in 1974 and she attained superstardom in 1979 when "I Will Survive" topped the disco charts. The mega-hit has served as an inspiration to millions of people facing just about any hardship imaginable. With the return of dance music in the 1990s, Gaynor's career took off again. She has entertained audiences in nearly 100 countries - including performances in England, Germany, France, Italy, Finland, Turkey, Russia and Spain in just this year alone - and sings in three languages - English, Spanish and Portuguese.
For more than 30 years, Ms. Gaynor has kept setting newstandards. In 2001, her single,"Just Keep Thinking About You," topped the Billboard Dance/Clubcharts at No. 1, while her international hit "LastNight" with Giorgio Moroder debuted at No. 1 throughout Europe. She also wasfirst to record an album especially for clubs andfirst to do a mega-extended dance medley part mix, releasing 12-inch dance singles that are now high-end collectors' items. In2002, Logic Records/BMG released "I Wish You Love," her first worldwide release in 15 years that gave birth to four No. 1 singles on Billboard's Dance Charts and her first-ever top 10 hit, "INever Knew." In 2002, she was honored at the World Music Awards in Monte Carlo with the coveted LEGEND Award, presented by longtime fan Prince Albert. She also appeared on Broadway in the longest-running musical revue,"Smokey Joe's Cafe."
She is proud of her upbringing in Newark and never fails to tell people where she grew up. She was inducted into the South Side/Shabazz High School Hall of Fame in 2005. Known for her sense of humility and charitable endeavors, Ms. Gaynor helped dedicate the new $6 million cancer center at Trinitas Hospital in Elizabeth, encouraged breast cancer survivors and their families at the First Annual Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure in Essex County Branch Brook Park this spring and strongly supports the American Diabetes Association, United Cerebral Palsy and the New Jersey Crime Victims Association.
Ms. Gaynor returns to her hometown of Newark to headline a concert at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center on Sunday, December 14th at 3 p.m. The event also features The Trammps and Eddie Holman.
"We are honored to have the County Executive bring stars like Gloria Gaynor back to Essex County," Freeholder President Blonnie Watson said. "It's a blessing to have Gloria here and we are proud to have her represent Newark and Essex County around the world," she added.
"I want to thank my friend Gloria for putting Essex County on the map. Her song has inspired millions of people to carry on. Who hasn't sang and danced away their problems while listening to her song?" said Barbara Kukla, author and retired Star-Ledger editor. "Today Gloria is being appreciated for her accomplishments and for being our ambassador to the world," she added.
"It is my privilege to be here today. I know, respect and adore Gloria," said Deborah Belfatto, Executive Director of the North Jersey Affiliate of the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. "As a breast cancer survivor of 20-plus years, I can say that Gloria has made these women believe and trust that they will survive. And many are because of our work and her song of inspiration," she added.
The celebration at the Essex County Hall of Records is part of the County Executive's initiative to recognize the diversity of Essex County as well as highlight the achievements of residents.
Press Release: November 7, 2008
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- June 04, 1979
- Vol. 11 /No. 22
Gloria Gaynor Isn't Just Whistling Disco When She Says 'i Will Survive'
Indeed, at 29, Gloria has survived not only the unhappy love affair described in the song (it was based on her first man at 17, "Lamont something, I don't even remember his last name") but also career calamity. She had four straight unsuccessful albums and stayed alive only by working 50 weeks a year, mostly in Europe. "I knew I had something to offer and was determined not to waver." Then she took a bad fall onstage. "I woke up in the morning and couldn't turn over," she remembers. Last year Gloria underwent a risky six-hour spinal fusion, followed by three months in the hospital and three more in a brace before she could boogey again.
Now she's making her first national tour of America's big halls as opening act for the Village People's disco extravaganza. The last of the 44 stops is her New York base where Gaynor hopes for another first: to marry her manager of four years, Linwood M. Simon, 32. "He says the 'M' stands for Magnificent, and I quite agree," she says. They met when Simon, an ex-subway cop from Brooklyn, was managing his sisters, then Gaynor's backup trio. "One day the girls showed me a picture of their brothers. I saw Linwood and said, 'This is the man I'm going to marry.' " Three months later they had their first date and have been "together ever since," although they keep separate apartments. "When I get married, I want to stay married," she says. "If there's an argument, we talk about it and I submit."
Right now the only fight that either is losing is Gloria's battle of the bulge. "I have an oral fixation," shrugs Gaynor, who hopes to pare 25 pounds off her 5'5" frame to get back to 130. Since she cheats on her diets, she has lately resorted to acupuncture staples in her ear to curb her hunger.
Gloria grew up the middle child of seven of a Newark firehouse dispatcher who had once sung in vaudeville. "We were poor but didn't know it," she recalls. "There was music everywhere to keep us happy. My brothers could harmonize with waterpipes." At 8 she practiced with records by Nat King Cole, the Everly Brothers, Buddy Holly and Sarah Vaughn, because she couldn't afford voice lessons. Her mother thought show business was "too unstable," so Gloria worked as an auditor and a beautician for five years after high school. (She still does her own makeup and coiffure.) Then a Jersey club band leader asked her up on stage one night and was so impressed he took her on tour. She formed her own group, City Life, and played the East, singing jazz and even classical, then switching to disco because "it was an open market."
She then made history with the first LP in which each song blended nonstop into the next. "If you're really a disco dancer, you're just getting started after two minutes and 50 seconds," she figures. Now Gloria finds the scene changed. "I'm embarrassed by the lack of clothing and the sexual dances—things that are repulsive to parents." Her lyrics, some of which she writes herself, are always wholesomely inspirational. (She plans to study piano next year so she can do more composing.)
"Success hasn't spoilt me—it's spoilt everybody else around me," Gaynor kids. She has loaned her brothers and sisters portions of her seven-figure earnings to help them start careers, and she showers gifts on 14 nieces and nephews. Currently perched in a splashily decorated three-bedroom Jersey apartment overlooking Manhattan, Gaynor plans to build a house for the two or three kids she'd like to have. "Nobody is going to raise my kids for me," she promises, but she does get "itchy" between tours, she admits, and finds herself watching five soaps a day. She goes back into the recording studio again in August and will follow up with another overseas tour (she's already logged 30 countries). Gloria also wants to take acting lessons to implement her "lifelong fantasy" of playing a Doris Day-type film role—"There'll be no X-rated stuff for me."
But disco remains Gloria's first priority and she won't give it up for "a long, long time. It's not going to end, it's going to evolve." Just as she has dresses in her closets in sizes from 10 to 16, Gaynor's ready for any contingency. "If they decide they want to waltz again," says the original Queen, "then I'll do disco music they can waltz to."
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