The queen of disco is the subject of documentary ‘I Will Survive,’ which explores her battle to fulfill her dream of recording her first gospel album
If there is an icon who represents resilience, there’s no doubt that it’s Gloria Gaynor, every bit a survivor, with expertise in rising from the ashes. The documentary I Will Survive, now showing on Prime Video, portrays the struggle of the singer, beginning in 2015, to write and record a full-length gospel album. At the 2020 Grammys, when that very album, Testimony, won Best Roots Gospel Album, Gaynor proclaimed: “I am at last able to balance out my piano.” The words were a winking reference to the Grammy she won 40 years earlier with producers Dino Fekaris and Freddie Perren. That February 27, 1980 was the first and last time a Grammy was awarded for Best Disco Recording.
Gaynor is currently on tour in Europe, performing her greatest hits and songs off her recently released album Happy Tears. When she published her autobiography, also titled I Will Survive, she said that her life was far from over, an assertion she repeated during her EL PAÍS interview. Why does she think it’s important to tell her story? “I always say, I’m not smart enough to make an original mistake,” Gaynor muses. “I think that other people have gone through similar things, and I wanted them to see that it’s possible to survive and thrive after going through traumatic situations in your life.”
You were living in survival mode for a long time, but right now you’re thriving, enjoying life. How did you make that switch?
Answer. Mostly my faith. I was a Christian since childhood, but during my marriage, I began to really practice and try to be the best possible person I could be, and spread love and joy and peace and happiness.