Gloria Gaynor
| Gloria Gaynor | |
|---|---|
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Gaynor in 1976
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| Background information | |
| Born |
September 7, 1949 Newark, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Genres | Disco, R&B |
| Occupation(s) | Singer, songwriter, actress |
| Instruments | Vocals |
| Years active | 1965–present |
| Labels |
MGM (1965–76) Polydor (1976–83) Chrysalis (1984–85) Stylus (1986–88) Hot Productions (1996–97) Logic (2000–04) Radikal (2005–Present) |
| Associated acts | Soul Satisfiers, Marvin Gaye, Luther Vandross |
| Website | www |
Gloria Gaynor (born September 7, 1949) is an American singer, best known for the disco era hits "I Will Survive" (Hot 100 number 1, 1979), "Never Can Say Goodbye" (Hot 100 number 9, 1974), "Let Me Know (I Have a Right)" (Hot 100 number 42, 1980) and "I Am What I Am" (R&B number 82, 1982).
Gloria Fowles was born in Newark, New Jersey, to Daniel Fowles and Queenie May Proctor. Her grandmother lived nearby and was involved in her upbringing. "There was always music in our house", Gaynor wrote in her autobiography, I Will Survive. She enjoyed listening to the radio, and to records by Nat King Cole and Sarah Vaughan. Her father played the ukulele and guitar and sang professionally in nightclubs with a group called Step 'n' Fetchit. Her brothers sang gospel and formed a quartet with a friend. Gaynor was not allowed to sing with the all-male group, nor was her younger brother, Arthur, because he was too young. Arthur later acted as a tour manager for Gaynor. The family was relatively poor, but Gaynor recalls the house being filled with laughter and happiness, and the dinner table being open to neighborhood friends. They moved to a housing project in 1960 and Gloria grew up as a tomboy. "All through my young life I wanted to sing, although nobody in my family knew it", Gaynor wrote in her autobiography.
Gaynor was a singer with the Soul Satisfiers, a jazz/R&B music band, in the 1960s. She recorded "She'll Be Sorry/Let Me Go Baby" (for the first time as Gloria Gaynor) in 1966, for Johnny Nash's Jocida label. Her first real success came in 1975 when she was signed to Columbia Records by Clive Davis. The fruit of that was the release of her album Never Can Say Goodbye on Columbia Records. The first side of the album consisted of three songs ("Honey Bee", "Never Can Say Goodbye" and "Reach Out, I'll Be There") with no break between the songs. This 19-minute dance marathon proved to be enormously popular, especially at dance clubs. All three songs were released as singles via radio edits and all of them became hits. The album was instrumental in introducing disco music to the public, "Never Can Say Goodbye" becoming the first song to top Billboard magazine's dance chart. The Jackson 5 cover was successful on the mainstream Pop Charts as well, peaking at #9, and on the R&B Charts, reaching #34. It also marked her first significant chart success internationally, making it into the Top 5 in Australia, Canada, Germany and the UK. The song would go on to be certified silver by the British Phonographic Industry, and subsequently gold in the US. Capitalizing on the success of her first album, she quickly released her second album, Experience Gloria Gaynor, later that same year. Some of her lesser-known singles, due to lack of recurrent airplay — including "Honey Bee" (1974), "Casanova Brown" (1975), and "Let's Make A Deal" (1976), as well as her cover of The Four Tops' "Reach Out, I'll Be There" (which also became a #14 hit on the UK Singles Chart) — became hits in the clubs and reached the Top 5 on Billboard's disco charts. Many charted on the Hot 100 and R&B charts as well, with songs like "(If You Want It) Do It Yourself" - a #1 disco hit - peaking at #98 on the Pop Charts and #24 on the R&B Charts. Her cover of "How High The Moon" topped the US Dance Charts, and made the lower parts of both the Pop and R&B charts, as well as achieving some international chart success. After her 1976 album, I've Got You, she shifted from her hit production team, to work with other productions. Since then, Gloria Gaynor had recorded some 16 albums including one in England, One in Germany, and 2 in Italy.
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