Gloria Gaynor discusses 'I Will Survive,' new documentary, timeless multi-genre appeal

Oscar Wilde once said, "The self-conscious aim of life is to find expression."

The validity of that statement is evidenced in the creative work of legendary singer-songwriter Gloria Gaynor.

Eight decades into her life and seven decades into creating art, she spoke recently with The Tennessean after visiting Music City for the Nashville Film Festival premiere of her 2023-released documentary "I Will Survive."

Her career is highlighted by Grammy wins separated by four decades. In 1980, her now Library of Congress National Recording Registry-preserved, globally triple-platinum-selling disco hit "I Will Survive" won for Best Disco Recording.

In 2020, her 20th album, the Nashville-recorded gospel release "Testimony," won for "Best Roots Gospel Album."

She described the connection between the award-winning work that has tent-posted her career as its ability to "organically celebrate life's positivity" via "caring, sharing and social relief from life's stressors."

Gaynor's work alongside the Bee Gees and Donna Summer offered three dozen global crossover top-ten singles between 1974 and 1983 that sold well over 25 million albums and 20 million singles in the United States alone.

Disco songs like Gaynor's "I Will Survive," plus her cover of The Jackson 5's "Never Can Say Goodbye" and "I Am What I Am," the Bee Gees' soundtrack to the 1977 film "Saturday Night Fever," as well as Summer's era bookends "Love to Love You Baby" and "She Works Hard for the Money" became part of the fabric linking pop culture and popular music.

The unprecedented social freedom caused by four-on-the-floor, nightclub-ready drums or synthesized beats, plus liberated, progressive-minded lyrics aimed primarily at marginalized communities, melded with the ideologies of the civil rights, gay rights and women's rights movements.

"We touched on every concern and topic that people wanted to celebrate or hear about," recalled the vocalist. "People needed to be heard and seen in their best light."

The result was a decade that allowed for soulful creatives from areas not traditionally known for sustained commercial acclaim in soul music -- like Newark, New Jersey native Gaynor -- to have unprecedented moments in the spotlight.

Conservative backlash against the entrenchment of songs platforming those at society's margins as cultural bellwethers proved debilitating to preserving the lifestyle and success gained by artists like Gaynor.

In her documentary, she recalls a moment in 1981 while attempting to maintain her disco-defined success alongside her then-husband and manager Linwood Simon. She had favored using marijuana to offset the stress of a hard-hustling touring schedule. While at a party, she saw her husband surrounded by women who were using cocaine and Gaynor perceived that he would fall prey to their charms and increase his drug use.

She, herself, decided to sample cocaine.

The moment did not agree with her family-driven upbringing around gospel music and prompted her to revive her religious beliefs.

It also precipitated a quarter-century period where Gaynor grew apart from her husband's addiction to maintain a connection to what remained of that era's party-first lifestyle desires.

"He was afraid that we would financially suffer if I [was more faith than disco-based] in my work," she said.

"However, my fans needed to know who I was [beyond disco]. I am a whole person whose designs and desires for my life needed to align with me being seen as multi-faceted rather than fragmented."

The couple eventually divorced in 2005.

Between 2005 and 2019, though, Gaynor's career output slowed. However, in that time, she healed herself by achieving a work-life balance for the first time in nearly a half-century.

It, like all noteworthy moments in her life, required extraordinary survival.

In 2017, after years of counseling, the performer revealed that she was a victim of childhood sexual abuse. One year later, she underwent a two-part spinal surgery after four decades of issues stemming from a fall over a monitor during a live performance that caused her temporary paralysis before she recorded the A-side/B-side release that contained "I Will Survive."

A year later, she released her gospel album, "Testimony," via Gaither Music Group.

Overall, the process took five years and saw her work alongside Executive Director, Creative at Broadcast Music, Inc. Shannon Sanders, plus the production and engineering team of Chris Stevens and F. Reid Shippen and guest collaborators Yolanda Adams, Bart Millard, Jason Crabb and Mike Farris.

"Nashville has an incredible creative community that has embraced me and my art without question," said Gaynor.

"The energy, vibe and messages in my music spreading globally has, often unexpected by me, allowed my career to evolve worldwide many times," she added, in regards to unexpectedly ending up with Music City in her career's unique creative arc.

"To receive the ultimate creative validation, twice, in different genres, is incredibly rewarding. I always knew I was blessed with the potential to be multi-dimensional in my art," Gaynor said of a career with two Grammy wins in genres many consider diametrically opposed.

"I've survived many situations, so the phrase means everything to me now. ["I Will Survive"] has defined me and my existence in an unprecedented manner, she said. "Plus, untold millions of people worldwide have benefitted from relating to how that song celebrates the tenacity of the human spirit."

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Gloria Gaynor discusses new documentary, gospel, disco, country appeal