VIA PRESS RELEASE | Gloria Gaynor’s perennial and iconic worldwide smash “I Will Survive” has received the special modern remix treatment by dance music producer Eric Kupper. On June 12, 2020, “I Will Survive (The Eric Kupper Remixes),” featuring three new remixes, will be released as a digital EP by UMe.
Written by Freddie Perren and Dino Fekaris and originally released in October 1978, the chart-topping single was destined to be a B-Side for the song “Substitute.” But the astute Gaynor saw the powerful potential in the track and the song found its audience. “‘I Will Survive’ has become an anthem around the globe for people facing challenges and tragedies in their life,” says Gaynor. “And now more than ever, we need to help each other and provide encouragement and inspiration through music whenever possible.”
Selling more than 14 million physical copies worldwide, the song’s massive success has continued in the streaming world with, on average, six million streams per month. Its iconic video continues growing, with more than 130 million views on YouTube. And now with three new remixes – “Eric Kupper Mix Extended,” “Eric Kupper Dub Mix,” and “Eric Kupper Mix Edit,” each created using the song’s original multi-track master tapes from the UMG vault along with Kupper’s celebrated production—the song will enjoy a rebirth for dance music enthusiasts for decades to come.
Brad LeBeau, of PRO MOTION. The Brad LeBeau Company. Inc., which commissioned the remixes and is also involved in marketing the Pop/Disco classic, and was the Executive Remix Producers for the recently released Diana Ross remix album, Supertonic, stated, “With four consecutive #1* Billboard dance charting singles to his credit, Kupper was the obvious choice to remix Gloria Gaynor’s signature single.” “I’m extremely happy that UMe has enlisted the world-renowned producer and deejay Eric Kupper to remix ‘I Will Survive’ for a 2020 Summer release,” Gaynor adds.
Showing the versatility and timelessness of the song, which a year ago celebrated its 40th anniversary at the top of the pop charts, has spawned multiple viral videos on social media, including Gloria’s #iwillsurvivechallenge on TikTok which challenged fans to lipsync to the track. At the very beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in early March, Gaynor was one of the first to film an instructional handwashing video urging fans to protect themselves from transmission of the virus. Using the chorus to “I Will Survive,” Gloria posted the video to social media, where it caught fire; the TikTok challenge amassed more than 4 million views and has been shared millions of times, receiving coverage on Huffington Post, TIME, Newsweek, CNN, and dozens of other news and media outlets.
As an artist who has had hit songs in each of the past five decades, Gaynor has especially been enjoying a recent surge in popularity over the last year. At the recent 2020 GRAMMY® Awards, Gaynor won for Best Roots Gospel Album for her latest album Testimony, which had debuted Top 5 in the Billboard Top Gospel Albums Chart, Top 3 on the iTunes Gospel Chart and Top 20 on Amazon’s Overall Album Chart. Testimony received rave reviews from Rolling Stone, Billboard, NPR, Parade, CBS Sunday Morning, The TODAY Show, New York Live, Forbes, BlackBook and more. Gaynor also recently launched her official YouTube channel, posting vintage concert and tv performance clips to share with her global fan base alongside new content relevant to her album Testimony and current creative focus.
