Gloria Gaynor (𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐧 September 7, 1943) is an American singer , best known for disco- era hits such as ” 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, 1983).

Childhood

Gaynor was 𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐧 Gloria Fowles in Newark, New Jersey , to Daniel Fowles and Queenie Mae Proctor. Her grandmother lived nearby and influenced her education. “There was always music in our house,” Gaynor wrote in her autobiography, I Will Survive . She enjoyed listening to the radio, and recordings 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. Gloria grew up a tomboy: she had five brothers, but no sisters. Her brothers sang gospel music and formed a quartet with a friend.

Gaynor was not allowed to sing with the all-male group, and her younger brother Arthur was not allowed to join the group either, as Gloria was a girl and Arthur was too young. Arthur later acted as Gaynor’s tour manager. The family was relatively poor, but Gaynor recalls the house being filled with laughter and happiness, and the dinner table always open for neighborhood friends to join. They moved to a housing project in 1960, where Gaynor attended South Side High School. “Throughout my youth, I wanted to sing, although no one in my family knew it,” Gaynor wrote in her autobiography. Gaynor began singing in a nightclub in Newark, where a neighbor introduced her to a local band. After several years performing in local clubs and along the East Coast, Gaynor began her recording career in 1971 at Columbia Records.