Gloria Gaynor is the Disco Queen of the 1970's and has survived and done so many things since then. I got to sit down and talk with Gloria Gaynor in Orlando at the Peabody Hotel before she was scheduled to perform next door at the Orlando Convention Center where Gladys Knight, B.B.King, Jane Pauley,Whoopi Goldberg, Larry King and Rob Reiner were there also to speak or perform.
There's a lot you may not know about Gloria Gaynor that when i was talking to her, I didn't know at first either. She's a super nice person and she's very strong - like you know whatever comes her way - she will survive. I felt her strength and her love while talking to her and maybe that's because of her strong religious feelings. Here's my talk with the Iconic Gloria Gaynor.
Q. “When did you realize you wanted to be a singer?”
A. “When I was about 12 or 13 years old.”
Q.” You started off singing jazz and later rhythm and blues (I’ve interviewed some great blues performers like Taj Mahal and Floyd Miles) and that’s a lot different then Disco- so how did you make the switch over to Disco music?”
A.”I switched over to disco music because the jazz music I was singing was starting to die a little bit and there weren’t as many performances available to me so I decided to change over to something that was going to be more lucrative & also to supply this new market that was growing - the Disco type of music.”
Q.” Kids think that they can go on stage and BAM they’re famous - most kids I know don’t know of the “Chitterling Circuit”. How long did it take you to where you said, “Wow, it looks like I’m doing good with my singing!”
A. “I started singing in 1962 and my first recording was 1972. It took 10 yrs of what I call honing my craft and I think that’s good because when you do that, you have the opportunity to really know what your doing and be comfortable before you become famous and rushed with a lot of people -doing autographs & people running you here and there- then you don’’t know what’s going on.
Q. “You are the Queen of Disco and that’s something really awesome because you’ve been a huge influence on people in the late 1970’s and now. But when you got to be a superstar and Grammy winner, could you still go to family and friends? I mean how did friends and family react to you once you got famous?”
A.”They kind of got famous too. I call myself - their claim to fame because when they hear me performing in a public place, they want to let people know I’m their sister, niece, aunt or whatever and so they reacted very well. They’re very proud of me and kind of gave me a little special treatment.”
Q.”Your song, “I Will Survive” has been inspirational for a lot of people. Have you heard of a particular inspirational thing that happened from your song and how did you feel.?”
A. “I’ve heard some really inspirational things about it. One of the things that happened was that(and this to me was amazing) I was in Brazil and doing one of my gospel secionts in my Disco Show -I just took a few minutes to do some gospel songs and in between the songs, I was talking about my faith and what it’s done for me. And there was a girl there who after the show went to her friend and they came back the next day-and she didn’t speak any English so she had no idea what I was saying and her girlfriend spoke English and Portuguese and her girlfriend said to me. This girl said there was a section in the show when I sing and then talk and it burns in her heart and you have to come with me and tell me what [Gloria Gaynor] is saying. So the girl brought her friend and she translated everything I said about Jesus, about how good He is to me and all of that and after the show, they both wanted to become Christians.”
Q. “What is your favorite song? And can you sing a bit for me?”
A. “My favorite song, originally it was called “I Will Survive” but it’s not the one you know- it’s a completely different song - it’s a Christian song and I changed the name of it when I recorded it because I didn’t want people to think Iwas singing the same song.”
The Queen of Disco, Gloria Gaynor, sang, “I will Survive” to me, and at that moment I thought I was the luckest kid in the World to have Gloria Gaynor sing just to me.
Q. “If you could say one way of How to Survive- what you’ve learned - what would it be?”
A. “You need to always be truthful with yourself and with others.”
Q. “You’ve performed in front of Presidents, Popes, International superstars, done Broadway (Smokey Joe’s Café), TV shows (That 70’s Show and Ally McBeal) and performed in more that 80 countries. Is there somewhere you’d like to go back and perform or somewhere new to perform?”
A.”I’d like to go back to Bali - because it’s absolutely beautiful and the people were really, really warm and they welcome you and make you feel at home- it was great.”
Q. Future Plans and gigs?
A. I have lots of plans for the future because I’m always working. I’ll be going back to a lot of countries - even before the year is over. - I’ll be going back to Croatia, to Spain, to Italy and to Brazil and I’m also getting ready to do a Gospel Album but the most exciting thing for me is - I’m In college! And I’m studying Psychology because I want to open a healing, learning and recreational center for teenage parents because I want the mothers and fathers to come together and raise their children together and learn how to be a family and be good for each other.
Talking to Gloria Gaynor, I felt a lot of her quiet strength and I know she’ll be helping a lot of kids in the future to survive. And while you may know her as the Disco Queen, I know her as a great lady.
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