How Gloria Gaynor Survived: Six Best Moments from the Tribeca Film Festival Documentary Premiere

Although Gloria Gaynor is best known for her Hot 100-topping 1978 disco anthem, “I Will Survive,” more than four decades later, she’s doing more than that – she’s thriving.

During this year’s Tribeca Film Festival, Gloria Gaynor: I Will Survive, directed by Betsy Schechter, screened to a buzzing audience of a few hundred film and music enthusiasts alike. The documentary is a sublime take on the 79-year-old artist’s comeback journey working on a passion gospel project in tandem with the ebbs and flows of her historical career.

Despite being an established name in music well into her seventies, Gaynor contends with enduring past freak accidents, ageism, abuse and pivoting music genres. The film and Gaynor share themes of owning who you are and love, maintaining perseverance and inclusivity, and breaking down barriers for other Black and female artists. 

From intimately humorous moments with manager Stephanie Gold in a hospital, to a live dazzling performance from the legend herself and a special guest, here are the six best moments from the screening last Friday (June 9) at downtown New York’s Spring Studios. 

Gloria Gaynor breaks the fourth wall talking to New York audiences about “I Will Survive.”

After suffering a fall onstage performing in New York’s Beacon Theatre in 1978, Gaynor woke up one day suddenly unable to move and without a record deal. Luckily, Polydor Records reached out to Gaynor, seeking to have her re-record the insanely popular UK song “Substitute” as the A-side, and “I Will Survive” as the B-side. Gaynor flew to Los Angeles in a back brace to record both songs.

Reflecting on the song, she speaks candidly to the camera, “I thought, you’re gonna put this on the B-side… what are you, nuts?” The audience laughed as she broke the fourth wall remarking to the Tribeca audience, “New York loved it, and New York audiences don’t really love anything. It doesn’t really happen in New York.” 

The artist pays a poignant visit to a Spanish school.

In 2016, Gaynor went to visit Luis Vives School in Valencia, Spain, where the community was dealing with a tragic bus accident that senselessly killed multiple exchange students. To cope, the tween students went viral singing and performing a video of “I Will Survive” in Spanish — so Gaynor flew across the Atlantic to thank them in person. She’s emotional and genuine, tearing up and appreciative of how both the school’s children and adults were able to use her hit to get through an unexpected tragedy.  

Gaynor gets honored by The Library of Congress while being officially cemented as part of American history.

“I Will Survive” was added onto The Library of Congress’s registry in 2016 as a key part of American history, and Gaynor went on to perform her hit in Washington D.C. for its celebration in 2017. She speaks on how, every decade, there’s a new reason people can relate to the disco classic — Its message of tenacity in spire of everything, while amplifying voices that aren’t traditionally on a pedestal, continues to ring true.

Gaynor and her manager, Stephanie Gold, provide a glimpse into their tight-knit relationship. 

Over 40 years after Gaynor suffered her traumatic fall at the Beacon Theatre that prevented her from properly standing, walking and dancing, she went through extensive spinal realignment surgery to get it all fixed in 2018. The risky operation consists of breaking the spine and placing multiple metal rods in her back to straighten it again, so the artist can stand up and move pain-free. Before she arrives and checks into her surgery, Gold and Gaynor joke and tease each other about how nice they think the hospital stay will be. Even as lighthearted as they are before this serious procedure, Gold confesses to the camera that she would never manage and work with another artist after Gaynor. 

The power of Gaynor securing her second Grammy, forty years after her first one.

We see multiple intimate takes and Tennessee recording sessions of Gaynor’s years-long gospel project, funding it with her own money and bringing other Christian music artists like Jason Crabb on to help hone her craft. In 2019, the album, Testimony, is finally released as an homage to her Christianity and faith that guided her through dark times of abuse and an unhappy marriage.

Gaynor wins the Best Roots Gospel category at the 62nd Grammy Awards and dives into an impassioned speech. Looking back, she remembers, “Mission not accomplished, but mission being accomplished” – grateful for her continuing journey and recognizing that she can keep creating, despite any industry doubt and ageism.

Audience members break out into dance mode for Gaynor’s live performance set, including special guest Jason Crabb.

Of course, how can we forget the actual live performance from Gaynor herself — on stage with a full band, backup singers and a flashing glitzy purple backdrop? In full glam clad in a pale pink dress and dazzling white robe, Gaynor started her set with “Never Can Say Goodbye” and a cover of Sia’s “Unstoppable” before bringing out her surprise guest and collaborator, Jason Crabb.

The stunning duet of “Singin’ Over Me” earned applause, but it’s not until Gaynor belts out “I Will Survive” that everyone breaks out in full dance and song. The whole night and the good vibrations are summarized by one of Gaynor’s quotes in the film: “I’m gonna live until I die.”