"I Will Survive" Singer Credits God For Her Healing
TESTIMONY
Gloria’s latest gospel album Testimony was recorded with Grammy winning producers Chris Stevens (TobyMac, Mandisa, Blake Shelton) and Reid Shippen (Dierks Bentley, Lady Antebellum, Kenny Chesney). The album consists of classic hymns and self-penned songs, as well as Bob Dylan’s Man of Peace. Special guests featured on the album include: Yolanda Adams, Jason Crabb, Mike Farris and Bart Millard (MercyMe). The project features many talented musicians who recorded together in the former RCA Studio A in Nashville’s Music Row where artists like Dolly Parton and Willie Nelson have recorded hits. Every track on the album features Gloria’s artistic spin and yet conveys a spiritual reverence. This month Gloria received two GRAMMY nominations: Best Roots Gospel Album for Testimony as well as Best Gospel Performance/Song category for Talkin’ ‘Bout Jesus, a powerful number featuring gospel legend Yolanda Adams. The release of Testimony comes as Gloria’s iconic hit, I Will Survive turns 40 this year.
Having been forced to attend church as a child by her strict mother, Gloria’s mom refused to go as an adult and didn’t make her children go, though Gloria always believed in God. In 1982, Gloria became a Christian and began to distance herself from a past she considered to be sinful.
PARALYZING BACK INJURY
In 1978, while performing a concert in New York, Gloria tripped and fell over a stage monitor. Although she finished the show, the next morning she was paralyzed from the waist down. The paralysis was only temporary but the pain from surgeries and treatments would last decades. She initially had surgery to remove a ruptured disc and fuse two of the vertebrae in her lower spine to restore her mobility, but after multiple treatments she continued to grapple with the pain. In 1997, she had corrective surgery to correct the spinal stenosis, but it made her back flat and caused her to lean forward. In 2018, she underwent a complicated surgical procedure to reconstruct her spine. Basically, they had to break her spine and then reconstruct it. She credits God for being with her every step of the way. She has been living pain free since this surgery and walking up straight.
SHE WILL SURVIVE
Gloria is best known for singing the hit song I Will Survive, which is still popular forty years after its release. Gloria feels great that this song still resonates with audiences around the world. She believes this song is a gift that God has given her for the public.
She has steadily been releasing albums and performing since her 1978 breakout hit. With I Will Survive, Gloria became the winner of the only Grammy Award ever presented for Best Disco Recording. Some of her other hits include I Never Knew and Just Keep Thinking About You. Gloria has performed for Broadway audiences in Smokey Joe’s Café as well as making TV appearances in series such as Ally McBeal and That 70's Show. Over the years, she’s often changed the lyrics of I Will Survive to express her faith. One of the testimonies she has of the popular song with the Christian version of the song is when an Asian girl had missed her flight to go home. She was able to tell Gloria that the Christian version of the song helped keep her from committing suicide.
Gloria has achieved many honors and awards through her career. In 2002, she was honored at the World Music Awards in Monte Carlo with the coveted LEGEND award presented by longtime fan Prince Albert and was the featured artist in the Tom Ford Tribute hosted by Tom and Rita Hanks. The Israel’s Consulate General, Ido Aharoni, visited her home church, the Christian Cultural Center in New York City, in 2016 to present her with the Martin Luther King, Jr. Peace Award. One year later, the Library of Congress honored her by inducting I Will Survive into its registry for the mark her song has left on the world. She continues to tour and speak to audiences around the globe. She was a presenter at the 2015 GRAMMY’s and the headliner at the 2015 Official GRAMMY Celebration. The same year, her book was a GRAMMY nominee for best spoken word album. The stories in the book reveal how her hit song has reached people from all walks of life and touched them in unique ways.
She attends Christian Cultural Center pastored by A.R. Bernard. To Gloria, the Bible is not a religious book, it is a book of life. She uses it in every area of her life. Her favorite scripture passage is “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.”
