Person Details

Birthday:

Aliases: Gloria Fowles

Gender: Female

Place of birth: Newark, New York, USA

Homepage: http://www.gloriagaynor.com/

Movie Involvements: 12

TV Involvements: 15


Most Famous Work

Biography

Gloria Gaynor (née Fowles; born September 7, 1943) is an American singer, best known for the disco era hits "I Will Survive" (1978), "Let Me Know (I Have a Right)" (1979), "I Am What I Am" (1983), and her version of "Never Can Say Goodbye" (1974). Gaynor was born Gloria Fowles in Newark, New Jersey, to Daniel Fowles and Queenie Mae Proctor. Her grandmother lived nearby and was involved in her upbringing. "There was always music in our house", Gaynor wrote in her autobiography I Will Survive. She enjoyed listening to the radio, and to records 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 and one sister. Her brothers sang gospel and formed a quartet with a friend. Gaynor was not allowed to sing with the all-male group, nor was her younger brother Arthur, as Gloria was a girl and he was too young. Arthur later acted as a tour manager for Gaynor. The family was relatively poor, but Gaynor recalls the house being filled with laughter and happiness, and the dinner table being open to neighborhood friends. They moved to a housing project in 1960, where Gaynor attended South Side High School; she graduated in 1961. "All through my young life I wanted to sing, although nobody in my family knew it", Gaynor wrote in her autobiography. Gaynor began singing in a night club in Newark, where she was recommended to a local band by a neighbor. After several years of performing in local clubs and along the East Coast, Gaynor began her recording career in 1971 at Columbia Records. Gaynor was a singer with the Soul Satisfiers, a jazz and R&B music band, in the 1960s. She recorded "She'll Be Sorry/Let Me Go Baby" (for the first time as Gloria Gaynor) in 1965, for Johnny Nash's "Jocida" label. Her first real success came in 1973 when she was signed to Columbia Records by Clive Davis. The fruit of that was the release of the flop single "Honey Bee". Moving on to MGM Records she finally hit with the album Never Can Say Goodbye, released in 1975. The first side of the album consisted of three songs ("Honey Bee", "Never Can Say Goodbye", and "Reach Out, I'll Be There"), with no break between the songs. This 19-minute dance marathon proved to be enormously popular, especially at dance clubs. All three songs were released as singles via radio edits and all of them became hits. The album was instrumental in introducing disco music to the public, "Never Can Say Goodbye" becoming the first song to top Billboard magazine's dance chart. It was also a hit on the mainstream Pop Charts, peaking at No. 9, and on the R&B Charts, reaching No. 34 (the original version by The Jackson 5 had been a No. 2 hit on the Hot 100 in 1971). It also marked her first significant chart success internationally, making it into the Top 5 in Australia, Canada, Germany and the UK. The song would go on to be certified silver by the British Phonographic Industry, and subsequently gold in the US. ... Source: Article "Gloria Gaynor" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.

Most Famous Work

The Masked Singer
Average
8

The Masked Singer

(2019) Mermaid (archive footage)
Where Are They Now?
Average
8

Where Are They Now?

(1999) Self
Goldene Kamera Verleihung
Average
4
Système 2
Average
0

Système 2

(1975) Self
Musik liegt in der Luft
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0

Musik liegt in der Luft

(1991) Self - Singer
Die Lotto-Show
Average
2

Die Lotto-Show

(1998) Self
I Love the '70s: Volume 2
Average
0
Michael Jackson: 30th Anniversary Celebration
Average
8

Acting

Year Character Movie/Tv
2023 Self
2022 Dr. Poitier
2019 Mermaid
Mermaid (archive footage)
2013 Self (archive footage)
2012 Self
2009 Self
2007 N/A
Self
Self
Self
2006 Self
Self
2005 self
2004 Self
2001 Self
2000 Self
1999 Self
1998 Self
Mrs. Clark
Cameo
1997 Gloria Gaynor
1996 Self
1995 Gloria Gaynor
1993 Self
1992 Self (archive footage)
1991 Self - Singer
1986 Self
1982 Self
Self
Self
1979 Self
1975 Self
Self
1973 Self
1972 Self
1971 Self
1968 Self
1966 Self
1961 Self - Co-Host
1959 Self
Year Character Movie/Tv

Production

Year Role Movie/Tv
2023 Producer
Year Role Movie/Tv

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