Survivor

Survivor biography

Survivor is an American rock band formed in Chicago in 1978. The band achieved its greatest success in the 1980s with its arena rock sound, which garnered many charting singles, especially in the United States. The band is best known for its double platinum-certified 1982 hit "Eye of the Tiger", the theme song for the motion picture Rocky III (US #1 for 6 weeks). Singles like "Burning Heart" (US #2), "The Search Is Over" (US #4), "High on You" (US #8), "Is This Love" (US #9) and "I Can't Hold Back" (US #13) continued to chart in the mid-1980s.

The band tweaked its musical direction in 1988 with the release of the slightly heavier Too Hot to Sleep, but the album barely reached the Billboard 200 in the United States. Because of this, the band split. Singer Jimi Jamison later toured as 'Survivor' in the mid-1990s, to the chagrin of the rest of the band. Jamison re-united with the band's other members in 2000 and the band released Reach in 2006, but Jamison left the band after its release and was replaced by Robin McAuley. The band was continuing to tour with McAuley into 2011.

An announcement on Nov 13 2011 by Robin McAuley on his Facebook page revealed he left Survivor. A further announcement on 18th November confirmed that Jimi Jamison rejoined the band and was making plans to tour in 2012.

Founding Survivor members Jim Peterik, Gary Smith and Dennis Keith Johnson initially came together in 1977 as The Jim Peterik Band after Peterik had released an album, Don't Fight the Feeling, on Epic Records the previous year. Then in 1978, at the urging of tour manager Rick Weigand, Peterik hooked up with Frankie Sullivan, brought in singer Dave Bickler and Survivor was born. Peterik was previously the lead vocalist-guitarist for the band The Ides of March. After playing in small clubs for several years, Survivor was signed by Atlantic Records A&R executive John Kalodner. The group's first album, the self-titled Survivor, was released on the Atlantic subsidiary Scotti Bros. in early 1980, but the album produced no Top 40 singles, and did not achieve the level of success that the band had hoped for.

In 1981 Johnson and Smith had schedule conflicts with their other projects, so they were replaced by Stephan Ellis and Marc Droubay in time for the band's follow-up album, Premonition. It charted higher, achieving popularity with American audiences and giving the band its first Top 40 single, "Poor Man's Son." The album also showed off Bickler's range as a vocalist with its second single, "Summer Nights."

In 1982 Survivor's breakthrough arrived when actor Sylvester Stallone asked them to provide the theme song for his movie Rocky III. Stallone had heard their single "Poor Man's Son" and wanted a song similar to it. The band agreed to write him a song and soon released "Eye of the Tiger". The new song featured a faster tempo while still incorporating the stylish, nearly identical power chords. It had an enormous impact on the Billboard charts, peaking at #1 and remaining there for a total of six weeks. It also topped the British charts. It was in the Top 40 for a total of 18 weeks and was Australia's #1 single for four weeks. The song won the band a Grammy Award, was voted "Best New Song" by the People's Choice Awards, and also received an Academy Award nomination. The album of the same title, Eye of the Tiger, was released by the band later in 1982 and contained another Top 40 hit in the United States, "American Heartbeat" (#17 US). The album went on to chart at #2 in the United States.

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