Gloria Gaynor was a singer with the Soul Satisfiers, a jazz/pop band, in the 1960s. Her first solo single was "She'll Be Sorry / Let Me Go Baby" (1965).

The lyrics of "I Will Survive" are written from the point of view of a woman, recently dumped, telling her ex-lover that she can cope without him and does not want anything more to do with him. The song has become something of an anthem of female emancipation, and is still a staple of office parties and karaoke nights. In 1999, Pixar animator Victor Navone used this song to create an alien music video which for a time was a minor Internet phenomenon.

An interesting piece of trivia about "I Will Survive" is that it was originally the B-side when Polydor Records released it in late 1978. The A-side, a song called Substitute, was considered to be more "radio friendly." Radio DJs flipped the record over and audience response forced the record company to flip the songs and subsequent copies of the single listed the more popular song on the A-side.

"Never Can Say Goodbye" was the first song to top Billboard magazine's dance chart.

Some of her lesser-known disco songs include Honey Bee (1974), Casanova Brown (1975), and I Am What I Am (1983).

During the late 1990s she dabbled in acting for a while, guest starring on The Wayans Bros, That '70s Show, and Ally McBeal before doing a limited engagement performance in Broadway's Smokey Joe's Cafe.

She returned to the recording studio in 2002, releasing her first album in 20 years entitled, I Wish You Love. The two singles released from the album, Just Keep Thinking About You and I Never Knew, both topped the Billboard's Dance chart. The latter song also charted #30 on Billboard's Adult Contemporary chart.

Over 25 years after its release, Gaynor continues to ride the success of "I Will Survive", touring the country and the world over and performing her signature song on dozens of TV shows. This song along with "I Am What I Am" made Gaynor an icon to millions of young gay people all over the world in a period where the seminal gay rights movement had done its impact on the Western world and living in the closet was no longer the only option as societies gradually were mitigated in their taboo on the so-called gay lifestyle.

On September 19, 2005, Gaynor was honored twice when she and her music were inducted into the Dance Music Hall of Fame. She was inducted in the Artist Inductees category along with fellow disco legends CHIC and Sylvester and her classic anthem, "I Will Survive", was inducted under the Records Inductees category