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Eye of the Tiger

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This article is about the song by Survivor. For other uses, see Eye of the Tiger (disambiguation).

"Eye of the Tiger" is a song by the American rock band Survivor. It was written as the theme song for the 1982 film Rocky III and released that year as a single from Survivor's third album, Eye of the Tiger.

"Eye of the Tiger"
Single by Survivor
from the album Rocky III and Eye of the Tiger
B-side"Take You on a Saturday"
ReleasedMay 1982[1]
Genre
Length4:04 (album version)
3:45 (single version)
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
  • Frankie Sullivan
  • Jim Peterik
Survivor singles chronology
"Summer Nights"
(1982) 		"Eye of the Tiger"
(1982) 		"American Heartbeat"
(1982)
Audio sample
"Eye of the Tiger"
Music video
Eye of the Tiger on YouTube

Sylvester Stallone, the director and star of Rocky III, enlisted Survivor to write the song after the band Queen denied him permission to use their song "Another One Bites the Dust". They derived lyrics, including the title, from dialogue in the film, and conceived a riff with chord changes to match the punches in the boxing scenes.

"Eye of the Tiger" reached number one on the charts of many countries. In the US, it was number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for six weeks, spent 15 consecutive weeks in the top ten, and was the second-bestselling single of 1982. It was certified platinum in August 1982, for sales of two million copies. In the UK, "Eye of the Tiger" sold 956,000 copies and was number one on the UK Singles Chart for four consecutive weeks.

At the 25th Annual Grammy Awards, "Eye of the Tiger" won Best Rock Performance by Duo or Group with Vocal and was nominated for Song of the Year. At the 55th Academy Awards, it was nominated for Best Original Song.

Writing

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In 1982, the American band Survivor had released two unsuccessful albums, and were concerned they would be dropped by their record label.[4] The director and actor Sylvester Stallone enlisted them to write a song for his 1982 film Rocky III, after Queen denied him permission to use "Another One Bites the Dust".[4][5] Stallone told them he wanted "something street"[4] with a pulse to match the punches of the boxing scenes.[6] He sent them a copy of the montage used in the film's introduction, depicting the boxer Rocky Balboa and the ascent of his rival, Clubber Lang.[4][5]

"Eye of the Tiger" was written by the guitarist, Frankie Sullivan, and the keyboardist, Jim Peterik.[7] They conceived a riff based on chord changes to mirror the timing of punches.[4][5] They took the title from a line spoken by Rocky's coach, Apollo Creed: "You had that eye of the tiger, man, the edge ... You gotta get it back."[4] Stallone took the phrase from the 1969 film A Dream of Kings.[8]

Survivor initially planned to title the song "Survival", and had the chorus: "Rising up to the spirit of our rival / And the last known survivor stalks his prey in the night / And it all comes down to survival", with "survival" rhyming with "rival". Peterik said later: "That ['eye of the tiger'] hook is so strong, and 'rival' doesn't have to be a perfect rhyme with the word 'tiger'. We made the right choice and went with 'Eye of the Tiger'."[9]

Survivor recorded a demo at the Chicago Recording Company on February 1, 1982.[5][6] Sullivan was so destitute that he used a guitar with a broken headstock he glued back together.[4] The band attempted to capture a drum sound similar to that of the Led Zeppelin drummer, John Bonham.[5] Stallone loved the demo and insisted on using it in the film.[4] Survivor rerecorded it for the album and single releases.[6]

Release and reception

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"Eye of the Tiger" gained extensive MTV and radio airplay and topped charts worldwide during 1982. In the United States, it held No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for six weeks.[4] In August 1982, it was certified double platinum in the US for sales of two million copies.[10] In the United Kingdom, "Eye of the Tiger" sold 956,000 copies and was number one on the UK Singles Chart for four weeks.[11] It was the UK's third best-selling single in 1982.[12] By February 2015, It had sold over 4.1 million in downloads in the US.[13] Sullivan felt people related to the message of self-empowerment: "It's about getting your ass out of bed. It's about saying: 'I'm not going to try to go to the gym Monday – I am going to go to the gym Monday.'"[4]

Music video

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The music video for "Eye of the Tiger" was filmed in San Francisco.[14]

Accolades

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At the 25th Annual Grammy Awards, "Eye of the Tiger" won Best Rock Performance by Duo or Group with Vocal and was nominated for Song of the Year, but lost to "Always on My Mind" by Willie Nelson.[15] At the 55th Academy Awards, it was nominated for Best Original Song (the only Academy Award nomination for Rocky III), but lost to "Up Where We Belong" from An Officer and a Gentleman.[16]

Use in political campaigns

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In 2012, Survivor sued the Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich in Illinois federal court for using "Eye of the Tiger" without authorization as entrance music at his political rallies going back as far as 2009.[17] The suit was settled out of court.[18] In the same year, Sullivan demanded that Mitt Romney, another Republican candidate, stop using "Eye of the Tiger" at his campaign rallies. Romney agreed to drop the song from the campaign's playlists.[18]

Sullivan's company Rude Music filed a lawsuit in federal court in Chicago, Illinois, on November 18, 2015, against the former Governor of Arkansas and Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee's campaign organization for using "Eye of the Tiger" at a political rally without permission. [19] In June 2016 it was reported by CNN that Huckabee had agreed to pay $25,000 in compensation.[20][21]

Credits and personnel

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Credits adapted from the album Eye of the Tiger.[22]

Charts

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Weekly charts

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Certifications

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Region Certification Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[71] Platinum 100,000^
Canada (Music Canada)[72] 2× Platinum 200,000^
Denmark (IFPI Danmark)[73] 2× Platinum 180,000‡
France (SNEP)[74] Gold 500,000*
Germany (BVMI)[75] 3× Gold 750,000‡
Italy (FIMI)[76] 2× Platinum 100,000‡
Japan (RIAJ)[77]
Digital 		Gold 100,000*
Mexico (AMPROFON)[78] Gold 30,000*
United Kingdom (BPI)[80] 3× Platinum 1,650,293[79]
United States (RIAA)[82]
Digital 		8× Platinum 8,000,000[13][81]
United States (RIAA)[82]
Mastertone 		Gold 500,000*
United States (RIAA)[82]
Physical single 		2× Platinum 2,000,000^

* Sales figures based on certification alone.
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "RIAA certifications for "Eye of the Tiger"". Recording Industry Association of America.
  2. ^ Holden, Stephen (July 28, 1982). "The Pop Life; RCA Gambling on Kenny Rogers". The New York Times. Retrieved April 16, 2018.
  3. ^ Stosuy, Brandon (January 5, 2009). "VH1's 100 Greatest Hard Rock Songs". Stereogum. Retrieved October 28, 2024.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Jack, Malcolm (January 27, 2020). "Survivor: how we made Eye of the Tiger". The Guardian. Retrieved September 20, 2023.
  5. ^ a b c d e Wood, Jaes (October 19, 2012). "Interview: Guitarist Jim Peterik Talks 'Tiger' and the New Pride of Lions Album, 'Immortal'". Guitar World. Retrieved March 29, 2014.
  6. ^ a b c Ling, Dave (July 23, 2021). "The story behind Survivor's Eye Of The Tiger". Classic Rock. Retrieved October 1, 2023.
  7. ^ "Today in Music History: 'Eye Of The Tiger'". www.thecurrent.org. Retrieved October 1, 2023.
  8. ^ Siskel, Gene (May 18, 1986). "Stallone wields a pen with Rambonian power". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved October 1, 2023.
  9. ^ Uitti, Jacob (November 1, 2021). "Behind The Song: Survivor's "Eye of the Tiger"". American Songwriter. Retrieved October 1, 2023.
  10. ^ Hoffman, Christopher (May 30, 2022). "Survivor's Frankie Sullivan talks making of 'Eye of the Tiger' on it's [sic] 40th anniversary". WJTC. Retrieved March 24, 2024.
  11. ^ "Survivor". Official Charts Company. Retrieved September 7, 2017.
  12. ^ Copsey, Rob (March 12, 2021). "The Official Top 50 best-selling songs of 1982". Official Charts Company. Retrieved July 10, 2021.
  13. ^ a b Grein, Paul (February 4, 2015). "The 15 Most Downloaded Songs in Rock History". Yahoo! Music. Archived from the original on January 19, 2016. Retrieved June 25, 2015.
  14. ^ "ORIGINAL SURVIVOR VOCALIST DAVE BICKLER ON "EYE OF THE TIGER" VIDEO - "I AM SURPRISED THAT ALMOST 2 BILLION PEOPLE HAVE WATCHED IT"". BraveWords. October 25, 2021. Retrieved February 16, 2024.
  15. ^ "25th Annual Grammy Awards (1982)". Grammy.com. Retrieved February 19, 2021.
  16. ^ "The 55th Academy Awards – 1983". Oscars.org. Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. October 5, 2014. Retrieved September 28, 2019.
  17. ^ "Newt Gingrich Sued For Using Survivor's 'Eye of the Tiger' at Rallies". Rolling Stone. January 31, 2012. Retrieved November 19, 2015.
  18. ^ a b Bryant, Christian (September 9, 2015). "Rock band Survivor has been going after GOP politicians over the years for using their song "Eye of the Tiger" without permission". Newsy. Retrieved November 19, 2015.
  19. ^ McCaskill, Nolan D. (November 18, 2015). "Huckabee sued for playing 'Eye of the Tiger' at Kim Davis rally". Politico. Retrieved November 19, 2015.
  20. ^ Kaufman, Gil (June 28, 2016). "Mike Huckabee Owes Survivor $25,000 for Playing 'Eye of the Tiger' At Rally". Billboard. Retrieved June 30, 2016.
  21. ^ Kreps, Daniel (June 27, 2016). "Mike Huckabee Settles 'Eye of the Tiger' Lawsuit for $25,000". Rolling Stone. Retrieved June 30, 2016.
  22. ^ Eye of the Tiger (liner notes). Survivor. Scotti Bros. 1982. Retrieved April 2, 2016.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  23. ^ "Australia No. 1 hits -- 1980's". World Charts. Archived from the original on May 20, 2011. Retrieved June 9, 2013.
  24. ^ "Survivor – Eye Of The Tiger" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved May 26, 2014.
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  29. ^ Pennanen, Timo (2021). "Survivor". Sisältää hitin - 2. laitos Levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla 1.1.1960–30.6.2021 (PDF). Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava. p. 251. Retrieved June 18, 2022.
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  54. ^ "Survivor – Eye Of The Tiger". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved May 26, 2014.
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  58. ^ "Forum – ARIA Charts: Special Occasion Charts – Top 100 End of Year AMR Charts – 1980s". Australian-charts.com. Hung Medien. Archived from the original on October 6, 2014. Retrieved May 26, 2014.
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  60. ^ "Jaaroverzichten 1982" (in Dutch). Ultratop. Hung Medien. Retrieved May 26, 2014.
  61. ^ "Top 100 Singles of 1982". RPM. Vol. 37, no. 19. December 25, 1982. Retrieved May 16, 2016.
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  66. ^ Rees, Dafydd; Lazell, Barry; Jones, Alan (1983). "The Top 100 UK Singles". Chart File Volume 2. London, England: Virgin Books. pp. 80–81. ISBN 0-907080-73-1.
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  72. ^ "Canadian single certifications – Survivor – Eye of the Tiger". Music Canada.
  73. ^ "Danish single certifications – Survivor – Eye of the Tiger". IFPI Danmark. Retrieved April 26, 2023.
  74. ^ "French single certifications – Survivor – Eye of the Tiger" (in French). InfoDisc. Retrieved November 9, 2021. Select SURVIVOR and click OK. 
  75. ^ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Survivor; 'Eye of the Tiger')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. Retrieved November 30, 2023.
  76. ^ "Italian single certifications – Survivor – Eye of the Tiger" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Retrieved September 16, 2019. Select "2019" in the "Anno" drop-down menu. Type "Eye of the Tiger" in the "Filtra" field. Select "Singoli" under "Sezione".
  77. ^ "Japanese digital single certifications – Survivor – Eye of the Tiger" (in Japanese). Recording Industry Association of Japan. Retrieved August 24, 2022. Select 2014年3月 on the drop-down menu
  78. ^ "Certificaciones" (in Spanish). Asociación Mexicana de Productores de Fonogramas y Videogramas. Retrieved October 6, 2021. Type Survivor in the box under the ARTISTA column heading and Eye of the Tiger in the box under the TÍTULO column heading.
  79. ^ Copsey, Rob (September 19, 2017). "The UK's Official Chart 'millionaires' revealed". Official Charts Company. Retrieved September 9, 2018.
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  81. ^ https://www.riaa.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/DIGITAL-SINGLE-AWARD-RIAA-AND-GRF-CERTIFICATION-AUDIT-REQUIREMENTS96.pdf [bare URL PDF]
  82. ^ a b c "American single certifications – Survivor – Eye of the Tiger". Recording Industry Association of America.

[1]

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  1. ^ https://www.riaa.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/DIGITAL-SINGLE-AWARD-RIAA-AND-GRF-CERTIFICATION-AUDIT-REQUIREMENTS96.pdf [bare URL PDF]
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