Eye of the Tiger

"Eye of the Tiger" is a song by the American rock band Survivor. It was written by Frankie Sullivan and Jim Peterik as the theme song for the 1982 film Rocky III and released that May as a single from Survivor's third album, Eye of the Tiger. The song combines hard rockMultiple sources:

• with a post-disco beat.

Sylvester Stallone, the director and star of Rocky III, enlisted Survivor after Queen denied him permission to use their song "Another One Bites the Dust". Survivor derived lyrics and 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 10, 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. It has been used without authorization in several Republican campaigns, which Survivor has opposed.

Writing

By 1982, the American band Survivor had released two unsuccessful albums and were concerned they would be dropped by their record label. That year, the director and actor Sylvester Stallone enlisted them to write a song for his film Rocky III, after Queen denied him permission to use "Another One Bites the Dust". Stallone asked for "something street" with a pulse to match the punches of the boxing scenes. 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.

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

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". They changed it as they felt the "eye of the tiger" hook was stronger and did not have to rhyme perfectly.

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

Release

"Eye of the Tiger" was played extensively on MTV and radio, and topped charts worldwide during 1982. In the United States, it was number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for six weeks. In August 1982, it was certified double platinum in the US for sales of two million copies. "Eye of the Tiger" sold 956,000 copies in the UK and was number one on the UK singles chart for four weeks. It was the UK's third-best-selling single in 1982. By February 2015, It had sold more than 4.1 million in downloads in the US. 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.'"

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. At the 55th Academy Awards, it was nominated for Best Original Song (the only nomination for Rocky III), but lost to "Up Where We Belong" from An Officer and a Gentleman. The music video depicts the band members walking through city streets and an industrial warehouse. In May 2024, the video reached one billion views on YouTube.

Use in political campaigns

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. The lawsuit was settled out of court. In the same year, another Republican candidate, Mitt Romney, agreed to stop using "Eye of the Tiger" at his rallies. In 2016, the Republican candidate Mike Huckabee agreed to pay $25,000 in compensation for using "Eye of the Tiger" at a rally without permission.

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from the album Eye of the Tiger.

• Dave Bickler – vocals
• Frankie Sullivan – guitar
• Jim Peterik – piano, keyboards
• Stephan Ellis – bass
• Marc Droubay – drums

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

All-time charts

Certifications

References

References

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