Gloria Gaynor clubs, and then on the Club Play chart in late 1983/early 1984. "I Am What I Am" became a gay anthem and made Gaynor a gay icon. Her 1986 album, "The Power of Gloria Gaynor", was almost entirely composed of cover versions of other songs that were popular at the time. Gaynor's career received a revitalizing spark in the early and mid 1990s with the worldwide disco revival movement. During the late 1990s, she dabbled in acting for a while, guest starring on "The Wayans Bros", "That '70s Show" (singing "I Will Survive"), and "Ally McBeal," before doing a limited
Gloria Gaynor 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 went to South Side High School. "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, NJ., where she was recommended to a local band by a neighbor. After several years of performing in local clubs and along the Country's east coast Gaynor began her recording