Survivor- Eye Of The Tiger

Survivor- Eye Of The Tiger

 

 

Eye of the Tiger

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"Eye of the Tiger"
Single by Survivor
from the album Rocky III Original Soundtrack and Eye of the Tiger
B-side "Take You on a Saturday"
Released May 29, 1982
Format 7"
Recorded 1982
Genre Hard rock
Length 4:06, 3:45 (Single)
Label EMI, Scotti Brothers
Writer(s) Frankie Sullivan, Jim Peterik
Producer Frankie Sullivan
Certification 2× Platinum (RIAA)
Survivor singles chronology
"Summer Nights"
(1982)
"Eye of the Tiger"
(1982)
"American Heartbeat"
(1982)
Music sample
0:00

"Eye of the Tiger" is a song by American rock band Survivor. It was released in May 1982 as a single from their third album Eye of the Tiger. It was written at the request of actor Sylvester Stallone, who was unable to get permission for Queen's "Another One Bites the Dust". The song was to be the theme song for the movie Rocky III, in which Stallone was playing the main role. The movie version of the song is different from the album version because it features tiger growls. It gained tremendous MTV and radio airplay and topped charts worldwide in 1982. It is memorable for its guitar riff and anthemic chorus. It was certified platinum in August 1982 by the RIAA, signifying sales of 2 million vinyl copies, and the song has sold 3 million in digital downloads by March 2012.[1] It was voted VH1's 63rd greatest hard rock song.[2]

Contents

Background

In an interview with Songfacts, co-writer Jim Peterik explained the song's title.

At first, we wondered if calling it 'Eye of the Tiger' was too obvious. The initial draft of the song, we started with 'It's the eye of the tiger, it's the thrill of the fight, 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.' We were going to call the song 'Survival'. In the rhyme scheme, you can tell we had set up 'rival' to rhyme with 'survival'. At the end of the day, we said, 'Are we nuts?' That 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'.[3]

Charts and sales

Chart positions

Chart (1982) Peak
position
Australia (Kent Music Report) 1
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[4] 2
Canada (RPM) 1
Finland (Suomen virallinen lista)[5] 1
France (SNEP)[4] 62
Germany (Media Control Charts)[6] 13
Ireland (IRMA)[7] 1
Italy (FIMI)[8] 3
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[9] 2
New Zealand (RIANZ)[4] 4
Norway (VG-lista)[4] 1
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[4] 5
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[4] 6
United Kingdom (The Official Charts Company) 1
U.S. Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks 1
U.S. Billboard Hot 100[10] 1
U.S. Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks 27

End-of-decade charts

End of decade (1980–1989) Position
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 5

Certifications

Region Certification Sales/shipments
Canada (Music Canada)[11] 2× Platinum 200,000^
France (SNEP)[12] Gold 873,000[13]
Italy (FIMI)[14] Platinum 30,000*
Japan (RIAJ)   244,000[15]
United Kingdom (BPI)[16] Gold 1,410,000[17]
United States (RIAA)[18] 2× Platinum (physical)
Platinum (digital)
Gold (MT)
2,000,000 (physical)
3,492,000 (digital)[19]
500,000 (ringtones)
Total available sales:   8,749,000

*sales figures based on certification alone
^shipments figures based on certification alone
xunspecified figures based on certification alone

Chart successions

Preceded by
"Caught Up in You" by 38 Special
Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks number-one single
July 3, 1982 – July 31, 1982
Succeeded by
"Think I'm in Love" by Eddie Money
Preceded by
"Don't You Want Me" by The Human League
Billboard Hot 100 number one single
July 24, 1982 - August 28, 1982
Succeeded by
"Abracadabra" by Steve Miller Band
Preceded by
"Come on Eileen" by Dexys Midnight Runners
UK Singles Chart number one single
4 September 1982 - 25 September 1982
Succeeded by
"Pass the Dutchie" by Musical Youth
Preceded by
"Abracadabra" by Steve Miller Band
Australian Kent Music Report number-one single
September 20, 1982 - October 25, 1982
Succeeded by
"Come On Eileen" by Dexys Midnight Runners

 

Author:Bling King
Published:Apr 30th 2013
Modified:Apr 30th 2013
3

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