Eye Of The Tiger – Survivor

Fun Facts

The hit single Eye of the Tiger is the title track off of the third album by the hard rock band Survivor. It topped the US singles chart for seven weeks in a row and became the biggest selling single of 1982.
Survivor was initially founded in 1978 by lead singer and keyboardist/guitarist Jim Peterik and his bandmate Frankie Sullivan.
Eye of the Tiger was featured in the movie Rocky III, and the song was actually inspired by actor Sylvester Stallone who asked the band to write and record a hard rock anthem for the movie. The single was released the day after Rocky III premiered.
The title Eye of the Tiger seemed too obvious at first to the band, but after listening to the demo recording, they knew the title was perfect.
The song had tremendous radio airplay, and the music video was in high rotation on MTV. Eye of the Tiger topped charts all over the world during 1982. In the United States, it stayed No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for six total weeks.
In August 1982, the RIAA certified Eye of the Tiger platinum, boasting sales of 2 million vinyl records.
The single was nominated for Best Original Song at the 1982 Academy Awards. It was later also nominated for the Best Song of the Year at the 1983 Grammy Awards.
On several occasions, the band fought against unpermitted use of the song by prominent American politicians like Newt Gingrich, Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee. The politicians wished to use the song at their political rallies. The band fought and won.

Rising up, back on the street

Did my time, took my chances

Went the distance, now I’m back on my feet

Just a man and his will to survive

So many times it happens too fast

You change your passion for glory

Don’t lose your grip on the dreams of the past

You must fight just to keep them alive

It’s the eye of the tiger

It’s the thrill of the fight

Rising up to the challenge of our rival

And the last known survivor

Stalks his prey in the night

And he’s watching us all with the eye of the tiger

Face to face, out in the heat

Hanging tough, staying hungry

They stack the odds ’til we take to the street

For the kill with the skill to survive

It’s the eye of the tiger

It’s the thrill of the fight

Rising up to the challenge of our rival

And the last known survivor

Stalks his prey in the night

And he’s watching us all with the eye of the tiger

Rising up straight to the top

Had the guts, got the glory

Went the distance, now I’m not going to stop

Just a man and his will to survive

It’s the eye of the tiger

It’s the thrill of the fight

Rising up to the challenge of our rival

And the last known survivor

Stalks his prey in the night

And he’s watching us all with the eye of the tiger

The eye of the tiger