Eye of the Tiger

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"
Released	May 18, 1982[1]
Genre	Hard rock[2][3] AOR
Length	4:04 (album version) 3:45 (single version)
Label	EMI Scotti Brothers
Songwriter(s)	Frankie Sullivan Jim Peterik
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" file help
Music video
Eye of the Tiger on YouTube

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, 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. It has been used without authorization in several political 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.^[4] 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".^[4][5] Stallone asked for "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] 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."^[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: "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] The music video was filmed in San Francisco.^[10]

Release and reception

"Eye of the Tiger" was played extensively on MTV and radio, 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.^[11] "Eye of the Tiger" sold 956,000 copies in the UK and was number one on the UK singles chart for four weeks.^[12] It was the UK's third best-selling single in 1982.^[13] By February 2015, It had sold more than 4.1 million in downloads in the US.^[14] 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]

Accolades

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 nomination for Rocky III), but lost to "Up Where We Belong" from An Officer and a Gentleman.^[16]

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.^[17] The lawsuit 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]

On November 18, 2015, Sullivan's company Rude Music filed a lawsuit in federal court in Chicago, Illinois, against the campaign organization of the Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee for using "Eye of the Tiger" at a rally without permission.^[19] In 2016, Huckabee agreed to pay $25,000 in compensation.^[20][21]

Credits and personnel

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

• Dave Bickler – vocals
• Frankie Sullivan – lead and rhythm guitars
• Jim Peterik – grand piano, electric guitar
• Stephan Ellis – bass
• Marc Droubay – drums

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (1982–2020) Peak position Australia (Kent Music Report)[23] 1 Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[24] 2 Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[25] 3 Canada Top Singles (RPM)[26] 1 Canada (Hot Canadian Digital Singles)[27] 43 Denmark (IFPI)[28] 8 Finland (Suomen virallinen lista)[29] 1 France (IFOP)[30] 3 France (SNEP)[31] 62 Germany (GfK)[32] 13 Hungary (Single Top 40)[33] 8 Ireland (IRMA)[34] 1 Italy (Musica e Dischi)[35] 3 Japan (Oricon International Chart)[36] 1 Japan (Oricon Singles Chart)[36] 10 Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[37] 2 Netherlands (Single Top 100)[38] 6 New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[39] 4 Norway (VG-lista)[40] 1 Poland (Polish Airplay Top 100)[41] 54 South Africa (Springbok Radio)[42] 1 Slovenia (SloTop50)[43] 28 Spain (AFYVE)[44] 5 Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[45] 5 Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[46] 6 UK Singles (OCC)[47] 1 US Billboard Adult Contemporary[27] 27 US Billboard Hot 100[27] 1 US Billboard Hot Dance Club Play[27] 59 US Billboard Hot Digital Songs[27] 64 US Billboard Hot Ringtones[27] 9 US Billboard Top Tracks[27] 1 US Cash Box[48] 1

Year Chart Peak position 2007 Ireland (IRMA)[34] 8 Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[49] 80 UK Singles (OCC)[50] 47 2008 Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[51] 83 2009 Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[52] 77 2010 Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[45] 50 2011 France (SNEP)[31] 62 2012 France (SNEP)[31] 162 2013 Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[53] 74 Germany (GfK)[32] 95 Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[54] 72 UK Singles (OCC)[55] 65 2015 Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[56] 66

Year-end charts Chart (1982) Rank Australia (Kent Music Report)[57][58] 1 Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[59] 18 Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[60] 28 Canada Top Singles (RPM)[61] 2 Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[62] 27 Netherlands (Single Top 100)[63] 39 New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[64] 30 South Africa (Springbok Radio)[65] 2 UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[66] 3 US Billboard Hot 100[67] 2 US Cash Box[68] 1 Chart (1983) Rank France (IFOP)[69] 11

All-time charts Chart (1958–2018) Position US Billboard Hot 100[70] 26

Certifications

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)[79]	3× Platinum	1,650,293[80]
United States (RIAA)[81] Digital	8× Platinum	8,000,000[14][82]
United States (RIAA)[81] Mastertone	Gold	500,000*
United States (RIAA)[81] 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

• List of number-one singles in Australia during the 1980s
• List of Top 25 singles for 1982 in Australia
• List of Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles of 1982
• List of Billboard Mainstream Rock number-one songs of the 1980s
• List of Cash Box Top 100 number-one singles of 1982
• List of number-one singles of 1982 (Canada)
• List of number-one singles of 1982 (Ireland)
• List of number-one songs in Norway
• List of UK Singles Chart number ones of the 1980s