"Eye of the Tiger" is a song by American

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band Survivor. It was released as a single from their third album of the same name and was also the theme song for the 1982 film ''

Rocky III ''Rocky III'' is a 1982 American sports drama film written, directed by, and starring Sylvester Stallone. It is the sequel to ''Rocky II'' (1979) and is the third installment in the ''Rocky'' franchise. Along with Stallone reprising the title rol ...

'', which was released a day before the single. The song was written by Survivor guitarist

Frankie Sullivan Frankie Sullivan (born February 1, 1955) is an American guitarist, best known for being a founding member of the rock band Survivor. He has been the only permanent fixture in its lineup since the band's 1977 inception. Early life According t ...

and keyboardist

Jim Peterik James Michael Peterik ( ; born November 11, 1950) is an American musician and songwriter. He is best known as the founder of the rock band Survivor, as vocalist and songwriter of "Vehicle" by the Ides of March, and as co-writer of the anthem " ...

, and it was recorded at the request of ''Rocky III'' star, writer, and director

Sylvester Stallone Sylvester Enzio Stallone (; born Michael Sylvester Gardenzio Stallone, ) is an American actor and filmmaker. After his beginnings as a struggling actor for a number of years upon arriving to New York City in 1969 and later Hollywood in 1974, h ...

, after

Queen Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...

denied him permission to use "

Another One Bites the Dust "Another One Bites the Dust" is a song by the British rock band Queen. Written by bassist John Deacon, the song was featured on the group's eighth studio album '' The Game'' (1980). It was a worldwide hit, charting number one on the US ''Billb ...

", the song Stallone intended as the ''Rocky III'' theme. The version of the song that appears in the film is the demo version of the song. The film version also contained tiger growls, which did not appear on the album version. It features original Survivor singer

Dave Bickler David Bickler (born March 31, 1953) is an American singer, best known as the lead singer for the rock band Survivor from 1978 until 1983, most notably on the #1 U.S. hit "Eye of the Tiger". In addition to his wide vocal range, his trademark l ...

on lead vocals. The song is also the title song to the 1986 film of the same name. "Eye of the Tiger" is written in the key of

C minor C minor is a minor scale based on C, consisting of the pitches C, D, E, F, G, A, and B. Its key signature consists of three flats. Its relative major is E major and its parallel major is C major. The C natural minor scale is: : Cha ...

. It gained tremendous

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

and radio airplay and topped charts worldwide during 1982. In the United States, it held No. 1 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart for six consecutive weeks (the band's only song to top the chart) and was the No. 2 single of 1982, behind

Olivia Newton-John Dame Olivia Newton-John (26 September 1948 – 8 August 2022) was a British-Australian singer, actress and activist. She was a four-time Grammy Award winner whose music career included 15 top-ten singles, including 5 number-one singles on the ...

's "

Physical Physical may refer to: *Physical examination In a physical examination, medical examination, or clinical examination, a medical practitioner examines a patient for any possible medical signs or symptoms of a medical condition. It generally co ...

". It spent fifteen consecutive weeks in the top ten, the second-longest run of 1982, behind "

Hurts So Good "Hurts So Good" is a song by American singer-songwriter John Mellencamp, then performing under the stage name "John Cougar". The song was a number two hit on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 for the singer/songwriter. It was the first of three major hi ...

" by

John Mellencamp John J. Mellencamp (born October 7, 1951), previously known as Johnny Cougar, John Cougar, and John Cougar Mellencamp, is an American singer-songwriter. He is known for his catchy brand of heartland rock, which emphasizes traditional instrument ...

(which was prevented from reaching the top of the Hot 100 by "Eye of the Tiger"). This top ten run is tied with the aforementioned "Another One Bites the Dust" as well as "Physical" as the longest run in the top ten for a number one song during the entire 1980s decade. The band won an award for "Best Rock Performance by Duo or Group with Vocal" at the

25th Annual Grammy Awards The 25th Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 23, 1983, at Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles. They recognized accomplishments by musicians from the previous year. Album of the Year went to Toto for ''Toto IV'', and Song of the Year went to ...

. In September 1982, it also peaked at No. 1 in the United Kingdom, remaining at the top of the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

for four consecutive weeks. The single sold 956,000 copies in United Kingdom in 1982. It was certified platinum in August 1982 by the RIAA, signifying sales of 2 million vinyl copies. The song had sold over 4.1 million in digital downloads in the United States alone by February 2015. It was voted VH1's 63rd-greatest hard rock song.

Background

In an interview with Songfacts, co-writer

, who shared writing credit with

, 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".

Accolades

The song was nominated for the 1982 Academy Award for

Best Original Song This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...

(the only Oscar nomination for ''Rocky III''), but it lost to "

Up Where We Belong "Up Where We Belong" is a song written by Jack Nitzsche, Buffy Sainte-Marie and Will Jennings that was recorded by Joe Cocker and Jennifer Warnes for the 1982 film '' An Officer and a Gentleman''. Warnes was recommended to sing a song from the fi ...

" from ''

An Officer and a Gentleman Conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman (or conduct unbecoming for short) is an offense that is subject to court martial in the armed forces of some nations. Use in the United Kingdom The phrase was used as a charge in courts martial of t ...

''. The band won an award for "Best Rock Performance by Duo or Group with Vocal" at the

. The song was also nominated for the 1983 Grammy Award for Song of the Year, but lost to the

Willie Nelson Willie Hugh Nelson (born April 29, 1933) is an American country musician. The critical success of the album ''Shotgun Willie'' (1973), combined with the critical and commercial success of ''Red Headed Stranger'' (1975) and '' Stardust'' (197 ...

hit " Always on My Mind".

Lawsuits

Newt Gingrich campaign

In 2012, Survivor sued

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

presidential candidate

Newt Gingrich Newton Leroy Gingrich (; né McPherson; born June 17, 1943) is an American politician and author who served as the 50th speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 1995 to 1999. A member of the Republican Party, he was the U ...

in Illinois federal court for using "Eye of the Tiger" without authorization as entrance music at his political rallies going back as far as 2009. The suit was later settled out of court.

Mitt Romney campaign

The same year Sullivan also demanded that

Mitt Romney Willard Mitt Romney (born March 12, 1947) is an American politician, businessman, and lawyer serving as the junior United States senator from Utah since January 2019, succeeding Orrin Hatch. He served as the 70th governor of Massachusetts f ...

, also a Republican candidate for president, should stop using "Eye of the Tiger" at his campaign rallies. Romney agreed to drop the song from the campaign's playlists.

Mike Huckabee's campaign

Frankie Sullivan's company Rude Music filed a lawsuit in federal court in Chicago, Illinois, on November 18, 2015, against the former

Governor of Arkansas A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political r ...

and Republican presidential candidate

Mike Huckabee Michael Dale Huckabee (born August 24, 1955) is an American politician, Baptist minister, and political commentator who served as the 44th governor of Arkansas from 1996 to 2007. He was a candidate for the Republican Party presidential nomina ...

's campaign organization for using "Eye of the Tiger" at a political rally without permission. The rally took place on September 8, 2015, when

Kim Davis Kimberly Jean Davis (; born September 17, 1965) is a former county clerk for Rowan County, Kentucky, who gained international attention in August 2015 when she defied a U.S. federal court order to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. ...

, a Kentucky county clerk, was released from jail after spending five days there for refusing to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples in Kentucky. In June 2016 it was reported by

CNN CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by ...

that Huckabee had agreed, in a confidential, out-of-court settlement with Sullivan's Rude Music, to pay $25,000 in compensation.

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from the album ''

Eye of the Tiger "Eye of the Tiger" is a song by American rock band Survivor. It was released as a single from their third album of the same name and was also the theme song for the 1982 film ''Rocky III'', which was released a day before the single. The song ...

''. *

– lead vocals *

– lead and rhythm guitars *

– grand piano, electric guitar *Stephan Ellis – bass *Marc Droubay – drums

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

All-time charts

Certifications

References

External links

* {{authority control 1982 songs 1982 singles 1995 singles EMI Records singles Film theme songs Survivor (band) songs Songs from Rocky (film series) Songs written by Frankie Sullivan Songs written by Jim Peterik Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles Cashbox number-one singles Number-one singles in Australia European Hot 100 Singles number-one singles UK Singles Chart number-one singles Irish Singles Chart number-one singles Number-one singles in Finland Number-one singles in Norway Number-one singles in South Africa Oricon International Singles Chart number-one singles RPM Top Singles number-one singles Scotti Brothers Records singles Boxing music