"Eye of the Tiger" is a song by the American rock band Survivor. It was written by Frankie Sullivan and Jim Peterik as the theme song for the 1982 film Rocky III and released that May as a single from Survivor's third album, Eye of the Tiger. The song combines hard rock with a post-disco beat.
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 and 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 10, and was the second-bestselling single of 1982. It was certified double 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 Republican 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. 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". Stallone asked for "something street" 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. They conceived a riff based on chord changes to mirror the timing of punches.
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". They changed it as they felt the "eye of the tiger" hook was stronger and did not have to rhyme perfectly.
Survivor recorded a demo at the Chicago Recording Company on February 1, 1982. "Eye of the Tiger" sold 956,000 copies in the UK and was number one on the UK singles chart for four weeks. It was the UK's third-best-selling single in 1982. By February 2015, It had sold more than 4.1 million in downloads in the US. 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.'" 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. The music video depicts the band members walking through city streets and an industrial warehouse. In May 2024, the video reached one billion views on YouTube.
Use in 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. The lawsuit was settled out of court. In the same year, another Republican candidate, Mitt Romney, agreed to stop using "Eye of the Tiger" at his rallies.
Credits and personnel
Credits adapted from the album Eye of the Tiger.
- Dave Bickler – vocals
- Frankie Sullivan – guitar
- Jim Peterik – piano, keyboards
- Stephan Ellis – bass
- Marc Droubay – drums
Charts
Weekly charts
{|class="wikitable sortable"
!Chart (1982–2025)
!Peak<br />position
|-
|Australia (Kent Music Report)
|align="center"|1
|-
|-
|-
|-
|Canada (Hot Canadian Digital Singles)
|align="center"|8
|-
|Finland (Suomen virallinen lista)
|align="center"|1
|-
|France (IFOP)
|align="center"|3
|-
|-
|-
|-
|Iceland (Dagblaðið Vísir)
|align="center"|1
|-
|-
|Italy (Musica e Dischi)
|align="center"|3
|-
|Japan (Oricon International Chart)
|align="center"|1
|-
|Japan (Oricon Singles Chart)
|align="center"|50
|-
|South Africa (Springbok Radio)
|align="center"|1
|-
|scope="row"|Slovenia (SloTop50)
|align="center"|28
|-
|Spain (AFYVE)
|align="center"|5
|-
|-
|-
|-
|US Billboard Adult Contemporary
|align="center"|27
|-
|US Billboard Hot 100
|align="center"|1
|}
{|class="wikitable sortable"
!Year
!Chart
!Peak<br />position
|-
|rowspan="3"|2007
|-
|-
|-
|2008
|-
|2009
|-
|2010
|-
|2011
|-
|2012
|-
|rowspan="4"|2013
|-
|-
|-
|-
|2015
|}
Year-end charts
{|class="wikitable sortable"
!Chart (1982)
!Rank
|-
|Australia (Kent Music Report)
|align="center"|1
|-
|Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)
|align="center"|18
|-
|Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)
|align="center"|28
|-
|Canada Top Singles (RPM)
|align="center"|2
|-
|Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)
|align="center"|27
|-
|Netherlands (Single Top 100)
|align="center"|39
|-
|New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)
|align="center"|30
|-
|South Africa (Springbok Radio)
|align="center"|2
|-
|UK Singles (Official Charts Company)
|align="center"|3
|-
|US Billboard Hot 100
|align="center"|2
|-
|US Cash Box
|align="center"|1
|}
{|class="wikitable"
!Chart (1983)
!Rank
|-
|France (IFOP)
|align="center"|11
|}
All-time charts
{|class="wikitable"
!Chart (1958–2018)
!Position
|-
|US Billboard Hot 100
|align="center"|26
|}
Certifications
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