Gloria Gaynor reveals pa behd 'I Will Survive' new doc

Contents:

• SGER GLORIA GAYNOR DETAILS THE DANGERO SURGERY SHE ENDURED TO BEAT CHRONIC PA
• GLORIA GAYNOR REVEALS SHE UNRWENT RISKY SPE SURGERY: 'I THOUGHT I WAS GOG TO DIE'
• ‘I WILL SURVIVE’ SGER GLORIA GAYNOR RELLS S-LONG HEALTH BATTLE: ‘I THOUGHT I WAS GOG TO DIE’
• GLORIA GAYNOR REVEALS REAL PA BEHD ‘I WILL SURVIVE’ NEW DOC
• 'I WOKE UP PARALYSED' SGER GLORIA GAYNOR RELLS HER 20 YEAR LONG HEALTH ORAL
• GLORIA GAYNOR, STILL SURVIVG NEW JERSEY
• GLORIA GAYNOR ACCINT – WAS SHE INVOLVED IN A CAR ACCINT?
• GLORIA GAYNOR, 'MASKED SGER' MERMAID, WENT ON TO SEE 'HOW REGNIZABLE MY VOICE IS' TO THE PUBLIC
• GLORIA GAYNOR OPENS UP ABOUT DES-LONG BACK PA & SURVIVG SPAL SURGERY
• HOW GLORIA GAYNOR SURVIVED: SIX BT MOMENTS OM THE TRIBE FILM FTIVAL DOCUMENTARY PREMIERE

SGER GLORIA GAYNOR DETAILS THE DANGERO SURGERY SHE ENDURED TO BEAT CHRONIC PA

Gloria Gaynor. In 1978, sger Gloria Gaynor fell over a monor while dancg onstage durg a performance.

Gaynor tells People an exclive terview that as a rult of that fall she suffered om chronic pa for four s and unrwent several surgeri. Gaynor says she woke up paralyzed om the waist down the day after the accint. Rumors soon spread at Gaynor’s rerd label that her reer was over, but employe were for a surprise.

Gaynor ma an amazg eback wh the 1978 h sgle “I Will Survive. ” The song beme a global phenomenon and ma Gaynor a star. “But ma my back flat, which ma me lean forward, ” Gaynor said to People.

GLORIA GAYNOR REVEALS SHE UNRWENT RISKY SPE SURGERY: 'I THOUGHT I WAS GOG TO DIE'

In 2017, Gaynor’s pa beme so excciatg that she cid she uldn’t live like that any longer. The first part of Gaynor’s surgery took place January 2018. “I was walkg bent over for 20 years, ” Gaynor said.

@GloriaGaynor Details the Dangero Surgery She Endured to Beat Chronic Pa - The “I Will Survive” songstrs says she thought she was gog to die. Gloria Gaynor is ee at last om the chronic pa that gripped her spe for s — but gettg there took a high-risk, two-part surgery last year.

‘I WILL SURVIVE’ SGER GLORIA GAYNOR RELLS S-LONG HEALTH BATTLE: ‘I THOUGHT I WAS GOG TO DIE’

Performg “tug-of-war” choreography wh her dancers, Gaynor — whose new gospel album Ttimony buts on Friday — fell over a monor on stage. Gaynor n joke about now. Over the next four s, Gaynor found herself gog and out of the operatg room to bat what she lls the “domo effect” of issu stemmg om the accint.

Amid the oral, Gaynor says employe at her rerd label clared “the queen is ad, ” but later that year she ma a swgg eback wh “I Will Survive, ” which she rerd a back brace. The h topped charts across the globe and ma way for ne albums the next 15 years, but Gaynor would need to go unr the knife aga 1997.

“But ma my back flat, which ma me lean forward, ” says Gaynor, who managed her pa wh perdic epidurals and prcribed pa and anti-flammatory meditns through the years. The pa beme too much durg a shoppg trip New York Cy the fall of 2017, when Gaynor stggled to make a few doors down to a rtrant. ” Gaynor was fired up: “This is , ” she remembers sayg.

GLORIA GAYNOR REVEALS REAL PA BEHD ‘I WILL SURVIVE’ NEW DOC

Courty Gloria Gaynor. “He said, ‘You need a lot more than what they’ve been dog for you — ’s gog to be extensive, '” says Gaynor, who soon found herself Dr.

“He told that I took five years off his life, bee they really thought they might lose me, ” Gaynor says of the first part of the surgery.

It took jt one day after that for Gaynor to realize the surgery was a succs. Courty Gloria Gaynor/Condu Media.

'I WOKE UP PARALYSED' SGER GLORIA GAYNOR RELLS HER 20 YEAR LONG HEALTH ORAL

Prr to the surgery, Gaynor knew paralysis might bee her realy — “I thought, I’ve seen people perform wheelchairs, I uld do that, ” she says — but today she’s “absolutely pa-ee, ” regularly practic Pilat wh an stctor, and plans to dance heels on tour this summer. Throughout all her highs and lows, Gaynor says her ep fah guid her: “I prayed that God would e the doctor’s hands as his hands, and I have no doubt that he did.

For more about Gloria Gaynor’s triumph, pick up the latt issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands Friday.

GLORIA GAYNOR, STILL SURVIVG NEW JERSEY

The “I Will Survive” sger almost didn’t make Gaynor told People magaze Thursday she is fally liberated om the chronic pa that gripped her spe for s after endurg a risky two-part surgery 2018. It was there where Gaynor fell over a monor on stage.

GLORIA GAYNOR ACCINT – WAS SHE INVOLVED IN A CAR ACCINT?

“The next morng, I woke up paralyzed om the waist down, ” Gaynor relled. '"STUDIO 54 SECRETS REVEALEDGaynor joked, “First I was aaid. I was petrified, ” quotg the lyrics om her most popular h Gaynor’s real-life nightmare was no lghg matter.

Over the next four s, Gaynor was and out of operatg rooms an attempt to heal the “domo effect” of issu that me after the 1978, Gaynor had surgery to remove a ptured disc and fe two of the vertebrae her lower spe. Still, Gaynor claimed employe at her rerd label clared “the queen is ad. ” Determed to make a eback that year, Gaynor rerd “I Will Survive” while wearg a back brace.

But Gaynor’s private oral was far om over. Dis sger Gloria Gaynor performs a song on Dec. (Photo by Michael Ochs Archiv/Getty Imag) THREE DOG NIGHT SINGER: 'I LOVED GETTING HIGH'“But ma my back flat, which ma me lean forward, ” said Gaynor.

GLORIA GAYNOR, 'MASKED SGER' MERMAID, WENT ON TO SEE 'HOW REGNIZABLE MY VOICE IS' TO THE PUBLIC

”Gaynor had to manage her chronic pa wh perdic epidurals, along wh prcribed pa and anti-flammatory meditns through the Gaynor knew she still need help. “By the time I got there, I was excciatg pa, ” said Gaynor.

’” Gloria Gaynor endured a private health battle over the years.

(Debra L Rothenberg/Getty Imag)It was then when Gaynor nfid Dr. “He told that I took five years off his life bee they really thought they might lose me, ” said Gaynor about the first part of the high vals did e alarm, but Dr. The magaze shared took jt one day after that procre for Gaynor to realize was all worth .

GLORIA GAYNOR OPENS UP ABOUT DES-LONG BACK PA & SURVIVG SPAL SURGERY

“I was walkg bent over for 20 years, ” said Gaynor, who ially believed that paralysis was her fate.

’”'LEAVE IT TO BEAVER' STAR TELLS ALLToday, Gaynor says she’s “absolutely pa-ee” and regularly practic Pilat wh an stctor. “I [recently] went to a weddg and actually danced, ” said Gaynor. ”Lookg back, Gaynor creded fah for givg her a sense of hope that she would fally heal.

HOW GLORIA GAYNOR SURVIVED: SIX BT MOMENTS OM THE TRIBE FILM FTIVAL DOCUMENTARY PREMIERE

Dis legend Gloria Gaynor is famo for beltg out one of the most inic survival anthems of all time — and she meant every word. Woke up the next morng paralyzed om the waist down, ” the 79-year-old sger reveals the new documentary “Gloria Gaynor: I Will Survive, ” which premiered at the Tribe Ftival this weekend.

Still worse, while Gaynor was “flat on my back” the hospal, she got a letter om her rerd pany sayg the label wasn’t gog to renew her ntract. Gloria Gaynor ma her dis breakthrough wh a ver of the Jackson 5’s “Never Can Say Goodbye” Imag.