Gloria Gaynor takes on coronavirus with 'I Will Survive' hand-washing video
Gloria Gaynor performs at the Grammy Awards celebration on Jan. 26, 2020, in Los Angeles. Credit: Getty Images for The Recording Academy / Ari Perilstein
Are you afraid? Are you petrified? Take heart — Gloria Gaynor is helping us all through the coronavirus pandemic with a hand-washing video set to her hit song “I Will Survive.”
In a recent TikTok clip that was also posted to Instagram, the 70-year-old diva can be seen lip-syncing to her chart-topping, Grammy Award-winning single from 1978, which helped define the disco era and might just be the perfect anthem for a world currently gripped by anxiety.
“Did you think I’d crumble? Did you think I’d lay down and die?” Gaynor sings while pumping soap on her hands and lathering up over a bathroom sink. “Oh, no, not I!”
“It only takes: 20 seconds to ‘SURVIVE!’ ” says a caption for the video, a reference to the amount of hand-washing time recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
By Thursday afternoon, the video had roughly 15,000 views, a far cry from the 14 million copies her single originally sold, but it has already inspired others to post similar videos under the hashtag #IWillSurviveChallenge.
Gaynor’s video arrives at a moment when the entertainment industry, like so many others, has begun to feel the effects of the coronavirus. Several Hollywood movies, including the new James Bond installment, “No Time To Die,” have had their releases delayed. Coachella, the outdoor music and arts festival in Southern California that usually takes place each April, has been postponed until October. And earlier this week, Tom Hanks and his wife, Rita Wilson, announced that they tested positive for the virus while Hanks was shooting a movie in Australia.
Many viewers expressed their gratitude for Gaynor’s lighthearted (and instructive) message.
“Have you seen this? That’s awesome,” one fan posted, adding several parenthetical smiles. “Thank you Gloria.”
