Eye of the Tiger

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This article is about the song by Survivor. For other uses, see Eye of the Tiger (disambiguation).
"Eye of the Tiger"
Single by Survivor
from the album Rocky III Original Soundtrack and Eye of the Tiger
B-side "Take You on a Saturday"
Released May 29, 1982
Format 7"
Recorded 1982
Genre Rock, hard rock
Length 4:06, 3:45 (Single)
Label Scotti Brothers
Writer(s) Frankie Sullivan, Jim Peterik
Producer Frankie Sullivan
Certification 2× Platinum (RIAA)
Survivor singles chronology
"Summer Nights"
(1982) "Eye of the Tiger"
(1982) "American Heartbeat"
(1982)
Music sample
"Eye Of The Tiger"
Play sound
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"Eye of the Tiger" is a single by American rock band Survivor, from their third album Eye of the Tiger. It was released as a single on May 29, 1982, the same year as the album. It was written at the request of actor Sylvester Stallone, who was unable to get permission for Queen's "Another One Bites the Dust". The song was to be the theme song for the movie Rocky III in which he was playing the main role. The movie version of the song is different than the album version because it features tiger growls. It gained tremendous MTV and radio airplay and topped charts worldwide in 1982. It is memorable for its famous guitar riff and anthemic chorus.

In an interview with Songfacts, co-writer Jim Peterik 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'.[1]

Contents
[hide]

* 1 Critical acclaim
* 2 Chart position
* 3 Cover versions
* 4 Appearances in other media
* 5 References