Studio album · No. 2

Eye of the Tiger Songwriting Credits by Survivor

1982 Scotti Brothers 9 tracks 38:11

Produced by Jim Peterik, Frankie Sullivan  ·  Engineered by Phil Bonanno, Mike Clink, Hill Brin Swimmer, Doug Sax

Scotti Brothers Hard rockArena rockAOR
Complete Artist
100%
Authorship

Holds writing credit on 9 of 9 tracks

Authorship Breakdown 9 / 9 documented

Who wrote the songs?

Scored across the 9 tracks with documented writers, by whether Survivor carries a lyricist or composer credit.

100%
9 trackswritten by Survivor 0 tracksoutside writers
Survivor's roles on this album

Share of the 9 tracks where a band member is credited, by role.

Lyricist100%
Composer100%
Producer100%
Performer100%

By the Numbers

9
Tracks
2
Lyricists
2
Producers
1
No.1 Single
1982
Released

Awards & Recognition 3

Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal, 1983, for "Eye of the Tiger"
Grammy nomination for Song of the Year, 1983, for "Eye of the Tiger"
Academy Award nomination for Best Original Song, 1983, for "Eye of the Tiger"
Data Insight

Authorship on this record sits with two people and nobody else. Peterik and Sullivan wrote eight of the nine songs together, and Peterik wrote "The One That Really Matters" by himself, which is the only break in an otherwise closed partnership. No other member holds a writing credit: Dave Bickler sang the whole album without writing a line of it, and the same goes for bassist Stephan Ellis and drummer Marc Droubay. That gap is worth knowing, because the voice most listeners attach to "Eye of the Tiger" has no stake in the song's copyright. Peterik and Sullivan also produced the album, so the Grammy the title track won in 1983 went to a performance the same pair wrote, produced, and played on.

Survivor's third album was recorded at Rumbo Recorders in Los Angeles after Sylvester Stallone asked the band for a theme song for Rocky III. Guitarist Frankie Sullivan and keyboardist Jim Peterik wrote almost all of it and produced it themselves, with Dave Bickler singing lead. It reached number 2 on the Billboard 200 and pulled a band that had feared being dropped by its label into the American top ten.

Track Listing & Credits 9 tracks

Written by the artist Written by outside writers
#TitleLyricist(s)Composer(s)Producer(s)Performers
1
Eye of the Tiger #1
Jim PeterikFrankie Sullivan James Michael PeterikFrank Michael Sullivan III Jim PeterikFrankie Sullivan Dave Bickler (Lead vocals)Frankie Sullivan (Lead guitar, Rhythm guitar, Backing vocals)Jim Peterik (Piano, Hammond B3 organ, Electric guitar, Backing vocals)Stephan Ellis (Bass)Marc Droubay (Drums)
2
Feels Like Love
Jim PeterikFrankie Sullivan James Michael PeterikFrank Michael Sullivan III Jim PeterikFrankie Sullivan Dave Bickler (Lead vocals)Frankie Sullivan (Lead guitar, Rhythm guitar, Backing vocals)Jim Peterik (Piano, Hammond B3 organ, Electric guitar, Backing vocals)Stephan Ellis (Bass)Marc Droubay (Drums)
3
Hesitation Dance
Jim PeterikFrankie Sullivan James Michael PeterikFrank Michael Sullivan III Jim PeterikFrankie Sullivan Dave Bickler (Lead vocals)Frankie Sullivan (Lead guitar, Rhythm guitar, Backing vocals)Jim Peterik (Piano, Hammond B3 organ, Electric guitar, Backing vocals)Stephan Ellis (Bass)Marc Droubay (Drums)
4
The One That Really Matters #74
Jim Peterik James Michael Peterik Jim PeterikFrankie Sullivan Dave Bickler (Lead vocals)Frankie Sullivan (Lead guitar, Rhythm guitar, Backing vocals)Jim Peterik (Piano, Hammond B3 organ, Electric guitar, Backing vocals)Stephan Ellis (Bass)Marc Droubay (Drums)
5
I'm Not That Man Anymore
Jim PeterikFrankie Sullivan James Michael PeterikFrank Michael Sullivan III Jim PeterikFrankie Sullivan Dave Bickler (Lead vocals)Frankie Sullivan (Lead guitar, Rhythm guitar, Backing vocals)Jim Peterik (Piano, Hammond B3 organ, Electric guitar, Backing vocals)Stephan Ellis (Bass)Marc Droubay (Drums)
6
Children of the Night
Jim PeterikFrankie Sullivan James Michael PeterikFrank Michael Sullivan III Jim PeterikFrankie Sullivan Dave Bickler (Lead vocals)Frankie Sullivan (Lead guitar, Rhythm guitar, Backing vocals)Jim Peterik (Piano, Hammond B3 organ, Electric guitar, Backing vocals)Stephan Ellis (Bass)Marc Droubay (Drums)
7
Ever Since the World Began
Jim PeterikFrankie Sullivan James Michael PeterikFrank Michael Sullivan III Jim PeterikFrankie Sullivan Dave Bickler (Lead vocals)Frankie Sullivan (Lead guitar, Rhythm guitar, Acoustic 12-string guitar, Backing vocals)Jim Peterik (Piano, Acoustic 12-string guitar, Backing vocals)Stephan Ellis (Bass)Marc Droubay (Drums)
8
American Heartbeat #17
Jim PeterikFrankie Sullivan James Michael PeterikFrank Michael Sullivan III Jim PeterikFrankie Sullivan Dave Bickler (Lead vocals)Frankie Sullivan (Lead guitar, Rhythm guitar, Backing vocals)Jim Peterik (Piano, Hammond B3 organ, Electric guitar, Backing vocals)Stephan Ellis (Bass)Marc Droubay (Drums)
9
Silver Girl
Jim PeterikFrankie Sullivan James Michael PeterikFrank Michael Sullivan III Jim PeterikFrankie Sullivan Dave Bickler (Lead vocals)Frankie Sullivan (Lead guitar, Rhythm guitar, Backing vocals)Jim Peterik (Piano, Hammond B3 organ, Electric guitar, Backing vocals)Stephan Ellis (Bass)Marc Droubay (Drums)

Songwriter & Credit Spotlight 7 contributors

JP
Jim Peterik
Writer · Producer · Vocals
On this album9 written
JM
James Michael Peterik
Writer
On this album9 written
FS
Frankie Sullivan
Writer · Producer · Vocals
On this album8 written
FM
Frank Michael Sullivan III
Writer
On this album8 written
DB
Dave Bickler
Vocals
On this albumGuest
MD
Marc Droubay
Drums
On this albumGuest
SE
Stephan Ellis
Bass
On this albumGuest

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Frequently Asked Questions Eye of the Tiger

Who wrote "Eye of the Tiger"?
Jim Peterik and Frankie Sullivan wrote it. Sylvester Stallone commissioned the song for Rocky III after Queen refused him permission to use "Another One Bites the Dust," and the pair built the riff so its chord changes landed with the punches in the boxing scenes. The title comes from a line Apollo Creed speaks in the film.
Did Dave Bickler write any of the album?
No. Bickler sings lead on all nine tracks and holds no writing credit on any of them. Every song on the record was written by Peterik and Sullivan, except "The One That Really Matters," which Peterik wrote alone.
Is Jimi Jamison on this album?
No. Jamison joined Survivor in 1984, two years after this record. Dave Bickler is the lead singer throughout Eye of the Tiger. Jamison later recorded his own version of the album track "Ever Since the World Began" for the 1989 film Lock Up.
Who produced Eye of the Tiger?
Peterik and Sullivan produced it themselves and handled the arrangements. Phil Bonanno and Mike Clink engineered at Rumbo Recorders in Los Angeles, with Hill Brin Swimmer assisting, and Doug Sax mastered the album at the Mastering Lab in Hollywood.
How well did the album do?
It peaked at number 2 on the Billboard 200 and reached the top ten in Austria, Canada, Finland, and Norway. The title track went to number 1 in the US and the UK, "American Heartbeat" reached number 17 in the US, and "The One That Really Matters" reached number 74.
Did Eye of the Tiger win a Grammy?
The title track won Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal at the 25th Grammy Awards in 1983 and was nominated for Song of the Year. It also picked up an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Song, the only Oscar nomination Rocky III received.
Data note: Wikipedia's album track listing and MusicBrainz both credit "The One That Really Matters" to Jim Peterik alone, and the song's own Wikipedia infobox agrees. The Discogs LP entry carries a single album-wide "Written-By" credit for Peterik and Sullivan, and Wikipedia files the song under a Sullivan songwriting category, so those two sources imply a shared credit. The Peterik-only reading is recorded here because two direct song-level sources support it. Daryl Dragon (additional keyboards, synthesizers, Emulator) and Fergie Frederiksen (backing vocals) are credited as additional musicians on the album as a whole; no source breaks their work down by track, so they are not listed against individual songs.

Sources

Wikipedia: Eye of the Tiger (album) Wikipedia: Eye of the Tiger (song) Wikipedia: American Heartbeat Wikipedia: The One That Really Matters Wikipedia: Ever Since the World Began Wikipedia: Jim Peterik Wikipedia: Frankie Sullivan Wikipedia: Survivor (band) Wikidata: Frankie Sullivan (Q1770918) Discogs: Survivor - Eye Of The Tiger, Scotti Bros. FZ 38062 (release 1010213) MusicBrainz: Eye of the Tiger (release group) MusicBrainz: Eye of the Tiger (US release, Scotti Bros. FZ 38062) MusicBrainz work: Eye of the Tiger MusicBrainz work: The One That Really Matters MusicBrainz work: Feels Like Love MusicBrainz work: Hesitation Dance MusicBrainz work: I'm Not That Man Anymore MusicBrainz work: Children of the Night MusicBrainz work: Ever Since the World Began MusicBrainz work: American Heartbeat MusicBrainz work: Silver Girl Cover Art Archive: Eye of the Tiger front cover The Guardian: Survivor, how we made Eye of the Tiger Cover Art Archive: Eye of the Tiger by Survivor