Hope Rising: Gloria Gaynor tells Christians ‘we’ve survived’ before, ‘joy comes in the morning’
Disco music icon Gloria Gaynor participated in the Christian event Hope Rising over the weekend to encourage the world during the COVID-19 pandemic and said in times past “we've survived” and that will happen again.
Kirk Cameron and his sister, Candace Cameron Bure, co-hosted the Hope Rising livestream on Facebook on Sunday, with all of the proceeds collected being directed to Samaritan's Purse, which set up field hospitals in both New York City and Cremona, Italy, to provide medical support to hospitals caring for patients during the coronavirus outbreak.
"Just in case some of you are a little fed up and tired of being quarantined and tired of this whole thing that we, the whole world find ourselves enveloped in, I just want to remind you that we've had problems before,” Gaynor, whose hits include include "I Will Survive," shared with the hundreds of thousands who tuned in.
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“We've all gone through difficult, very hard times in our lives, and we've come through the other side OK. We've survived, we've been there,” the Grammy Award-winning trailblazer said.
After 40 years of declaring she will survive, the singer revealed the reason behind her survival last year with her first gospel album, Testimony.
“With this record, what I’m hoping to accomplish is to show people how to survive. How I survived all the difficulties that I’ve had in my life and how they can survive as well," Gaynor told Rolling Stone in 2019.
During the fundraising event, she drew on Scripture to support her message of overcoming difficult seasons.
“Gives credence to His word that says, ‘Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning,’” Gaynor said.
Hope Rising focused on uplifting, strengthening and comforting the audience through music and inspirational messages for those feeling fear, hopelessness and anxiety during the lockdown.
Gaynor concluded her portion of Hope Rising by singing her gospel single, “Joy Comes in the Morning,” which she said will “hopefully help you to really get that down in your spirit, kind of drive it home for you.”
Her new album features artists such as Yolanda Adams, Mike Farris, Jason Crabb and Bart Millard of MercyMe. Gaynor co-wrote most of the album with Dove Award-winning producer-songwriter Chris Stevens.
The musical composition highlights her autobiographical track, titled “Back on Top,” which has the same anthemic vibe as “I Will Survive.”
