Perfume Genius Shares "Deathbed-y" Cover of "I Will Survive"

Photo: Luke Orlando

BY Kaelen BellPublished Aug 16, 2021

Perfume Genius' Mike Hadreas has shared a cover of Gloria Gaynor's disco anthem "I Will Survive" through his newsletter

"I recorded this at home for a commercial pitch, but they didn't give me the money," he explained in the newsletter. "I suppose the cover is a little deathbed-y, I was very serious that day, but I like how it turned out. In particular the last moment … I might stretch that into something new."

The spectral, reverb-drenched cover comes with a video made by Hadreas. "I dug around online for a while, looking for video to pair it with, and ended up with an old Bowflex commercial and forest fire footage that I spliced together," he said. "Happy to share it with you. Goodbye everyone."

"I Will Survive" has been covered many times before, most famously by Cake, Diana Ross and Chantay Savage. More recently, it was covered by Demi Lovato, who recorded a version for 2016's The Angry Birds Movie soundtrack, and ANOHNI, who released her version last year. 

If you're looking for further access to the mind behind Perfume Genius, Hadreas has been using his newsletter to share bits of unreleased music, paintings and essays and short stories that most recently include "I have had sex with every actor from the show Supernatural" and "Last Friday I had my eyes removed by Jared Padalecki." Read those stories and more here.

Listen to Hadreas' cover below.

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