Former lead singer for the bands Cobra and Survivor Jimi Jamison died on Sunday. He was 63 years old. He died of a heart attack at his home in Memphis, Tennessee.
Jamison was the lead singer of Survivor from the mid to late 1980’s. Survivor’s best-known hit is
“Eye of the Tiger” from the “Rocky III” soundtrack, a song that went double-platinum in 1982. Other notable hit include “Burning Heart” from “Rocky IV” and “The Moment of Truth” from “The Karate Kid.”
Jamison joined the band right after the release of “Eye of the Tiger.” According to Jamison, it put enormous pressure on the band to churn out an album with comparable hits.
In a 1985 Times interview, Jamison said,
“After ‘Eye of the Tiger,’ the fans wanted an album full of songs like ‘Eye of the Tiger. An average or a good album wouldn’t be enough. The band needed a great album and some huge hit singles. But it didn’t happen.”
After a series of solo albums, including “When Love Comes Down” (1991), he returned to Survivor in 2000 for the album “Reach” in 2006. Jamison performed “Eye of the Tiger” for Manny Pacquiao’s entrance for his fight against Juan Manuel Marquez in 2011. He repeated the performance the following year for Pacquiao, and less than a week later, following a six-year separation from the group, he announced his return and toured with Survivor. He released another solo album, “Never Too Late” in 2012.
Featured image via facebook/ JimiJamisonofficialpage
