One of the other inspirations for Peterik's choice of the new band's name was his narrow escape from death when he was unable to make a guest appearance at a Chase concert scheduled for Jackson, Minnesota on August 9, 1974.

After several days of pleading with Peterik, road-manager/sound man Rick Weigand persuaded him to meet with guitarist Frankie Sullivan (ex-Mariah).

In September 1978 Survivor played their first show, performing at Lyons Township High School in La Grange, Illinois.

After they played in small clubs during the rest of that year (one venue was the original My Pi[5] pizzeria near Loyola University Chicago, where they headlined every Saturday night in the upstairs bar area), Atlantic Records A&R executive John Kalodner signed Survivor.

[6] One of Survivor's earliest performances (their second gig, according to Peterik's autobiography Through the Eye of the Tiger), at Haymakers Rock Club in Wheeling, Illinois on September 15, 1978, has appeared as a bootleg recording in trader's circles in recent[when?]

The album produced no Top 40 singles ("Somewhere in America" only managed to make number 70) and did not achieve the level of success that the band had hoped for.

It charted higher, achieving popularity with American audiences, and gave the band its first Top 40 single, "Poor Man's Son".

The album also showed off Bickler's range as a vocalist with its second single, "Summer Nights" and fan favorite non-singles, like "Heart's A Lonely Hunter", "Take You On A Saturday", "Runway Lights" and "Love Is On My Side".

In 1982, Survivor's breakthrough arrived when actor Sylvester Stallone asked them to provide the theme song for his movie Rocky III.

Bickler was fired and the band's record label, yet again, failed to do much in the way of promotion of what many feel was a superior album overall to Eye Of The Tiger one year before.

[10] Later that year they had another hit with "Burning Heart", a song from the Rocky IV soundtrack, which peaked at number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 in early 1986.

In 1987 bassist Ellis developed a stomach ulcer requiring the band's head roadie, Rocko Reedy, to fill in on bass for a few dates.

Drummer Droubay, who was becoming increasingly unhappy with the group's shift to a more pop sound, was likewise released at the end of Survivor's 1987 tour.

During pre-production of their seventh album, Too Hot to Sleep (October 1988), Ellis and Droubay were replaced by studio session veterans drummer Mickey Curry and bassist Bill Syniar, formerly of the band Tantrum.

Though the album presented a harder-rocking Survivor, similar to the sound in the band's early days, Too Hot to Sleep failed to make a significant dent on the chart (only number 187 US).

Jamison's debut solo album, When Love Comes Down, was released in July 1991 and he decided to continue touring and playing Survivor songs with local musicians.

For a short time, Peterik, Sullivan and Jamison were reunited in the studio to record new material for the new package and forthcoming world tour.

On November 27, 1993 guitarist Dave Carl filled in for Sullivan at a gig at Club Dimensions in Highland, Indiana after the latter injured his ribs from falling through a garage roof.

From 1993 to 1996, Peterik, Sullivan and Bickler recorded about 20 demos for a new album (which are available on the Fire Makes Steel bootleg) with Syniar and Woodring and, later, Ellis and Droubay contributing.

In late September 1999, Sullivan, who had brought forth another lawsuit against Jamison, won ownership of the name "Survivor", thereby ending the ongoing trademark battle.

It featured the band following a man named Glen, singing a modified version of "Eye of the Tiger" while he went about his day-to-day tasks.

[13] Meanwhile, original Survivor vocalist David Bickler began collaborating on the successful Bud Light beer Real Men of Genius radio ads in the late 1990s and 2000s.

In 2011 Jamison returned as front man and in 2013 it was announced on the band's official media sources that Sullivan had reunited the current Survivor lineup with Bickler.

Jamison performed his last show on August 30, 2014, in Morgan Hill, California, at the CANcert benefit event during the ARTTEC Summer Concert Series.

The benefit raised funds and awareness for two non-profit organizations that support cancer patients as well as career training opportunities for high school students.

[16] In November 2014 Classic Rock magazine carried a report that shed further light on the cause of Jimi's death: "Shelby County medical examiner confirms [Jamison] was suffering from cardiovascular disease and narrowing of the arteries.

"[17] In September 2015, Survivor appeared at a showcase for talent buyers down in Nashville, with new vocalist 21-year-old Cameron Barton singing alongside Dave Bickler.