Songfacts®:

• "Gonna Fly Now" is perhaps the most inspirational, motivational song ever recorded. It soundtracks the training montage in the first Rocky movie as Sylvester Stallone runs through the streets of Philadelphia, does one-armed pushups, pounds a slab of beef, and does some impressive sit-ups. It ends with a classic shot of him running up the steps to the Philadelphia Art Museum and raising his arms in celebration. It's a classic scene, and it's inextricably entwined with the music.
  
  Rocky is an underdog story that itself overcame long odds to succeed. Stallone was scraping by as an actor when he wrote the screenplay, which he insisted on starring in himself. It was made for less than one million dollars but made over $200 million. It's also one of the most celebrated works in film history, an example of a movie with heart that succeeds on every level. The song quickly became iconic and grew its own roots outside of the film. Even if you haven't seen the movie, you know what the song represents.
• Like the movie, the song was made on the cheap. It's the work of composer Bill Conti, who was paid $25,000 to score the film. The director, John Avildsen, asked him to provide about 90 seconds of music so he could edit the training scene together. Montages rely almost exclusively on music, so they serve as a guide for the visuals. After he started editing, Avildsen asked for another 30 seconds... and then another. The final scene ended up running 2:45, the equivalent of a full-length song.
  
  Conti recorded it, along with the rest of the score, in one three-hour session - he was being thrifty because he had to pay for the musicians and studio time out of his $25,000. Conti says he grossed $15,000, which was a huge payday for him. He went to Germany to work on his next project, and when he got back, the movie, which was released on December 3, 1976, was a hit. Conti worked out a deal to release "Gonna Fly Now" as a single and include it on a soundtrack album for the film. The song quickly climbed the charts and rose to #1 in the US on July 2, 1977, eight months after the movie hit theaters.
• The song has lyrics, but not many - just 30 words total. Adding a lyric was the suggestion of director John Avildsen.
  
  The lyric was written by Conti's collaborators Carol Conners and Ayn Robbins. As Conners tells it, she was taking a shower when the words "gonna fly now" came into her head. She called Conti from the shower and said she knew what the words should be.
  
  Carol Conners (real name Annette Kleinbard) was the lead singer for The Teddy Bears, who had a major hit with "To Know Him Is To Love Him," written by Phil Spector specifically to showcase her singing voice. But Conners didn't sing on "Gonna Fly Now." That honor went to Conti's wife, Shelby Conti, and two of her friends: DeEtta West and Nelson Pigford. All three were working at the Los Angeles radio station KHJ when Bill called Shelby and asked if she could round up some co-workers and come by the studio to sing. She, West and Pigford came by on their lunch break and put down their vocals.
• What's often forgotten in the Rocky story is that he loses the fight. But he goes the distance and stands tall, proving to himself that he has what it takes to succeed.
  
  Bill Conti's theme music leading up to "Gonna Fly Now" is much more somber, reflecting Rocky's struggles. The training montage is when he finds his confidence, and the music changes accordingly.
• To give Conti and idea of what he wanted for Rocky's training scene, director John Avildsen played him Beethoven's Eroica symphony. Conti had his own concept. "When I think of heroic music, I hear brass, and I hear loud when it's time to go into battle." he said in a documentary.
  
  Conti came up with the famous fanfare that starts the song, then made it loud and brassy the rest of the way, capturing the essence of Rocky as he pushes through the pain.
• Three different versions of this song charted in 1977 before Conti's did. The first was by Rhythm Heritage, a studio act that specialized in covers of theme songs (they had a #1 with "Theme From S.W.A.T." in 1976). They took it to #94 in March 1977. Then in May, Current, a studio act led by producer Joe Saraceno, also made #94. In June, a version by the jazz musician Maynard Ferguson peaked at #28 a week before Conti's hit the top spot.
• By the time this song was #1, the big movie at the box office was Star Wars. A few months later, "Star Wars Theme / Cantina Band" claimed the top spot.
• On the Billboard Hot 100 for the week ending May 21, 1977, "Gonna Fly Now" leapt from #21 to #7. Then, it moved up one position each week for the next six until it finally displaced Marvin Gaye's "Got To Give It Up" from the top spot on the July 2, 1977. This is the only song we know of that climbed on consecutive weeks 7-6-5-4-3-2-1.
• "Gonna Fly Now" was again used as the theme song for Rocky II, the 1979 sequel, this time in a different arrangement with a children's choir. For most of this movie, Rocky is still an underdog who fights beyond his abilities through rugged determination, but his character changed dramatically for Rocky III, and so did his theme song.
  
  "Gonna Fly Now" has a minor role in Rocky III, but the main theme is "Eye Of The Tiger" by Survivor. That song, ordered up by Sylvester Stallone and inspired by a line of dialogue in the film, not only suited plot, it also appealed to a younger audience.
  
  In Rocky IV, another survivor song, "Burning Heart," is the main theme. "Gonna Fly Now" has a bigger role in Rocky V, Rocky Balboa, Creed, and Creed II.
• Parts of the scene where Rocky runs up the museum steps in training are played backwards. Originally the shot zoomed out, but it was reversed to zooming in to better match the musical score and for dramatic effect.
• "Gonna Fly Now" has been used in a number of commercials as part of Rocky spoofs. These include:
  
  2023, Kia Telluride. A dad forgets his baby's binky and goes on a quest to retrieve it.
  
  2020, TD Ameritrade. A guy trains to invest by exercising with computers and other devices. Dolph Lundgren, who played Ivan Drago in Rocky IV, makes a cameo.
  
  2016, UnitedHealthcare. A doofus punches a side of beef and hurts himself. This one aired during the Super Bowl.
  
  2015, Publishers Clearing House. Encouraging viewers to enter a sweepstakes.
  
  2014, JBL. A guy has trouble jogging until he gets a pair of wireless headphones.
  
  2013, Target. A young girl tries to do a chin-up. This version of the song sounds like it's played on recorders.
  
  2013, Rise Credit. Sly Stallone reprises his role as Rocky.
• This song doesn't appear in movies outside the Rocky universe, but it has been used in TV shows. Among them:
  
  Two and a Half Men ("Dead from the Waist Down" - 2010)
  The Sopranos ("Made in America" - 2007)
  Freaks and Geeks ("The Diary," - 2000)
  The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air ("The Philadelphia Story - 1994)
  The Nanny ("The Gym Teacher" - 1994)
  Mork & Mindy ("Mork's Greatest Hits" - 1978)