The iconic Gloria Gaynor, of “I Will Survive” fame, her No. 1 Billboard Hot 100 smash from 1979, sends her first faith-based set, Testimony, onto Billboard‘s Top Gospel Albums chart (dated June 22) at No. 4. The LP debuts with 1,000 equivalent albums earned in its first week, ending June 13, according to Nielsen Music.
Gaynor recorded the 10-track Testimony in Nashville at RCA Studio A. It features guests including Bart Millard of MercyMe (on the set’s “He Won’t Let Go”) and Yolanda Adams (“Talkin’ ‘Bout Jesus”).
Gaynor’s “Survive,” which led the Hot 100 for three weeks, won the only Grammy Award for best disco recording, at the 22nd annual ceremony in 1980. (Amid a backlash against disco, the Academy renamed the award best dance recording the following year.) Gaynor scored one additional Hot 100 top 10, her first entry on the chart, a cover of the Jackson 5’s “Never Can Say Goodbye,” which reached No. 9 in 1975.