Gloria Gaynor Says She’s ‘Very Happy’ After ‘Extremely Liberating’ Divorce

Gloria Gaynor will survive. The 79-year-old disco superstar delved into her divorce from her manager, Linwood Simon, after 26 years of marriage with People this week, and even recalled the exact moment she knew it was time to call it quits.

She told the publication that she had an awful migraine headache for the second time in a few days, and Simon did not want to take her to the hospital. “I said, ‘OK, I’m done. You really, truly don’t care about me, and I’m done.’ I’d have to be freakin’ comatose not to get that,” she explained. “My friend nailed it when she said it was disregard. You don’t know how painful that can be until you experience it. [Leaving him] was extremely liberating.”

Though Gaynor says their marriage had “wonderful moments,” one problem was that it was never balanced. She wanted children and he didn’t, for example, but she “swallowed whatever he said and did whatever he said and just let him have his way.”

However, Gaynor says she’s now “very happy,” but is still open to the right person coming along. “I absolutely believe in love,” she says. “Whether it’s in the cards for me, I sincerely doubt it, ’cause I’m truly not interested anymore. If it happens, it happens. If not, I’m good. It’s a wonderful place to be.”

Her 1978 hit “I Will Survive” also feels true to her now more than ever. “I have not only survived, I have thrived,” Gaynor shared. “I really think a lot of it has to do with the fact that whenever I’m going through something, I have used that song.”