"I Am What I Am" is a song originally featured on the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical La Cage aux Folles (1983-1987). The song is found on the finale number of the play's first act, and performed by the character of Albin Mougeotte. The song was composed in 1983 by Jerry Herman, an openly gay man.
The song was later re-recorded and released as a single by gay icon and disco diva Gloria Gaynor in 1983, and proved to be one of the singer's best known hits among her fans. While pretty much unknown to the mainstream public (it reached a peak position of #82 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart), Gaynor's version of "I Am What I Am" would become the rallying cry of the Gay Pride movement, alongside another song of hers, "I Will Survive" (1979).
The song has since been covered by the likes of Shirley Bassey, Marti Webb, Respect featuring Hannah Jones, Soraya, Ken Page, Gerard-Rene-Gordon, Doug Shneider, Teatro and Linda Eder.
