James Michael Peterik ( ; born November 11, 1950) is an American musician and songwriter. He is best known as the founder of the rock band Survivor, as vocalist and guitarist The Ides of March, and as co-writer of the anthem "Eye of the Tiger", the theme from the 1982 film Rocky III.
Peterik has co-written songs for 38 Special ("Rockin' into the Night",, "Hold On Loosely and "Caught Up in You"), Lynyrd Skynyrd, Blackhawk, Cheap Trick, Sammy Hagar ("Heavy Metal"), Cathy Richardson, Dennis DeYoung, Van Zant, Brian Wilson, REO Speedwagon, and The Beach Boys. He is currently fronting the band Pride of Lions, the smooth jazz project Jim Peterik's Lifeforce, and has a regular series of yearly concert performances with an all-star cast as World Stage. He is also active as a producer and mentor to young, developing talent.
Career
The Ides of March and early years
Peterik started performing in 1964 with some of his schoolmates in Berwyn, Illinois, as The Ides of March. Their hits included "You Wouldn't Listen", "Vehicle", and "L.A. Goodbye" in the late 1960s and early 1970s. "Vehicle", which was number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart the week of May 23, 1970, is purported to be the fastest selling single in Warner Bros. Records history.
Peterik graduated from Morton West High School in 1968 and Morton Junior College in 1970, and attended college classes while "Vehicle" became a national hit.
In the early 1970s Peterik wrote several songs recorded by the jazz-rock band Chase and performed on their 1974 album Pure Music. In 1976 he released a solo album, Don't Fight the Feeling, and toured as the Jim Peterik Band with Bruce Gaitsch (guitar), Terry Fryer (keyboards), and Chase's rhythm section of Dennis Keith Johnson (bass) and Gary Smith (drums). They toured with several of the era's most popular bands, including Heart and Boston.
Survivor
In 1978, the Jim Peterik Band had broken up and Peterik was considering going back to singing and producing jingles. After several days of pleading with Peterik, road manager/sound man Rick Weigand persuaded him to meet with guitarist Frankie Sullivan. Within an hour of that first meeting, the band Survivor was born.
In the early years of Survivor, Peterik continued to co-write hits for other artists, including 38 Special and Sammy Hagar. In 1982, Sylvester Stallone commissioned Survivor to write and perform the theme song for Rocky III. This song, "Eye of the Tiger", became their defining single, spending six weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and going double platinum. "Eye of the Tiger" also won a Grammy Award and resulted in an Oscar nomination for Peterik and Frankie Sullivan for Best Song.
Their 1984 album, Vital Signs, featured the Top 10 hits "High on You" (No. 8) and "The Search Is Over" (No. 4), and another sizable hit, "I Can't Hold Back" (No. 13). In 1985, Peterik co-wrote the theme song to Rocky IV, "Burning Heart", which would be another big hit (No. 2 in early 1986) for Survivor. "Burning Heart" was followed by Number 7 hit, "Is This Love".
Following Survivor's 1988 album Too Hot to Sleep, the group disbanded.
Songs from each of Peterik's bands appear in Stallone films to motivate the scene's action: Survivor's "Eye of the Tiger" in Rocky III, the Ides of March's "Vehicle" in Lock Up, and Jimi Jamison's solo take on Survivor's "Ever Since the World Began" playing during the closing credits of Lock Up.
In 1993, Peterik once again began touring and recording with a reunited Survivor, but left them for good in July 1996.
Later years
In 1990, the original members of the Ides of March (Peterik, Millas, Bob Bergland, Mike Borch, Chuck Soumar, and John Larson) reunited, adding new members Scott May and Dave Stahlberg. This lineup continues to perform. Peterik continues to write for other artists such as the Doobie Brothers and Cheap Trick.
In 2001, Peterik produced and co-wrote the first album by AOR group Mecca with his longtime friend Joe Vana.
In 2003, he founded Pride of Lions with Toby Hitchcock. The group, according to Peterik is "my vision of the best elements of the great melodic rock era of the 80s, updated of course with more modern production sounds." Peterik continues to play with the Ides of March. As well, a solo CD, Above the Storm, was released in 2006.
"Vehicle" found new popularity when it was performed by American Idol runner-up Bo Bice in 2005.
Peterik performed at the West Australian Music Industry Awards with shred virtuoso Michael Angelo Batio in 2005.
In 2009, Peterik appeared on The Jerry Springer Show as guest security.