"I am what I am" is a song originally introduced in the Tony Award

Tony Award

The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...

-winning Broadway

Broadway theatre

Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...

 musical La Cage aux Folles (1983–1987). The song is the finale number of the musical's first act, and performed by the character of Albin Mougeotte, first played by George Hearn

George Hearn

George Hearn is an American actor and singer, primarily in Broadway musical theatre.-Early years:Born in St. Louis, Missouri, Hearn studied philosophy at Southwestern at Memphis, now Rhodes College before he embarked on a career in the theater, training for the stage with actress turned acting...

. The song was composed in 1983 by Jerry Herman

Jerry Herman

Jerry Herman is an American composer and lyricist, known for his work in Broadway musical theater. He composed the scores for the hit Broadway musicals Hello, Dolly!, Mame, and La Cage aux Folles. He has been nominated for the Tony Award five times, and won twice, for Hello, Dolly! and La Cage...

, an openly gay

Gay

Gay is a word that refers to a homosexual person, especially a homosexual male. For homosexual women the specific term is "lesbian"....

 man.

Gloria Gaynor version

The song was later released as a single

Single (music)

In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...

 by disco diva Gloria Gaynor

Gloria Gaynor

Gloria Gaynor is an American singer, best known for the disco era hits; "I Will Survive" , "Never Can Say Goodbye" , "Let Me Know " and "I Am What I Am" .-Early career:Gaynor was a singer with the Soul...

 in 1983, and proved to be one of the singer's best known hits among her fans. While pretty much unknown to the mainstream American public, Gaynor's version of "I Am What I Am" was a hit elsewhere, reaching #13 in the UK charts. As well, it eventually became one of two Gaynor songs to serve as rallying cries for the gay pride

Gay pride

LGBT pride or gay pride is the concept that lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people should be proud of their sexual orientation and gender identity...

 movement (the other being 1978's "I Will Survive

I Will Survive

"I Will Survive" is a song first performed by American singer Gloria Gaynor, released in October 1978. It was written by Freddie Perren and Dino Fekaris...

").

Chart performance

Chart (1983)	Peak position
U.S. Dance Music/Club Play Singles	3
U.S. R&B Singles Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,...	82
UK Singles Chart UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...	13

Other versions

Welsh

Welsh people

The Welsh people are an ethnic group and nation associated with Wales and the Welsh language.John Davies argues that the origin of the "Welsh nation" can be traced to the late 4th and early 5th centuries, following the Roman departure from Britain, although Brythonic Celtic languages seem to have...

 singer Shirley Bassey

Shirley Bassey

Dame Shirley Bassey, DBE , is a Welsh singer. She found fame in the late 1950s and was "one of the most popular female vocalists in Britain during the last half of the 20th century"...

 recorded the song for her 1984 album I Am What I Am

I Am What I Am (Shirley Bassey album)

I Am What I Am was the only studio album recorded by Shirley Bassey for the Towerbell Records label, several other tracks were also recorded at this label and issued as singles only. The recording sessions took place at Olympic Studios, Barnes, London, in July and August 1984...

. That version was released as a single from the album, with "This Is My Life" as the B-side.

The song has been also covered by the likes of Marti Webb

Marti Webb

Marti Webb is a musical actress from England, who appeared on stage in Evita, before starring in Andrew Lloyd Webber's one woman show Tell Me on a Sunday in 1980...

, Joannie Taylor

Joannie Taylor

Joannie "Nan" Taylor is a fictional character in The Catherine Tate Show. She is one of the main characters of the show and is portrayed by Catherine Tate.-The Catherine Tate Show:...

, Carol Jiani

Carol Jiani

-Singles:* 1981: "Hit N' Run Lover"* 1981: "The Woman In Me" / "Mercy"* 1982: "Ask Me"* 1982 "You're Gonna Lose My Love"* 1982: "X-Rated"* 1984: "Dancing In The Rain"* 1984: "Touch and Go Lover"* 1984: "Love Now Pay Later"...

, George Hearn, Hannah Jones

Hannah Jones

Hannah Jones is a British female dance music vocalist, who scored Three Top 5 hits on the Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart in the late 1990s. Her first two songs hit #1 on that chart: "No One Can Love You More Than Me" in 1997 and "You Only Have To Say You Love Me" in 1998...

, Soraya Arnelas

Soraya Arnelas

Soraya Arnelas Rubiales , better known by her stage name Soraya, is a popular Spanish singer...

, Ken Page, Gerard-Rene-Gordon, Doug Shneider, Teatro, Linda Eder

Linda Eder

Linda Eder is an American singer and actress. She made her Broadway debut in the musical Jekyll & Hyde, for which she received 1997 Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Nominations, as well as the Theatre World Award for Best Actress in a Musical...

, John Barrowman

John Barrowman

John Scot Barrowman is a Scottish-American singer, actor, dancer, musical theatre performer and media personality. Born in Glasgow yet growing up in Illinois after his family emigrated to the United States when he was eight years old, Barrowman was encouraged to further his love for music and...

, Amateur Transplants

Amateur Transplants

Amateur Transplants are a London based, British parody musical duo consisting of medical professionals, Dr. Adam Kay and Dr. Suman Biswas , who came to prominence in 2005 with a song about the London Underground, parodying the Jam song "Going Underground"...

, Karen Mulder, Anthony Warlow, and Dan Zanes.

In Argentina

Argentina

Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...

, the singer Sandra Mihanovich

Sandra Mihanovich

Sandra Mihanovich Cahen is an Argentine singer, musician, and composer of Rock, Blues, and Tango rhythms.She was born in the Recoleta neighbourhood of Buenos Aires, Argentina, the daughter of Iván Mihanovich Nazar, a polo player of Croatian descent -and heir to a shipping fortune- and Mónica Cahen...

 made a Spanish-cover

Cover version

In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...

 of the song called "Soy lo que soy".

Páll Oskar

Paul Oscar

Páll Óskar Hjálmtýsson , known internationally as Páll Óskar and Paul Oscar, is an Icelandic pop singer, songwriter and disc jockey. He had a musical childhood, singing at private functions, with choirs and for media advertisements, but was affected by bullying in school and tension between his...

 and Hafsteinn Þórólfsson have both recorded Icelandic versions of the song as "Ég er Eins og ég Er".

The song features on Geoff Lloyd's Hometime Show

Geoff Lloyd's Hometime Show

Geoff Lloyd's Hometime Show is a drivetime radio program, broadcast on Absolute Radio.The show runs for three hours, between 5pm and 8pm, Monday to Thursday, and for two hours, between 5pm and 7pm, on Fridays. Presented by Geoff Lloyd, it also featured his 'symposium', comprising himself, Annabel...

 and previously featured on The Geoff Show

The Geoff Show

The Geoff Show was a humorous radio program, broadcast on Absolute Radio from 3 January 2006 to 25 September 2008.The show ran for three hours, between 10pm and 1am, Monday to Thursday. Presented by Geoff Lloyd, it also featured his 'symposium', comprising himself, Annabel Port and his producer...

, a late-night show on Absolute Radio (formerly Virgin Radio

Virgin Radio

Absolute Radio is one of the UK's three Independent National Radio stations. The station rebranded to its current name at 7.45am on 29 September 2008.The station is based in London and plays popular rock music...

) as backing music to the staple feature "The Big I Am".

French

French people

The French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...

 singer Amanda Lear

Amanda Lear

Amanda Lear is a French singer, lyricist, composer, painter, TV presenter, actress and novelist....

 covered "I Am What I Am" for her 2009 album Brand New Love Affair

Brand New Love Affair

-External links:*...

. In 2010 it was remix

Remix

A remix is an alternative version of a recorded song, made from an original version. This term is also used for any alterations of media other than song ....

ed, labelled as TV Final Mix, and released as a digital download

Music download

A music download is the transferral of music from an Internet-facing computer or website to a user's local computer. This term encompasses both legal downloads and downloads of copyright material without permission or payment...

-only one-track single.

Swedish drag queen Babsan, who sang the song "Ge mig en Spanjor" in the Melodifestivalen 2011, regularly performs a Swedish version of the song, "Jag ar som Jag ar".