Linwood Simon is a music manager, producer, composer and former husband of disco legend Gloria Gaynor. Unlike many celebrity spouses who remained separate from their partner’s career, Simon was directly involved in Gaynor’s professional life. Music-industry records identify him as her manager and credit him across several of her recordings as a producer, composer, executive producer, vocalist and vocal director.
That makes his story unusual. His marriage to Gaynor was personal, but their lives were also tied together through contracts, recordings, performances and business decisions. Their relationship eventually ended in divorce, yet Simon remains part of the documented history surrounding one of disco music’s most recognizable voices.
Quick Bio of Linwood Simon
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Full name | Linwood Simon |
| Also credited as | Linwood M. Simon |
| Profession | Music manager, producer, composer, vocal director |
| Best known for | Managing and working with Gloria Gaynor |
| Former wife | Gloria Gaynor |
| Music connection | R&B, soul and disco |
| Major documented roles | Manager, producer, executive producer, composer, vocals, vocal director |
| Notable artist connection | Gloria Gaynor |
| Documentary appearance | Archive footage in Gloria Gaynor: I Will Survive |
| Marriage status | Divorced |
| Exact birth date | Not reliably established publicly |
| Current age | Not safely verifiable |
| Personal net worth | Not independently verified |
One reason Simon deserves more than the simple label “Gloria Gaynor’s former husband” is the length of his music résumé. AllMusic’s credits database traces his work with Gaynor from the late 1970s through later releases and compilations.
Who Is Linwood Simon?
Linwood Simon worked behind the scenes of the music business.
He was never the person standing at the center of the stage under the brightest lights. Gaynor filled that role.
Simon worked in management and production.
A 1979 issue of Cash Box provides particularly useful historical evidence. A photograph celebrating gold records for Gaynor’s Love Tracks identified Linwood Simon as Gaynor’s manager.
That was an important moment.
Love Tracks contained the song that would become inseparable from Gaynor’s name: “I Will Survive.”
Linwood Simon Worked in the Music Industry
Simon accumulated several different professional credits over the years.
AllMusic lists him as a:
producer,
composer,
executive producer,
vocal director,
and vocalist.
That variety suggests he was not limited to handling schedules or negotiating business arrangements.
He participated in the creative side of recordings as well.
His work therefore crossed the line between artist management and music production.
He Became Gloria Gaynor’s Manager
One of Simon’s clearest professional roles was managing Gaynor.
The historical evidence reaches across decades.
The 1979 Cash Box photograph identified him as her manager during the enormous success surrounding Love Tracks.
More than two decades later, Billboard was still identifying Simon as Gaynor’s manager. In 2001, the magazine reported that she was represented by Linwood Simon of Cliffside Music while expanding her representation for television-related opportunities.
That is a remarkably long professional association.
Linwood Simon Was There During the “I Will Survive” Era
“I Will Survive” became one of the defining disco recordings of the late 1970s.
The song transformed Gaynor’s career and later became a cultural anthem associated with resilience and independence.
Simon was part of Gaynor’s management world during that period.
The Cash Box industry photograph from March 1979 placed him beside Gaynor and executives celebrating the success of her records.
That does not mean Simon wrote or produced “I Will Survive.”
Those creative credits belong elsewhere.
But it does establish that he was professionally involved with Gaynor during one of the biggest moments of her career.
Did Linwood Simon Write “I Will Survive”?
No.
This is an important distinction.
“I Will Survive” was written by Freddie Perren and Dino Fekaris.
Simon had numerous music credits connected with Gaynor, but he should not be credited as the writer of her signature song.
His contribution to her career came through management and work on other recordings.
That is substantial enough without assigning him someone else’s songwriting achievement.
Linwood Simon Also Worked as a Composer
AllMusic identifies Simon as a composer on several releases associated with Gaynor.
His songwriting credits stretch back into the disco era.
That matters because it shows his involvement was not purely administrative.
A manager might normally focus on bookings, contracts and career strategy.
Simon also entered the creative process.
His name appeared in album credits.
His Work on Gloria Gaynor’s 1982 Album
AllMusic’s credits for Gaynor’s self-titled Gloria Gaynor album identify Linwood Simon as a composer.
The album arrived after the huge commercial moment created by “I Will Survive.”
Music was changing rapidly in the early 1980s.
Disco’s mainstream boom had cooled.
Artists associated with the genre had to adapt.
Simon remained professionally connected with Gaynor during that changing period.
He Became an Executive Producer
Simon also received executive-production credits.
AllMusic lists him as executive producer on Gaynor’s 2004 album The Answer.
That is significant because it demonstrates how long their professional connection lasted.
This was not simply a late-1970s partnership.
His credits continued decades later.
By then, Gaynor was already firmly established as a veteran recording artist.
Linwood Simon Produced Gloria Gaynor’s Music
His production credits include Gaynor’s 2002 album I Wish You Love.
Producer responsibilities can vary considerably from project to project.
They may involve overseeing recording sessions, shaping arrangements, coordinating musicians and helping determine the overall sound of an album.
What we can establish safely is that Simon received an official production credit.
That places him directly inside the creative process.
He Also Worked as a Vocal Director
One of Simon’s more unusual credits is vocal director.
AllMusic lists him as providing vocals and vocal direction on Gaynor’s I Am What I Am.
Album-credit information from the recording likewise identifies Linwood M. Simon in a vocal-direction role.
That tells us something interesting about the couple’s professional relationship.
Simon was not simply watching Gaynor’s career from the side.
At times, he was working directly on the sound of her records.
The Couple Mixed Marriage With Business
Working with your spouse can be complicated.
For Gaynor and Simon, the overlap was enormous.
They had a marriage.
But Simon also managed Gaynor.
He contributed to recordings.
He participated in business decisions.
He received creative and production credits.
So disagreements about work could potentially enter the marriage, while marital tensions could affect the professional relationship.
The public record confirms the overlap, though outsiders should avoid inventing private arguments that have not been documented.
Gloria Gaynor’s Career Began Before Her Marriage Became Famous
Gaynor had already established herself as a major disco performer in the 1970s.
Her early hits included “Never Can Say Goodbye.”
Then “I Will Survive” pushed her into another level of international recognition.
Simon became one of the people working around that success.
Historical industry publications show him appearing beside record-company executives and Gaynor herself during major career moments.
It was a professional world filled with labels, producers, promoters and managers.
Simon belonged to that world.
The Music Business Changed Dramatically Around Them
The late 1970s were an extraordinary time for disco.
Then tastes changed.
The genre faced a backlash in the United States.
Artists who had dominated dance floors suddenly had to adjust to a different marketplace.
Gaynor continued recording and performing.
Simon remained connected with her professional career through later decades, which is confirmed by the 2001 Billboard reference identifying him as her manager.
That longevity is one of the most notable facts about him.
Linwood Simon and Gloria Gaynor Eventually Divorced
The marriage did not last permanently.
A published New Jersey appellate court decision documents divorce litigation involving Gloria Simon and Linwood Simon. The court record states that an amended final judgment of divorce was entered on November 7, 2005.
This is a stronger source than the many celebrity biography pages that provide conflicting dates.
The divorce proceedings later reached the New Jersey Superior Court’s Appellate Division.
The appellate decision was issued in 2007.
Their Divorce Had Financial and Legal Issues
The court record shows that their divorce involved disputes significant enough to produce an appeal.
Because legal proceedings contain personal financial information, it can be tempting to turn them into dramatic celebrity gossip.
That is not necessary.
The important biographical fact is straightforward:
their marriage formally ended, and aspects of the divorce settlement became the subject of later court review.
The legal record gives us a reliable timeline without requiring speculation about every private disagreement.
Was Linwood Simon Gloria Gaynor’s Only Husband?
Public biographies of Gaynor strongly associate her marriage history with Linwood Simon.
Their relationship lasted through a substantial portion of her professional life.
However, exact online timelines for when their relationship began and when they originally married are surprisingly inconsistent across secondary sources.
The strongest documentary date available from the court record is the final divorce judgment in November 2005.
When a precise marriage date cannot be established from similarly strong documentation, it is better not to invent one.
Did Gloria Gaynor and Linwood Simon Have Children?
Reliable public sources do not establish children from their marriage clearly enough to provide names or biographies.
That is important because family information is frequently copied incorrectly across celebrity websites.
Unless a child is documented by Gaynor herself or a reliable biographical source, claims should be treated carefully.
There is no reason to create a family tree from uncertain internet profiles.
Simon and Gaynor’s best-documented connection remains their marriage and long professional partnership.
Linwood Simon’s Work Continued Into the 2000s
The later music credits are especially useful because they challenge the idea that Simon belonged only to Gaynor’s disco years.
AllMusic lists him as producer on I Wish You Love in 2002 and executive producer on The Answer in 2004.
That means his documented work with Gaynor continued close to the end of their marriage.
Their personal relationship eventually ended.
Their professional history had already lasted for decades.
His Name Appears Across Gloria Gaynor Compilations
Simon is also credited on several Gaynor compilations and reissues.
AllMusic’s database connects his composer credits to releases from the 1990s and 2000s, including collections built around Gaynor’s best-known work.
Compilation credits can sometimes reflect older recordings rather than new studio work.
That distinction matters.
Still, they show that Simon’s creative contributions remained part of the recorded catalog.
His name did not disappear when an original album went out of print.
Linwood Simon Appears in Gloria Gaynor’s Documentary History
The documentary Gloria Gaynor: I Will Survive includes Simon through archive footage.
TV Guide’s cast listing identifies Linwood Simon among the people appearing in the documentary.
IMDb likewise lists him as appearing as himself through archive footage.
That makes sense.
A documentary covering Gaynor’s long career would naturally reach back into the period when Simon was both her husband and manager.
His presence belongs to that history.
Lance Gross Played Linwood Simon
Interest in Simon’s story increased again when Gaynor’s life was dramatized for television.
Actor Lance Gross played Linwood Simon in Robin Roberts Presents: I Will Survive: The Gloria Gaynor Story.
TV Guide lists Gross’s role specifically as Linwood Simon.
IMDb also records the role in Gross’s acting credits.
That dramatization introduced Simon to viewers who may never have known the name behind Gaynor’s earlier management history.
Why Was Linwood Simon Included in the Gloria Gaynor Story?
The answer is simple.
He was not a minor person in Gaynor’s adult life.
He was her husband.
He was her manager.
He participated in her music.
He appeared in industry photographs during major career periods.
And their marriage eventually ended through a documented divorce.
Removing him entirely would leave a large gap in the story.
At the same time, Gaynor’s achievements belong to Gaynor.
A manager or spouse can play an important supporting role without becoming the source of an artist’s talent.
Linwood Simon’s Career Beyond Gloria Gaynor
This is where the public record becomes thinner.
Most easily verifiable information about Simon is connected directly with Gaynor.
AllMusic’s catalog centers overwhelmingly on his work associated with her recordings.
That does not necessarily mean he never worked with anyone else.
It means strong, easily accessible documentation of a large independent catalog is limited.
For a biography, that difference is important.
Absence of evidence should not be filled with invented clients or companies.
Was Linwood Simon a Singer?
Simon received vocal credits, but he is not primarily known as a recording star.
AllMusic lists him under vocals and vocal direction on Gaynor-related work.
That is different from building a solo singing career.
His public professional identity is much better described as a manager, producer and behind-the-scenes music professional.
He worked around the artist.
He was not trying to replace the artist.
Was Linwood Simon a Record Producer?
Yes.
His documented credits include production work.
AllMusic lists Simon as producer on Gaynor’s I Wish You Love and executive producer on The Answer.
Older album information also associates him with executive-production duties.
So “music producer” is a reasonable part of his biography.
It should simply be used alongside his other major role: management.
Was Linwood Simon a Songwriter?
He has documented composer credits.
AllMusic’s discography credits him as a composer on recordings associated with Gaynor, including material from the late 1970s and early 1980s.
But again, there is one important misconception to avoid.
He did not write “I Will Survive.”
His actual credits are interesting enough without incorrectly attaching Gaynor’s biggest song to his songwriting résumé.
How Old Is Linwood Simon?
A reliable exact birth date for Linwood Simon is difficult to establish from strong public sources.
That means an exact age should not be presented as confirmed.
Many biography websites assign dates of birth to people connected with celebrities without explaining where those dates came from.
Repeating those numbers creates the appearance of certainty.
It does not create evidence.
For Simon, his documented professional timeline is much more reliable than his birth details.
Where Was Linwood Simon Born?
His exact birthplace is another detail that is not clearly established by the strongest sources reviewed.
Historical music publications focus on his work.
Court records focus on legal issues.
Music databases focus on his credits.
None of those automatically provides a trustworthy childhood biography.
So claims about his birthplace, parents or early education should be approached cautiously.
What Is Linwood Simon’s Net Worth?
There is no independently verified figure for Simon’s personal net worth.
His long career in music management and production certainly shows professional experience.
But experience does not tell us someone’s bank balance.
Calculating net worth would require information about earnings, royalties, investments, property, debts and other assets.
Those records are not available in a form that supports a reliable public figure.
Exact numbers appearing on celebrity websites should therefore be treated as estimates.
Is Linwood Simon Still Alive?
Current authoritative biographical information about Simon is limited.
The recent dramatization of Gaynor’s life has renewed interest in him, but it should not be used to guess his present circumstances.
There is no reason to declare a death without a reliable obituary or other strong record.
Likewise, a lack of recent public appearances does not prove anything about someone’s health or status.
Simon has simply maintained a much lower public profile than his former wife.
Where Is Linwood Simon Today?
There is little reliable current reporting about Simon’s day-to-day life.
That is not unusual.
Music managers can become publicly recognizable while working with a major artist, then disappear from entertainment coverage once that professional relationship changes.
Gaynor continues to perform, give interviews and participate in projects about her career.
Simon does not maintain the same level of public celebrity.
His privacy should not be filled with guesses about residence, relationships or retirement.
Why People Are Searching for Linwood Simon Again
A major reason is renewed interest in Gloria Gaynor’s life story.
Her career has been revisited through documentaries and dramatizations.
The documentary Gloria Gaynor: I Will Survive includes Simon in archive footage.
The dramatized television biography cast Lance Gross as Simon.
For viewers, that naturally creates questions.
Who was he?
Was he really Gaynor’s manager?
Did he work on her records?
What happened to their marriage?
The historical record answers several of those questions clearly.
Linwood Simon Was More Than a Celebrity Husband
The phrase “Gloria Gaynor’s ex-husband” may bring people to his biography.
It should not be the entire biography.
Simon worked professionally inside the music industry.
Historical trade publications identified him as Gaynor’s manager during her major disco-era success.
Billboard still identified him as her manager in 2001.
AllMusic documents his production, songwriting and vocal-related credits.
Those are concrete professional achievements.
His Story Is Also a Warning About Online Biography Errors
Linwood Simon is the kind of person who often receives inaccurate online biographies.
Why?
Because he was close to someone much more famous.
Small websites copy information from one another.
An uncertain birthday becomes “fact.”
An estimated fortune becomes “net worth.”
A professional credit becomes exaggerated.
Then the same claims appear on dozens of pages.
A stronger biography works in the opposite direction.
It begins with original industry records, established music databases and court documents.
When something cannot be verified, it says so.
Final Thoughts
Linwood Simon played an important role in Gloria Gaynor’s life during a long and complicated period that mixed marriage with the music business.
He was not simply standing beside a famous singer.
Historical music-industry records identify him as Gaynor’s manager during the late 1970s, including the era when Love Tracks and “I Will Survive” brought enormous attention to her career.
His involvement continued.
In 2001, Billboard still described Linwood Simon of Cliffside Music as Gaynor’s manager.
He also developed his own collection of music credits. AllMusic lists him as a composer, producer, executive producer, vocalist and vocal director across Gaynor-related releases.
The marriage eventually ended.
A New Jersey appellate decision confirms that an amended final judgment of divorce was entered on November 7, 2005.
But divorce did not erase Simon from Gaynor’s professional history.
Archive footage of him appears in the documentary Gloria Gaynor: I Will Survive, while Lance Gross later portrayed him in a dramatization of Gaynor’s life.
His current private life is much less documented.
That is where a responsible biography should stop rather than guess.
What remains clear is that Linwood Simon belonged to the working side of the music business. His decades of management and recording credits make him more than a footnote attached to a famous former spouse.
FAQs About Linwood Simon
Who is Linwood Simon?
Linwood Simon is a music manager, producer, composer and vocal director best known for his long professional and personal relationship with Gloria Gaynor. Historical music publications identify him as Gaynor’s manager.
Was Linwood Simon married to Gloria Gaynor?
Yes. Simon and Gaynor were married and later divorced. A New Jersey court record confirms a final divorce judgment entered in November 2005.
Was Linwood Simon Gloria Gaynor’s manager?
Yes. Cash Box identified him as her manager in 1979, and Billboard was still identifying him as her manager through Cliffside Music in 2001.
Did Linwood Simon write “I Will Survive”?
No. “I Will Survive” was written by Freddie Perren and Dino Fekaris. Simon was involved in Gaynor’s career as her manager and had composer credits on other recordings.
Was Linwood Simon a music producer?
Yes. AllMusic credits him as a producer and executive producer on Gaynor releases, including I Wish You Love and The Answer.
Was Linwood Simon a songwriter?
He has documented composer credits on Gaynor recordings.
Did Linwood Simon sing?
He received vocal and vocal-director credits, although he is not primarily known as a solo recording artist.
When did Linwood Simon and Gloria Gaynor divorce?
The New Jersey court record says an amended final judgment of divorce was entered on November 7, 2005.
Did Linwood Simon and Gloria Gaynor have children?
Strong publicly available sources reviewed for this profile do not clearly establish children from their marriage, so names or family details should not be guessed.
Who played Linwood Simon in Gloria Gaynor’s biopic?
Actor Lance Gross portrayed Linwood Simon in Robin Roberts Presents: I Will Survive: The Gloria Gaynor Story.
Is Linwood Simon in the Gloria Gaynor documentary?
Yes. Gloria Gaynor: I Will Survive includes Linwood Simon through archive footage.
How old is Linwood Simon?
His exact date of birth is not reliably established by the stronger public records reviewed here, so an exact age would be speculative.
What is Linwood Simon’s net worth?
There is no independently verified figure for his personal net worth. Exact figures found on celebrity websites should be treated as estimates.
Where is Linwood Simon now?
Reliable recent reporting about his current residence, relationship status and daily life is limited. He has maintained a considerably more private profile than Gloria Gaynor.
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