Carol Connors and the Famous ‘Rocky’ Theme
Three words made the lyricist rich
Musician Carol Connors recalls the creation of the “Rocky” theme, the three words that made her rich, and the partners in its creation. The story of her life touches nostalgia touchpoints in boomers.
Fifty years ago, a scrappy boxing film with a surprisingly low budget and starring a little-known starving actor knocked out star-laden productions such as “A Star is Born” and “All the President’s Men” to win the coveted title of highest grossing film for 1976. “Rocky” went on to win three Oscars, including Best Picture.
Contributing to the film’s success, some 80 minutes into the story, audience eardrums are pelted with one of the most stirring and memorable movie themes of the 20th century during Rocky’s rigorous training scene. As the intensity of the training increases, so does the music and lyrics, culminating in the famous dash up the stone stairs of the Philadelphia Museum of Arts as Carol Connors’ inspiring three simple words leap from the soundtrack.
“It’s the film’s iconic moment when Rocky runs through the streets, punches the meat, then climbs those stairs and thrusts his fists in the air,” Connors told me from her home in Beverly Hills. “Then you hear ‘Gonna Fly Now.’ I was actually one of the voices because we didn’t have a big budget to hire a high-priced singer.”
Connors doesn’t hesitate when asked what the film’s theme has meant to her over the past 50 years. “It paid for my Beverly Hills home!” she said. “But beyond that, it captured a movie moment that represents believing in yourself while demonstrating perseverance, hope, and courage. It’s something we can all identify with and is such an enormous high in the story.”
Carol co-wrote the lyrics with Ayn Robbins, while the music was scored by now veteran composer Bill Conti. The three had the same agent who informed the trio of “a little film about a boxer” that needed a theme song. After watching a rough cut of the partially scored film, everyone in the viewing room knew a more powerful theme was needed and “Gonna Fly Now” was born.
The upfront payment of $500 for Carol’s contribution didn’t go far in the late ’70s, but royalty checks soon began arriving and continue to this day whenever the movie airs or the song plays. “The entire music budget for the film was $18,000,” she recalls. “You couldn’t write four notes of a movie theme for that today.”
Connors recalls Conti arriving at her house after the screening, sitting at her piano, and belting out the Rocky melody. “After he left, I remember thinking how could anyone write words to that music?” she said. “I went into the shower, and the film and training scene were still fresh in my mind. I pictured Rocky reaching the top of those stairs and thought, oh my God, he could even fly now. So that’s where ‘Gonna Fly Now’ came from.”
With cowriter Robbins, the pair constructed an entire song but the director (John Avildsen) only used 30 words, basically three short verses in the final score. “It begins with ‘trying hard now’ then ‘getting strong now’ and the final verse ‘gonna fly now,’ so three movements each one upping the ante until Rocky reaches the top of the stairs and knows he can go the distance,” explained Connors.
Nominated for Best Original Song at the 49th Academy Awards, Connors attended the ceremony and was seated next to veteran film scorer Henry Mancini, himself a four-time Oscar winner. As “Rocky” began winning awards, Mancini leaned in with encouraging words, at least initially.
“He said to me, ‘You’re going to win the Oscar!’” she recalled. “Then Barbara Streisand got up and sang ‘Evergreen’ (from ‘A Star is Born’) and he said to me, ‘I don’t know how to tell you this Carol, but you just lost the Oscar.’ And we did, but it was an honor to be recognized for my work on the film.”
The following year, Connors and Robbins received a second Oscar nomination for writing lyrics to Sammy Fain’s “Someone’s Waiting For You” melody for Disney’s animated feature, “The Rescuers.” Two decades earlier, Carol was recognized with a gold record for selling over 2.5 million copies of the massive 1958 hit “To Know Him Is to Love Him” as lead singer of The Teddy Bears. The song was one of the first written by legendary record producer Phil Spector, who also performed with the group before it quickly disbanded.
In addition to composing songs for numerous other film and TV projects, another musical career highlight was writing the music and lyrics, with a little help from brother Marshall, to “Hey Little Cobra” recorded by The Rip Chords. Cashing in on the racing car culture of the ’60s, the song became a Top 5 hit in 1963.
Details of Connors’ career were published in her 2024 autobiography “Elvis, Rocky and Me” coauthored with Steve Bergsman (Carol dated Elvis for several months in the ’60s, see her website, www.carolconnors.com). Based on the book, the documentary film “Elvis, Rocky & Me: The Carol Connors Story” was released early 2026. The film won numerous film festival awards while the audio book, narrated by Kathy Garver, was nominated for a Grammy for the Best Audio Book, Narration, and Storytelling Recording, losing out to no less an author than the Dalai Lama.
Turning 85 later this year, Carol Connors continues to write music that still packs a punch and even occasionally belts out a tune, continuing to inspire others – just like Rocky. “Music has been my life,” she says. “I’m glad I could share it.”
Nick Thomas teaches at Auburn University at Montgomery, Ala., and has written features, columns, and interviews for numerous magazines and newspapers, including many in the Boomer nostalgia and humor departments. See www.getnickt.org
