Debbie Gibson Informations

Deborah Ann Gibson (born August 31, 1970) is an American singer-songwriter, record producer and actress. Gibson released her debut album Out of the Blue in 1987, which spawned several international hits, later being certified triple Platinum by the RIAA. One of those singles, "Foolish Beat", made Gibson the youngest female artist to write, produce and perform a Billboard Hot 100 number-one single. Her double-platinum second albumElectric Youth (1989), gave Gibson another U.S. number-one hit with "Lost in Your Eyes". Gibson is the sole songwriter on all of her singles to reach the Top 20 of the Hot 100 charts. She was recognized by ASCAP as Songwriter of the Year, along with Bruce Springsteen, in 1989. She continued to record and release music throughout the 1990s and 2000s. In 2006, Gibson reached No. 24 on the U.S. adult contemporary chart with "Say Goodbye", a duet with Jordan Knight and in 2017 achieved her highest-charting hit in more than 25 years in her duet with Sir Ivan, 'I Am Peaceman'.

In addition to music, she has gone on to starring roles on Broadway and touring musicals including playing Eponine in Les Misérables and Sandy in Grease, as well as independent film and television work.

Gibson was born in Brooklyn, New York, the third daughter of four of Joseph Gibson and Diane Gibson (née Pustizzi). Her father, who enjoyed singing, was originally named Joseph Schultz and was orphaned as a boy; his biological mother married a man with the surname Gibson before putting Joseph into an orphanage. Debbie Gibson grew up in suburban Merrick, New York, on Long Island. She describes herself as of "Italian/Sicilian and part German and possibly some Russian" descent. She studied piano under American pianist Morton Estrin.

After years of writing and producing her own material, Gibson finally found her demo in the hands of a radio personality who eventually shared it with an executive at Atlantic Records. Based solely on Gibson's original song, "Only in My Dreams", she was signed to a development deal and began a promotional tour of club venues throughout the United States.

Gibson spent much of 1986 and the beginning of 1987 building her songwriting catalog while continuing to play club dates. Continuing her promotional tour, Gibson also continued attending classes at Calhoun High School in Merrick, New York, whence she later graduated as an honor student. Diane Gibson, Debbie's mother and manager, accompanied her daughter on many of these track dates. "We played dance clubs, straight clubs and gay clubs," Diane has said.

The promotional pressing of "Only in My Dreams" landed the song within the Billboard Hot 100. Atlantic Records signed Gibson to a recording contract, and thus began the process of completing the first record.

Along with producer Fred Zarr, Gibson wrote, recorded, and produced her first album Out of the Blue in only 4 weeks. Now having something to market, "Only in My Dreams" was selected as Debbie's first single. This time, "Dreams" found traction on Top 40 radio, and reached a peak of No. 4 on the Hot 100 chart.

Following the success of "Dreams", "Shake Your Love" was released as the follow-up single and reached the Billboard Top 5. The "Shake Your Love" video was choreographed by Paula Abdul and was the first time MTV had visited Debbie on a video shoot.

In 1987, while performing around the United States at nightclub venues, Gibson was recording her debut album, Out of the Blue. It was finished within four weeks. Four singles from the album reached the Top 5 of the Hot 100 chart: "Only in My Dreams", "Shake Your Love", "Out of the Blue", and the number-one hit "Foolish Beat", followed by "Staying Together", which performed more modestly, reaching No. 22. "Foolish Beat" set a record for Gibson, making her (at 17) the youngest artist ever to have written, produced, and performed a Billboard number-one single, as entered in the 1988 Guinness Book of World Records. She remains the youngest female artist to have done so. Out of the Blue was established as a hit album, and she had success in the UK and southeast Asia, filling stadiums with her Out of the Blue tour. By the end of 1988, Out of the Blue had gone triple platinum.

The music video compilation Out of the Blue was certified platinum by the RIAA; the concert tour video was certified 2x platinum. In October 1988, Gibson sang the national anthem for Game 1 of the Major League Baseball World Series.

Electric Youth was released in early 1989, and spent five weeks at No. 1 on the Top 200 Album chart. The first single released, "Lost in Your Eyes", was No. 1 on the Hot 100 for three weeks, garnering her another achievement as the first female to have both an album and single simultaneously at No. 1. (She shared the 1989 ASCAP Songwriter of the Year Award with Bruce Springsteen.) Subsequent singles from the album were "Electric Youth" (No. 11), "No More Rhyme" (No. 17), and "We Could Be Together" (No. 71). The Electric Youth album was certified 2x platinum by the RIAA. The successful Electric Youth world tour and Live Around the World VHS (2x platinum) followed. In 1988, Debbie sang "Don't Flirt with Me".

She recorded two more albums for Atlantic Records: Anything Is Possible (1990) and Body Mind Soul (1993). The former, co-written with Motown mainstay Lamont Dozier, peaked at No. 26 on Billboard's Hot 100 in 1991. Subsequent singles from Anything Is Possible failed to chart on the Hot 100, although "One Step Ahead" scored on the Hot Maxi Singles and Hot Dance charts, peaking at No. 21 and No. 18 respectively. Body Mind Soul spawned another minor hit in "Losin' Myself", which was accompanied by a controversial video clip, which Matthew Rolston directed, that featured Gibson as a stripper. The second single from the album, "Shock Your Mama", became a minor hit in Europe and the UK, however "Losin' Myself" was Debbie Gibson's last appearance on the Billboard Hot 100.

During this time, Gibson was part of the supergroup that recorded the charity single "Voices That Care" which peaked at No. 11 on the Hot 100 chart.

In 1995, she signed with EMI's SBK Records division and recorded her only album for the label, Think With Your Heart. It was an Adult contemporary-heavy album consisting of piano and keyboard ballads recorded predominantly with the London Philharmonic Orchestra. The album's producer, Niko Bolas, who was usually Neil Young's co-producer, was producing the reunion album for veteran punk band Circle Jerks, and invited Gibson to a recording session for that band's album. She sang background vocals on the song "I Wanna Destroy You", as well as appearing at and participating in the Circle Jerks' performance at punk venue CBGB, wearing one of the band's T-shirts and sharing a microphone with frontman Keith Morris.

In 1998, she sang the song, "I Do", which is featured on the soundtrack to the film, The Naked Man. The lyrics to the song were composed by the co-writer of the film, Ethan Coen. The soundtrack has never been released.

After parting company with EMI, Gibson formed her own record label, Espiritu, to release her original material. Her sixth album, Deborah (1997), marked her full return to pop. Deborah includes the lead single "Only Words". "Only Words" (Dance Edit) became a Top 40 Hot Dance Music/Club Play hit. The album's other single was the ballad, "Naturally". Though it only sold 20,000 in the US, Deborah remains well-respected.

In 2001, she released her seventh album on her new record label, Golden Egg, titled M.Y.O.B. i.e. ‘Mind Your Own Business’. It featured three singles: the sensual pop song "What You Want", the Latin-infused Dance-pop song "Your Secret", and the bass heavy "M.Y.O.B." Highlights from the album include the sultry Latin-flavored smooth jazz song "In Blue", a vintage style ballad "Wishing You Were Here", "Jaded", and a remix of "M.Y.O.B." with the background vocals of her two nieces.

In 2005, Gibson co-wrote and recorded a song titled "Someone You Love" with the O'Neill Brothers. With the O'Neill Brothers, she released an updated, acoustic version of her number-one hit "Lost in Your Eyes". There was an Emmy-nominated PBS special in 2005.

The March 2005 issue of Playboy featured a nude pictorial of Gibson, coinciding with the release of her single, "Naked". She has said that the magazine had asked her five times to pose for them since she turned 18. She agreed to pose in an effort to revamp her image, describing how one casting call called her agent, not realizing that Gibson had long since outgrown her teenage image. The single peaked at No. 35 on the Billboard Hot Single Sales chart in March 2005.

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