Debbie Gibson

Background

Debbie Gibson strongly established herself as a pop singer in the late 1980s. With time, newer artists dominated the music industry but she continued making her music and chasing her passion. Gibson was born on August 31, 1970, in Long Island, New York City. Her zodiac sign is Virgo and her ethnicity is Italian/Sicilian, German, and a bit Russian. She is the daughter of Diane and Joseph Gibson, and she has three sisters. When she was young, she studied piano under Morton Estrin. In 1983, she started her career by composing a song called ‘I Come From America’ and sending a recording to WOR as her entry for the station’s song contest. She won the competition, after which her mother turned the family garage into a recording studio. A demo of another of her original songs, ‘Only in My Dreams,’ submitted to a radio station led the D.J. to share her song with an executive at Atlantic Records and helped her land a development deal immediately. She began a promotional tour of venues throughout the United States. She spent most of 1986 and 1987 building her songwriting catalog while continuing to tour venues. Gibson’s mother would accompany her to her club dates. Simultaneously, she continued taking classes at Calhoun High School in Merrick, New York, from which she then graduated as an honor student.

The promotional release of ‘Only in My Dreams’ landed the song on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number four. Atlantic signed Gibson to a recording contract and began the process of completing her first record. Her follow-up single was ‘Shake Your Love,’ with an accompanying music video choreographed by Paula Abdul. In 1987, she was still performing in nightclubs throughout the United States and recording at the same time. Her debut album “Out of the Blue” was finished in four weeks and four singles from it reached the top five of the Billboard Hot 100. In 1988, Gibson became the youngest artist to write, produce, and perform a number-one single on the Billboard Hot 100 with her song ‘Foolish Beat,’ which she recorded and produced when she was 16 years old. She still holds the title of the youngest female artist ever to have done so. “Out of the Blue” was an instant success, not only in the United States but internationally, filling stadiums during her tour. By the end of 1988, the album had gone triple platinum.

In early 1989, Gibson released her second album, titled “Electric Youth.” It spent five weeks at number one on the Billboard 200. The first single, ‘Lost in Your Eyes,’ held the number one spot on the Billboard Hot 100 for three weeks. The album was certified double platinum and she embarked on a successful world tour. Gibson recorded two more albums for Atlantic Records, “Anything Is Possible” (1990), and “Body, Mind, Soul” (1993). She had two minor hits with the latter, ‘Losin Myself’ and ‘Shock Your Mama,’ the first of which would be Gibson’s last Billboard Hot 100 song for a long time. She then signed with EMI’s SBK Records in 1995 and recorded her only album for the label, “Think With Your Heart,” that same year. After parting with EMI, she formed her record label, Espiritu, to release her original material. She returned to pop in 1997 with her sixth album, titled “Deborah.” In 2001, Gibson released her seventh album on her new record label, Golden Egg. In 2010, she released her ninth studio album, “Ms. Vocalist.” In 2017, she achieved her first Billboard Hot 100 song in 25 with ‘I Am Peaceman,’ a duet with Sir Ivan which peaked at number 26. In 2021, she released her 10th studio album, “The Body Remembers.”