Debbie Gibson

In March 2019, Gibson hosted a special program on SiriusXM Radio's '80s on 8 Channel to celebrate the 30th anniversary of her Electric Youth album, during which she played each song from the album in sequence, accompanied by personal stories surrounding each song. On May 2, the Mixtape Tour commenced in Cincinnati, Ohio. Performers on this tour include Gibson, Tiffany, Salt-N-Pepa, and Naughty by Nature, with New Kids on the Block being billed as the headline performers. On June 7, Gibson released a new pop anthem "Girls Night Out." The music video for "Girls Night Out" was shot in Las Vegas, Nevada.

In June 2018, Gibson appeared in the music video of American heavy metal band Voices of Extreme's cover version of "Foolish Beat".

In September 2018, Gibson starred in the Hallmark Channel film Wedding of Dreams, a sequel to 2016's Summer of Dreams.

In June 2017, Billboard Magazine reported that Gibson achieved her highest-charting hit in more than 25 years in her duet with Sir Ivan on "I Am Peaceman" which hit No. 26 on the Billboard Dance Club Chart.

On September 6, 2017, Gibson was announced as one of the celebrities who would compete on the 25th season of Dancing with the Stars. She was paired with first-time pro-dancer, Alan Bersten. On September 26, 2017, Gibson and Bersten were the second couple eliminated coming in 12th place.

On August 27, 2016, Gibson starred in an original Hallmark Channel film, Summer of Dreams, about a former pop star, trying to make a comeback, who finds herself better suited as a school's choir director. She also recorded a song titled "Wonderland" for the film.

In 2016, she appeared on Oprah: Where Are They Now?, where she spoke out about her drug use in the past, after the death of singer Prince:

She starred in the UP TV movie called The Music in Me alongside Gloria Reuben in 2015. The film also featured an original song called "Promises", written and performed by Gibson.

Gibson has been battling Lyme disease since early 2013.

I really feel like I haven't fully articulated it till now and really spoke candidly till now... When I heard the news about Prince and the fact that it might have been prescription drug-related, I really had a moment of, like, "That's awful and that's sad – and I can relate." And, unfortunately, 90 per cent of the entertainment community can relate. I remember being on the road at, like, 25, touring with theater and doing my own cocktail of Tylenol PM and Xanax. It's like, "Oh, I found a way to make the Xanax last longer with the Tylenol PM. I mean, it's as simple as that, and that is how performers get in so much trouble."

Gibson competed on the fifth season of The Celebrity Apprentice, which began airing on February 19, 2012. On the fourth task, she won $50,000 for her charity, Children International. Gibson was fired on April 1, 2012, in the seventh task because she had brought in the least amount of money between her teammates in the boardroom, Dayana Mendoza and Teresa Giudice. While both Mendoza and Giudice were arguably weaker candidates going forward, given that Mendoza was cited as the women's weakest link and Giudice had failed the task as project manager, Gibson was fired instead.

In January 2011, Gibson wrote, performed and produced the song "Snake Charmer" for the film Mega Python vs. Gatoroid.

On April 18, 2011, Gibson confirmed via Twitter that she would be touring with fellow 1980s pop princess Tiffany Darwish during the summer of 2011.

In June 2011, Gibson appeared in Katy Perry's music video "Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)" alongside several other guest stars.

In January 2010, an unofficial clip named "Cougar" was uploaded on YouTube. She also became a spokesperson for Murad's Resurgence Skin Care and plays piano and sings a line of the song called "Cougar".

It was announced on her official website that "I Love You", the first single from her 2010 album Ms. Vocalist, reached No. 1 on the international cable radio charts for the week of November 3. Debbie covered J-Pop tunes for the Ms. Vocalist album that were originally sung by Japanese artists like Chage and Aska (Say Yes), Yutaka Ozaki (I love you), Sekaiju no Dareyori Kitto (by Miho Nakayama & WANDS) among others, plus Japanese/English version of her number-one hit "Lost in Your Eyes" and a duet with Eric Martin. The first official music video from the new album is "I Love You" which was released on Gibson Official YouTube site on October 19, 2010.

Gibson's song "Rise", from the forthcoming documentary 3 Billion and Counting, was included on the shortlist for an Academy Award for Best Song in a Film in 2010. In the summer of 2011, she released Rise on iTunes, and also performed it on Good Morning America in New York.

Gibson performed as Mother Nature in Cirque Dreams Jungle Fantasy at Foxwoods/MGM Casino from July 27 to September 1, 2010.

In 2010, the album Ms. Vocalist from Sony Japan was Top 10 on the Japanese Billboard chart and the first single from the album, "I Love You", hit No. 1.

She later appeared on the April 2008 cover of Lavender Magazine (a GLBT magazine in Minnesota) and was interviewed about her career and upcoming projects. Then on the 24th, Gibson hosted and performed on Spotlightlive '80s Karaoke Experience in New York singing songs such as "Only in My Dreams", "Out of the Blue", "Love Shack" (an original hit for the B-52's) and "9 to 5". She performed with Samantha Fox, Tiffany, & Rick Astley at the Colisée Pepsi in Quebec City, Canada, on April 10, 2009.

On March 5, 2009, Gibson announced via YouTube video blog that she would be releasing a new song/video called "Already Gone". Released on her official website and reverberation, the song was released first on March 9, 2009, then the video on March 13, 2009. The song was written by Gibson and produced by Fred Coury. It was accompanied by a music video produced by Guy Birtwhistle and directed by John Knowles, which starred Birtwhistle, Gibson, and Steve Valentine.

Gibson co-starred with actor Lorenzo Lamas in the low-budget action/adventure film Mega Shark Versus Giant Octopus, produced by The Asylum and released on May 19, 2009. The film drew in 2 million viewers on Syfy in 2009. Its trailer became a viral hit, scoring over one million hits on MTV.com and YouTube. The film premiered at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival. Gibson's former music rival Tiffany had her film Necrosis (a.k.a. Blood Snow) premiere at the Cannes as well. Gibson and Tiffany starred in a Syfy original movie entitled Mega Python vs. Gatoroid, aired on January 29, 2011. The pairing was suggested by Tiffany, who wanted to play-off their supposed rivalry. Gibson reprised her role as Emma McNeil in the 2014 film Mega Shark Versus Mecha Shark.

In January 2008, Gibson announced that she would revive and perform her 1980s hits—along with her Broadway role songs—during a three-run week in May 2008 at Harrah's in Atlantic City.

Gibson starred as Anna Leonowens in Cabrillo Music Theatre's production of the Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II musical The King and I, which began October 17, 2008, in the Kavli Theatre at the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza and ran through October 26.

Gibson was once engaged to Jonathan Kanterman and has been in a long-term relationship since 2008 with Rutledge Taylor.

In May 2007, the world premiere of Electric Youth: The Musical was unveiled at The Starlight Theatre in Orlando, Florida. The musical featured 14 of Gibson's songs and was directed by Dean Parker. On August 24, 2007, Gibson and Frankie Avalon hosted Time-Life Presents Dick Clark's American Bandstand 50th Anniversary Collection.

In September 2007, Gibson considered creating a camp on the West Coast. She is the founder and creator of Camp Electric Youth, a children's summer day camp, which ran from July 7–18, 2008. It claims to be the first camp of its kind in the Los Angeles area. The camp was reportedly attended by "over 120 talented singers, actors and dancers" from around the world.

Gibson was a judge for the online talent competition, Total Pop Star, along with Andrew Van Slee (producer and judge) and Joey Lawrence (from Blossom). The first season ran from November 12, 2007 – May 30, 2008, though it was later extended to June. The show ended abruptly during the 2nd season.

She had a resurgence of popularity in niche markets. Her single "Your Secret" came back from its dormant state and became popular on some radio stations, including Super 91.7 WMPH in Wilmington, Delaware. "Your Secret" has been on their request show, Total Control Radio, for 12 months; it reached No. 1 on its third week on that station's chart in May 2006. It charted along with a few of her other singles, "M.Y.O.B." and "Only Words" (Dance Edit), the Eurodance mix. They all have become recurrent hits on WMPH.

2006 single, "Say Goodbye", featuring dance-pop artist Jordan Knight, made an impression in the Soft AC and Hot AC radio formats, becoming the third-most added single during summer, 2006. It debuted at No. 35 on the Hot Contemporary chart, peaking at No. 24 in early September. The same year, Gibson appeared in the independent film Coffee Date with Wilson Cruz and Jonathan Silverman and provided a soundtrack song called "Sounds Like Love".

On November 14, 2006, Gibson released the song "Famous" on her official website. The song was written by Gibson and Tiziano Lugli and was produced by Lugli.

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 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.

In November 2005, it was announced that Debbie would go on tour with The O'Neill Brothers for "Someone You Love Tour" in 2006. "Lost in Your Eyes" was revamped with an acoustic sound and a song "Someone You Love" was written and performed by Debbie and The O'Neill Brothers. These two songs also appeared on The O'Neill Brothers album Someone You Love.

In mid-2003, Gibson was a judge on the American Idol spin-off American Juniors, which lasted one season. In January 2006, she joined the cast of Skating with Celebrities on Fox Television, partnered with Canadian former World Champion figure skater Kurt Browning. She was voted out in the third episode.

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 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.

On returning to the States, she appeared in the Broadway touring production, this time playing Rizzo. She played Fanny Brice in a revamped Funny Girl tour. She has had many successful theatre credits; she was among the many actresses who took the starring role of Belle in the Broadway production of Beauty and the Beast. She replaced Kerry Butler in September 1997 and was in the show until June 1998 when Kim Huber then succeeded her. She also starred the critically lauded production of Gypsy (in a production staged at The Paper Mill Playhouse). Gibson starred as Louise opposite Broadway legend Betty Buckley. She participated in the national tour of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, where she played The Narrator, and starred as Cinderella in the national tour of Rodgers & Hammerstein's musical with Eartha Kitt as the Fairy Godmother. In October 2002, she starred as Velma Kelly in the Boston production of Chicago. In 2003, she played Sally Bowles in the Broadway revival of Cabaret. From March to April 2004, she played the role of Marta in the UCLA Reprise! production of Company.

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 Circle Jerks (a veteran punk band) 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 the punk venue CBGB, wearing one of the band's T-shirts and sharing a microphone with frontman Keith Morris.

Deborah Gibson debuted on Broadway in 1992, playing Eponine in Les Misérables. She then went to London and starred as Sandy in Grease—a role 800 other girls tried out for before producers chose Gibson—in a West End production. The show broke box office sales records. The single version of "You're the One That I Want", a duet with Craig McLachlan, taken from the Original Cast Recording, reached No. 13 on the UK charts in 1993.

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.

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".

Over the years, Gibson has been the target of stalkers. Robert Bardo, who was convicted of murdering actress Rebecca Schaeffer in 1989, had a wall in his house adorned with pictures of Gibson and Tiffany. In May 1998, Michael Falkner, a disgruntled fan from Eau Claire, Wisconsin, was arrested outside Manhattan's Palace Theater, where Gibson was performing in the live musical adaptation of Disney's Beauty and the Beast. This was after Gibson received threatening letters, emails and faxes from Falkner, who used the alias 'Starcade'. In 2008, Gibson filed for a restraining order against Spanish taxi driver Jorge Puigdollers, who had stalked her since 2002. However, a temporary restraining order was not issued, and a court date was set to determine if a restraining order was appropriate. The proceeding was dismissed when Gibson failed to show up for the hearing.

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.

Gibson co-hosted Nickelodeon's first Kids' Choice Awards in 1988, alongside Tony Danza, Brian Robbins, and Dan Schneider.

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.

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.

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 album Electric 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". Gibson's latest single "Girls Night Out (Tracy Young Remixes)" became her first Top 5 on a Billboard Dance chart in over 30 years. 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 television and independent film work.