Full name: Deborah Ann Gibson
Confirmation name: Marie
Religious denomination: Catholic
Date of birth: August 31, 1970
Place of birth: Brooklyn, New York
Education: Sanford H. Calhoun High School, June 1988
Marital Status: Single
Deborah Gibson started her career at a young age. She got experience in theater by playing roles in plays like "A Christmas Carol", "Annie" and "Mickey Mouse and Friends". At age 12, she started songwriting seriously. She was part of the Metropolitan Opera for several years, doing opera's like "Hansel und Gretel", "La Boheme" and "Le Rossignol", some of which meant singing in a foreign language.Deborah got her first recording contract at age 16, for a 12" aimed at the dance market. Late 1986, "Only in my Dreams" was released, a song she had written three years prior. After it became a hit, 6 months of hard work performing at various clubs later, she recorded her first album, titled "Out of the Blue". It went triple platinum, just like her second album "Electric Youth", which was released in January 1989. With the song "Foolish Beat" she set a record: she became the youngest artist in chart history to have written, produced, and performed a Number 1 song.
After Deborah's third album, "Anything is Possible", she made her broadway debut as Eponine in the musical "Les Miserables". She continued her efforts in theater by appearing as Sandy in the musical "Grease" on London's West End for a period of nine months, shortly after she had released her fourth album "Body Mind Soul". Her fifth album, called "Think With Your Heart", once more showed her abilities as a songwriter, musician, singer and producer. It contains mostly ballads with Deborah playing piano, accompanied by an orchestra.Deborah played Betty Rizzo in the National Touring Company of Grease. She was part of the cast from October 29 1995 through March 3 1996, touring through the USA and performing in 19 different cities in a usually sold out theatre. Deborah recorded her sixth album, "Deborah", in the summer of 1996, after which she starred as Fanny Brice in a brief revival of the musical "Funny Girl". She continued showing her passion for theatre by playing Belle in the Broadway musical "Beauty and the Beast" for nine months, followed by starring as Gypsy Rose Lee in the Papermill Playhouse production of Gypsy, playing the narrator in the US touring production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, and the title role in the US touring production of Cinderella.
On March 6, 2001, she released her seventh studio album, titled "M.Y.O.B. (Mind Your Own Business)".
Besides her own career, she has written and/or produced material for several other artists (Chris Cuevas, Ana, the Party, Jobeth Taylor) and regularly participates on 'various artists' albums benefiting charities. She surprised many, including her own fans, by singing backup vocals for a song on the last Circle Jerks album.
Deborah has an upbeat, caring, open-minded, ambitious and family-oriented personality. In her career she has always had the support of her family. Her mother, Diane, is also her manager. Her sisters have also helped from the start by doing things like designing her stage-outfits, sound engineering and running the fan club.
She supports several charities, among which are the Pediatric AIDS Foundation, the Make-A-Wish Foundation and St. Mary's Children & Families Foundation. The latter is a home for abused, orphaned and/or neglected children. Deborah's father, Joe Gibson, has spent several years there. After listing those causes, it should come as no surprise that Deborah is very fond of children. She hasn't got any of her own yet, but has stated that she definitely wants several children, of her own as well as adopted. Debbie Gibson became a pop phenomenon in the late '80s, scoring a string of hit singles when she was only 17. Although she was still a teenager, Gibson showed signs of being a talented pop craftsman, capable of making catchy dance-pop in the style of Madonna, as well as lush, orchestrated ballads. Gibson's time at the top of the charts was brief, but it was quite successful, producing five Top Ten singles, including two number ones, and two multi-platinum albums.
Gibson began writing songs in her early childhood, taking piano lessons from Morton Estrin (who also taught Billy Joel) from the age of five. At the age of six she wrote "Make Sure You Know Your Classroom," but it was "I Come From America," which she wrote at age 12, that earned wide recognition for her talents. "I Come From America" won 1,000 dollars in a songwriting contest, prompting her parents to sign a management contract with Doug Breithart. Breithart helped Gibson learn several instruments, as well as teaching her how to arrange, engineer, and produce records; she would record over 100 of her own songs by 1985.
While she was still in high school, Debbie Gibson signed with Atlantic Records and began recording her debut album with producer Fred Zarr. "Only in My Dreams," her debut single, climbed to number four when it was released in the summer of 1987. It was followed in the fall by the dance-oriented "Shake Your Love," which also peaked at number four; the single also became a hit in Britain, reaching number seven. Out of the Blue, her debut album, was released in the fall of 1987, and by the spring of 1988, it had reached the American Top Ten. The title track became a number-three hit that spring and it was followed by her first number one single, "Foolish Beat," making her the youngest artist ever to write, perform, and produce a number one single. Following the success of "Foolish Beat," Gibson graduated from Calhoun High School in Merrick, NY, with honors. "Staying Together," released in the fall of 1988, didn't perform as well as her previous four singles, stalling at number 22. By the end of 1988, Out of the Blue had gone triple platinum in the U.S."Lost in Your Eyes," the first single from her second album, Electric Youth, became Gibson's biggest hit early in 1989, staying at number one for three weeks. Electric Youth, released in the spring of 1989, also hit number one, spending five weeks at the top of the charts. However, her popularity began to slip by the end of the year -- "Electric Youth" just missed the Top Ten and her next two singles did progressively worse, with "We Could Be Together" unable to climb past number 71. At the end of 1990, she released her third album, Anything Is Possible; it peaked at number 41. Two years later, she released Body Mind Soul, which produced only one minor hit single, "Losin' Myself." After its release, she starred in a production of +Les Miserables. Gibson returned to pop music in 1995, recording a duet of the Soft Boys' "I Wanna Destroy You" with the Los Angeles punk band the Circle Jerks and releasing a considerably softer album of her own, Think With Your Heart, which marked a departure from the dance-pop that made her famous. What You Want was released in fall 2000. M.Y.O.B. followed in early 2001, and Colored Lights: The Broadway Album two years later.