Music / Debbie Gibson

Debbie Gibson and her Nice Hat in the 80s.

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Deborah Ann Gibson, or simply Debbie Gibson (born August 31, 1970), is an American Singer-Songwriter, producer, actress and (for a time) fashion icon. That said, most of you know her as a 1980s teen Idol Singer, or more accurately, THE 1980s teen idol singer. Starting with her debut single at the tail end of 1986, "Only in My Dreams," and parent album Out Of The Blue, Debbie Gibson became a household name, spearheading the late 80s teen idol era, alongside such luminaries as Tiffany (the other It Girl of late 80s Teen Pop), Rick Astley, Bobby Brown, and of course, the New Kids on the Block. Debbie has sold 16 million albums worldwide, and has two Billboard #1 hits.

Where Debbie separated herself from the pack, however, was that she positioned herself as an artist. She was an exceptionally ambitious young prodigy, writing her own songs since the age of 5, and even learning the ins and outs of recording as a teenager so she could produce her songs herself. Love ballad "Foolish Beat" from the multi-platinum selling Out Of The Blue, made Debbie Gibson the youngest artist in history to write, record and produce a Billboard number one hit entirely by herself, at 17. (She's still the youngest female artist to do so, but the youngest male to write, record and produce a #1 hit is Soulja Boy, at the same age.)

As the glamorous mall-pop world collapsed at the dawn of the 90s, Gibson tried a typical move for young pop stars and got a little Hotter and Sexier for her album Body, Mind, Soul, but when that fizzled on the charts (missing the top 100 entirely), she shifted her focus, and tried a more adult contemporary approach to her music, releasing records as Deborah Gibson. This era of her discography may have evolved her image into adulthood, but her days as a chart-topper were behind her. Luckily, by that point, Gibson had something else to fall back on, as she went into theatre - she debuted on Broadway in 1992 as Eponine in Les Misérables, went to London to play Sandy in a stage version of Grease, and has dabbled in stage musicals ever since. Just to make sure the world now recognized her as an adult, she posed for Playboy in 2005.

While Gibson has since added movies (like such cinematic classics as Mega Python Vs. Gatoroid, alongside her contemporary Tiffany) and TV competitions like Dancing with the Stars to her resume, she has never forgotten music altogether. A career-spanning box set, We Could Be Together, was released in 2017, and The Body Remembers, her first original set of music in two decades, was released in 2021.

Debbie Gibson has notably grown up to be relatively well-adjusted for someone who achieved so much fame at such a young age, but that hasn't come without its struggles. She's been open about her history of anxiety and panic attacks, and how she used a mix of Xanax and Tylenol PM from her pop star years into her theatre years. In 2014, after worried comments from fans about her gaunt figure, she went public with her struggles with Lyme disease, which she'd been diagnosed with a year prior. Gibson's mother, Diane, who was her manager as a teenager and a major part of her success, passed away at 76 in January 2022.

For the record, no, there's never been any serious rivalry between Debbie and Tiffany. They're actually close friends to this day.

Debbie updates her Youtube channel fairly frequently.

Discography

1. Out of the Blue (1987)
2. Electric Youth (1989)
3. Anything Is Possible (1990)
4. Body, Mind, Soul (1993)
5. Think with Your Heart (1995)
6. Deborah (1997)
7. M.Y.O.B. (2001)
8. Colored Lights: The Broadway Album (2003)
9. Ms. Vocalist (2010) (Japan exclusive)
10. The Body Remembers (2021)

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Tropes associated with Debbie Gibson include:

• Artistic License – Music: The shots of Debbie performing with her band in the "Out Of The Blue" video. There's a guitar player in there, despite the song being synthesized dance-pop and having no real guitar to speak of.
• Break Up Song: "Foolish Beat," delivered with heaping helpings of teen angst. Also, "This So-Called Miracle."
• The Cameo:
  • Made one of these at, of all places, the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in 1997, to sing a remixed "Only In My Dreams."
  • She shows up as the mom in Katy Perry's "Last Friday Night" video, alongside Corey Feldman as the dad.
• Cover Version: On her first headlining tour, she covered Elton John's "Crocodile Rock," seen here when Debbie was 18. No, Debbie, you do not "remember when rock was young." You were a zygote when The Beatles were breaking up.
• Credits Gag: The cassette and vinyl versions of Electric Youth had no side A and side B. She listed them as "this side" and "that side." Very cute, Debbie. Anything Is Possible, however, took the gag a step further and divided the sides into concepts: side A is labeled "NRG↑" (energy up) for its dance songs, and side B is for ballads, and is called "Mood Swings." This idea didn't catch on, nor did the album.
• Footsie Under the Table: The video for "Shock Your Mama" sees Debbie doing this to her obviously flustered boyfriend.
• Greatest Hits Album: Greatest Hits was fittingly released in 1995, right around the time she began going by Deborah Gibson and leaving her teen pop sound behind.
• Hotter and Sexier: A major part of her image going into the Body, Mind, Soul album cycle (oh, there's body, all right).
• New Jack Swing: Incorporated some of this into her music in the 90s.
• Off the Table: The plot of the "Foolish Beat" video. Debbie breaks up with her boyfriend, and later tries to mend the relationship, only to be rebuffed.
• Signature Headgear: Young Debbie wore that black porkpie hat all the time, making it a huge part of her image.
• Silly Love Songs: In her teenage years in particular.
• Teen Pop: As far as the 80s goes, which is where this aesthetic of pop crystallized, Debbie could be considered the Trope Codifier.

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