At 15, Debbie Gibson went from a home studio plastered with posters of her idol George Michael to ecstatically watching him rock Philadelphia with Wham! after winning tickets on New York’s WPLJ radio. At 17, her No. 1 hit “Foolish Beat” snatched Michael’s spot as the youngest artist to write, perform and produce a chart-topping U.S. single. And at 18, Gibson hopped on her first private jet to dine with Michael backstage on The Faith Tour.
It’s a trajectory that encapsulates the wild, whirlwind nature of Gibson’s rollercoaster ride through teen pop stardom.
“I was on the charts with George, Whitney [Houston] and Michael [Jackson] while they were all over my walls,” Gibson, 55, reflects during an exclusive sit-down with THR in Los Angeles. “It felt crazy he would take time out to meet me. I was so nervous and anxious, but he was so lovely, respectful and cool. My sister Denise and I had to go to the girls’ room just to go, ‘Oh my god. How is this happening?’”
Michael’s one of several late legends featured in Gibson’s new memoir Eternally Electric, which also documents being comforted by Princess Diana, working with Michael Jackson and turning down a Prince collaboration.
But between the glitzy Hollywood anecdotes, Gibson sheds light on the cloudier sides of her turbulent but fabulous three-decade career, like how being left feeling “energetically slutty” in a male-dominated industry ignited crippling anxiety, which saw her hospitalized. As her New Kids on the Block pal Joey McIntyre writes in a moving forward, fans will be left wanting to “go back in time and take her away from the pain and struggles of such an exhausting, exhilarating journey.”
Raised in New York by her powerhouse late momager Diane and dad Joseph, the obstacles Gibson faced early on would have prompted many aspiring artists to dump their dreams. Her lisp and “unconventional nose” deterred agents and managers, and she was bullied for her showbiz ambitions and grappled with the “inner torture” of developing her voice to a level that appeared so natural to others.
“In the Billy Joel documentary, he seemingly rolls out of bed and sings like that. Some people are like that. Kelly Clarkson can sing the phonebook, and it’ll sound ethereal and otherworldly. I felt more like a songwriter and wanted to become the vocalist I strived to be to deliver my songs.”
And she did. At 16, Gibson released her triple platinum debut album, Out of the Blue, featuring hits like “Foolish Beat.” Her 1989 follow-up, Electric Youth, spawned chart-topper “Lost In Your Eyes” and topped the Billboard 200 for five weeks. It was the beginning of an eclectic entertainment career spanning film, television and Broadway and packed with surreal moments like meeting Joel and appearing in Jackson’s “Liberian Girl” video.
“I met Michael in L.A. and he said, ‘I saw this special you hosted on TV.’ I thought, ‘Michael Jackson’s home watching me on TV. What?’ And, I’ll never forget Whitney Houston walking over at the AMAs, saying, ‘Debbie!’ with her arms open.”
Then there was the time Gibson opened the Prince’s Trust Concert in London. Hoping to wear a gorgeous gown to greet Princess Diana, she was horrified when producers insisted there wasn’t time for outfit changes, so she’d have to wear her casual stage costume.
“I was like, ‘I’m so sorry I’m in this,’ and she was like, ‘You look a heck of a lot more comfortable than I feel right now!’ She knew how to put you at ease. I was like, ‘Oh my god. She’s just another girl.’”
Months later, Gibson began recording 1990’s Anything Is Possible, but despite the record going gold, her label wasn’t impressed she didn’t hit the “pop bull’s-eye” of previous releases. She also felt little freedom to experiment musically.
“Every album of Billy Joel’s wasn’t The Stranger. He had albums that barely went gold, then something would sell 7 million. We allowed him that arch, but female pop artists weren’t given that same grace. We weren’t allowed to ‘fail.’ And it’s crazy that selling half a million records was considered a fail.”
Meanwhile, executives tried to sexualize Gibson, and she felt forced to grow up fast despite feeling “20 going on 12.” “I was very adult in my career mindset, but I knew this was the only time I’d get to be a girl and was hanging onto that for dear life. The hardest part was having grown men trying to push me through what should be a sacred transition from girl to woman.”
In Eternally Electric, Gibson recounts having to schmooze a Pittsburgh program director to get her record played.
“Things like that made me feel energetically slutty and incredibly anxious,” she writes. “There I was ordering my burger and fries, looking at this man who was old enough to be my schoolteacher. My nerves were on edge. I was exhausted and my lifestyle started to catch up with me during the meal. Body tingling from my toes up, chest tightening, breaking into a sweat, I felt like the walls were closing in.”
It was the terrifying first of many anxiety attacks. Gibson was floored. How could something she adored doing simultaneously cause such distress? A psychiatrist declared her body was interpreting success as trauma, with her brain unable to process the abnormal highs of pandemonium-level attention.
“You always hope everything you dream of will happen, but when it does it’s both incredible and overwhelming, and the overwhelm causes depression because when you can’t process what’s going on, your body shuts down. But I never thought about giving up music. I went, ‘I need to figure out how to make this work,’ because even if it was the thing causing me unrest, it was also the thing bringing me the most joy.”
Persevering, initially with Xanax and Prozac, what Gibson didn’t realize was that her greatest health hurdle lay ahead.
Following years of pain and health issues, countless MRIs and frustrating misdiagnoses, in 2013 she was diagnosed with Lyme disease, a bacterial illness largely transmitted by ticks and causing symptoms including muscle pain, fatigue and food sensitivity. Gibson’s musician pal Rob Thomas once said his wife Marisol’s battle with Lyme felt “like a weird alien inhabited my wife.” Gibson knows the feeling.
“You’re like, ‘This is not my body. Why am I so fatigued? Why can’t I eat food I love? Why is the smell of fabric softener keeping me up?’ I felt hijacked.
“But like with my anxiety, everything comes back to fatigue. I might’ve had Lyme and never known, had I not been so run down. It was another wake-up call that I was in the wrong relationship, needed to part ways with my mom in business and was catering to too many other people.
“My nervous system wishes I was a farmer, in bed at 8 p.m. and up at 5 a.m., but my rock and roll spirit wants to do shows and meet and greets until midnight. It’s like showbiz picked me and my body went, ‘How do I do this?’”
New York’s Dr. Bonnie Liakos treated Gibson based on food, electromagnetics, emotions and trauma, assessing details down to her toothpaste ingredients. Chiropractic kinesiologist, Dr Darrick Sahara, also helped Gibson overhaul her life. She has spent half a million on her healing journey, with help from MusiCares, and can usually sense and manage flare-ups now.
She’s also finally learned to “pace myself” and that the “era of being superhuman’s done.”
It’s why her Eternally Electric book tour won’t feature performances, instead focused on conversations with friends like McIntyre and Wil Wheaton. She’s grateful her loyal “Debheads” support such decisions.
Ultimately, what keeps Gibson healthiest now is happiness, joy and the love of “puppy soulmate” Joey, a dashing dachshund from an Amish farm in Ohio, who lovingly sits by her side during our interview.
Gibson notes she could save Justin Timberlake — who recently announced his Lyme diagnosis — time with everything she’s learned. Her biggest advice?
“Take the time and space you need to find your answers, guilt-free. Surrender to the fact this might not be like, ‘I’m resting for a month, then I’m back.’ It’s very humbling when you realize you can’t be in a rush.”
Gibson remains in awe of fellow Lyme sufferers Shania Twain and Avril Lavigne, who continue thriving. She chuckles recalling how Lavigne’s greatest conclusion was, “You need to fall in love. That’s the healer and cure for everything.”
“I was like, ‘Good for you, girl. I haven’t found that yet for me!’” says Gibson, who dishes on a longtime romantic interest in Eternally Electric.
While the “be-all, end-all” love she dreams of hasn’t come to fruition, there’s no shortage of fun boys in Gibson’s life, thanks to various boy band ties. *NSYNC’s Lance Bass sent her $5,000 in a paper bag when she went broke, while New Kids on the Block’s Jonathan Knight offered her somewhere to stay during medical treatments.
Then there’s her boy band bestie McIntyre. “He interviewed me for ET yesterday. I was like, ‘You’re not sick of doing Joe and Deb stuff yet?’ He always shows up. He does boy talk with me and gives me tough love, but is also very sensitive and insightful.”
NKOTB has played a significant role in Gibson’s latest musical chapters. They had her open 2019’s Mixtape Tour, on which she dueted with McIntyre on “Lost in Your Eyes,” igniting ongoing collaborations. Months later, Gibson’s 2020 single “Girls Night Out” became her first top five hit in 30 years. She’s since released 2021’s A Body Remembers and a boxing-themed music video for “Legendary.”
Of course, there’s no-one more “legendary” to Gibson than Diane, who passed away in 2022. She dedicates Eternally Electric to the “original momager.”
“I was just a little girl doing what I loved and she was a mom of four girls and wife, trying to bring home a paycheck, but helping me facilitate my career,” Gibson emotively reflects. “I still stand back in awe thinking, ‘How in God’s name did she do that?’”