At the age of 17, Debbie Gibson climbed to the top of the charts in 1988 with her hit song “Foolish Beat,” making her the youngest person ever to write, produce and perform a Billboard Hot 100 chart topper.
Gibson still holds that record for female artists today.
She wrote about the highs and lows of her decades-long career in her new memoir, “Eternally Electric: The Message in My Music,” crediting her late mother, Diane, for helping her succeed in the industry.
“We definitely would not be here celebrating this music today had it not been for her,” Gibson told “CBS Mornings.”
She explained her mother, who served as her “momager,” got a $10,000 loan and created a home studio.
“It was the garage turned laundry room, turned play room, turned studio,” Gibson said. “Occasionally, somebody needed to do a load of laundry and I had to stop singing, but other than that, I demoed all of my hits in that little studio. It was fun.”
Gibson said she thinks her mother is also responsible for helping young female artists of today.
“I think artists know their audience, but back then, it was the male power play and it was those men kind of dictating what young girls wore and who wrote their songs and … my mom went into those conference rooms and I remember vividly her pounding her fists on that table … fighting, saying my daughter can produce,” she said.
Gibson on honing her creative outlet and pivoting
In her memoir, Gibson talks about writing a song as a teenager every single day.
“I like to say kids write in diaries or like as adults we have an inner monologue. Mine always came with a melody attached. I’m always singing my thoughts,” she said.
In her career, Gibson has had 11 Top 40 singles and sold more than 16 million albums worldwide. For Gibson, it was her creative outlet that her parents encouraged.
“They were always like, ‘What did you write today? Let us hear it.’ It was always just like a really joyful thing to create a song,” she recalled. “I always felt like I had a secret, like I’m about to play you something you have never heard and I still think that is the coolest thing in the world.”
When she first went to Atlantic Records at 16 years old, she already had 100 songs written.
“They really let me do my thing, especially in the beginning,” Gibson said.
“I write about as time went on everybody kind of wanted to get their hands on strategizing and … they were trying to force that sensual sexual transition into womanhood a little early for my natural transformation.”
She said she would eventually walk away and started recording independently.
“This last era for me, like the last five years since I went out with New Kids On The Block on the Mixtape Tour, that independent spirit of mine now because we have such a connection through social media to our audiences, it’s like the time in my life in my creativity that I’m thriving more than ever.”
Gibson in the memoir calls herself “the queen of the pivot.”
For those looking to make a change, she said, “embrace that it’s OK that changes are happening and understand that there might be some — there might be me some gift in that pivot.”
“Eternally Electric: The Message in My Music” is on sale Tuesday.
