Debbie Gibson has never lacked hustle.
Barely 16 when she wrote and coproduced her 1987 debut smash, “Out of the Blue,” Gibson had already lived a lifetime in entertainment.
Piano lessons (with Billy Joel’s teacher, Mort Estrin), performances with the Children’s Chorus at The Met (with fellow up-and-comer Sarah Jessica Parker) and years of role playing in community theater in her Long Island hometown helped her develop into the singer-actor-dancer that she’s been throughout a 40-year-career.
Gibson can now add author to her heaving resume with the release of her memoir, “Eternally Electric: The Message in My Music” (out now from Gallery Books).
“I’m aware that when this book comes out, people will be looking at me with the knowledge of all these vulnerable things I’ve shared,” Gibson tells USA TODAY. “But the entire purpose of anything I do is to help other people.”
Her ‘80s output as a self-made pop star with “Shake Your Love,” “Electric Youth” and “Lost in Your Eyes” among her prom night smashes were just the beginning of a career steered by her manager mother, Diane.
Gibson’s book delves into her struggles with finances and health, as well as her complicated relationship with Diane, who died in 2022, with clear-eyed sincerity.
Calling from home in the Las Vegas suburb of Summerlin, Gibson, 55, was charming and animated as she discussed the book, which she wanted to be “super candid but not salacious.”
You’ve had a career for four decades, so why was now the right time for a memoir?
It feels like a definitive second act. Way back when, I thought I’d be writing a memoir in my 70s, but I loved the idea of doing it while the party is going and this really is my favorite chapter (of life). It felt like a nice time to share the perspective that I’m still a work in progress, but I can speak on the challenging times with the conviction to say to people, you can get through your challenging times.
I think fans will be surprised to read about the financial hardships you endured that led to you borrowing money from your friend Lance Bass.
I’ve always lived this big life, and at the time it was this big, expensive life and nobody stopped to think if I could sustain the cost of my house and the studio and eventually I couldn’t. However, boy was that era fun while it lasted and I’m so glad I went big on that.
Is this the first time you’ve disclosed just how bad things got?
This vividly, for sure. I wanted to share that image of Lance Bass’ assistant bringing me that cash. That’s a humbling moment for anybody and its humbling when you’re an artist and people know your face and your name and you’re trying to keep up some perception. But I love that I have people in my life who are like, right, this is what you need. And I can do it for other people now. You pay it forward while you can.
How did things spiral financially?
It was partially the way we ran our business and partially my mom. She got used to the big office and the staff. My mom came from bad financial circumstances and you get used to (the money) and there was a stature to it. She was the person going, “I can’t be this woman in the music industry and not have the big office on 6th Avenue” and she held on to that a little too long. We held on to the house a little too long and it took a little too long to sell. And look, Broadway money can be great (Gibson debuted in “Les Misérables” in 1992), but you can’t run a pop star office on Broadway money.
You share a lot of details in the book about your health struggles and the frustration of not getting a diagnosis and now living with Lyme disease. How are you feeling?
I feel so good. I think that on my worst day I still feel better than most people. But I have to manage my output. I was just in London and some friends were doing brunch, show, dinner, show and an after thing and I’m like, I’m in for the show and after thing. I know myself and one or two outings, that’s it!
Have you talked to Daryl Hall or any of the other musicians who have Lyme disease?
I haven’t spoken to him, but I talked to Shania (Twain) and I know Avril Lavigne got a handle on it. But I’m watching Justin Timberlake with a lot of compassion. I know he endured a lot of criticism for his energetic state onstage and I’d love to get him on the phone and say it’s not noble to feel you have to prove yourself. I have so much compassion for people who live with chronic pain. Now I know the joy of being able to wake up pain free.
You had such a close relationship with your mom until you had to divorce her, as you say in the book. But her death (which stemmed from complications from an aesthetic procedure) was obviously emotionally rough.
I know that especially my diehard fans wondered why my mom was this seemingly healthy woman in her early 70s and then started this decline. There was a family pow-wow (about disclosing everything), but it was an instant yes from everyone because they all felt that telling that story might help people. Everyone should do what they want aesthetically but people should just be aware … But mother-daughter relationships are complicated and then add business to it and, well, I wonder if my mom was alive if it would have shaped the writing of this book. I wasn’t disrespectful, but I was very candid in ways she might not have liked.