Debbie Gibson adds a new ‘Lost’ to ‘Body’ of work
Debbie Gibson will happily tell you how much she loves her life right now.
Her “bubble” of dogs, friends and family nourishes her. She’s still flexing her acting interests (she’s calling from Chicago, where she has been filming the high school drama “The Class” with Anthony Michael Hall). And this month, Gibson released her first original album in 20 years, “The Body Remembers.”
Gibson, who turned 51 on Tuesday, still is venerated for her contributions to late-’80s pop. Fizzy confections such as “Out of the Blue,” “Only in My Dreams,” “Shake Your Love” and swoony ballads “Foolish Beat” and “Lost in Your Eyes” – all self-penned when she was a teen – remain staples on retro playlists.
Yet Gibson is a classic multihyphenate talent: She has starred on Broadway (“Beauty and the Beast,” “Cabaret”); competed on “The Celebrity Apprentice” and “Dancing With the Stars”; popped up on numerous TV shows (most recently, a May episode of Netflix’s “Lucifer”); and hosts a weekly radio show, “Debbie Gibson’s Mixtape,” on Siriusxm’s The Blend channel.
She also is prepping for her mini-residency in Las Vegas with New Kids on the Block star Joey Mcintyre (Sept. 16-19 at The Venetian’s Sands Showroom). On “The Body Remembers,” Gibson and Mcintyre provide a new squealworthy moment for ’80s music fans by teaming for a duet version of her 1989 hit ballad, “Lost in Your Eyes.”
In a recent chat with USA TODAY, an effervescent Gibson talked more about how Mcintyre is her “kindred musical spirit,” the “energy” of her new album and how she stays in shape.
Q: You’ve been so busy over the years with various entertainment projects, but were you deliberately taking a break from new music?
Debbie Gibson: I do feel when you release music, you’d better have something to say. The last decade of my life challenged me. A lot of things were threatening to take me down and I was clawing my way out of situations. This was the moment I had to channel my warrior energy and dig deep when it came to my health and wellness. With the pandemic happening, music was my therapy. The energy of this album started when I was doing a lot of dance music because it was really lifting my spirits during the pandemic. There are so many unapologetic dance songs, but even within those there are messages.
Q: Listening to a lot of these songs, like “One Step Closer” and “Love Don’t Care,” I’m thinking back to when Cher had her chart resurgence with “Believe” (in 1998). Is having that kind of radio comeback the goal?
Gibson: The music industry is so different now. You can make a whole career out of trying to have a radio hit and I find my energy and money better spent on bringing the music to the people. We are trying to create this moment based on the joy of it. The politics don’t interest me anymore. But that said, if (the music) finds its way to the charts, great.
Q: You and Joey Mcintyre recast “Lost in Your Eyes” as a duet. Who came up with that idea?
Gibson: He thought of it! When I was signed on to do the “Mixtape Tour” (in 2019 with New Kids on the Block), Joey called and asked how I would feel about dueting on the song, and I was like, ‘Wow.’ He had that vision. I honestly don’t think I would have thought of it.