DEBBY BOONE

b. Deborah Anne Boone, 22 September 1956, Hackensack, New Jersey, USA. Debby Boone is the third daughter of pop/country singer Pat Boone and wife Shirley, and also the grand-daughter of country star Red Foley. She worked with the Boones family group from 1969, joining her three sisters Cherry, Lindy and Laury in the quartet. In 1977 she went solo, achieving a 10-week stay at number 1 in the US pop charts and sales in excess of four million with her Warner Brothers Records/Curb recording of the title song (a gentle ballad) from the movie You Light Up My Life. She won a Grammy for Best New Artist and the song also won an Oscar for Best Original Song. The album of the same name eventually went platinum with sales of two million copies. The same song also gave her a debut in the US country charts, where it peaked at number 4. The following year, she had Top 40 country hits with “God Knows” and “Baby I'm Yours”, and in 1979 a number 11 hit with her version of “My Heart Has A Mind Of Its Own” - a 1960 pop number 1 for Connie Francis. Her biggest country hit came in 1980, a number 1 success with “Are You On The Road To Loving Me Again”. She then married Gabriel Ferrer, the son of actor Jose Ferrer and singer Rosemary Clooney. In the early 80s, after a few more minor hits, she decided to pursue an acting career. She stated at the time that she felt that it was dishonest for her to seek further success as a country singer when it was not really her first choice of music. Instead she returned to the devotional Christian music that had been such a major factor in her upbringing, releasing a series of albums for Lamb And Lion Records and Benson Records. She is also a respected children's author.

Discography: You Light Up My Life (Warners 1977)****, Midstream (Warners 1978)***, Love Has No Reason (Warners 1980)***, With My Song (Lion & Lamb 1980)***, Savin' It Up (Warners 1981)***, Surrender (Lion & Lamb 1983)***, Choose Life (Lion & Lamb 1985)***, Friends For Life (Benson 1987)***, Reflections (Benson 1988)**.

Compilations: The Best Of Debby Boone (Curb 1986)***, You Light Up My Life: Greatest Inspirational Songs (Curb 2001)***.

Bibliography: Debby Boone, Patricia Eldred.

Filmography: Treehouse Hostage (1999).