1000 No. 1s Video Series Day 5:
Debbie Gibson Talks About Topping the Hot 100
2011 was the year that Billboard celebrated the 1000th No. 1 song on the Hot 100. As we look back on this year in music, we're celebrating that milestone with a month-long series of videos --- one for each day of December -- chatting with 31 of the hitmakers who rocketed to the top of the chart since its inception in 1958. SEE THE FULL CHART HERE.
On day seven of our 1,000 Hot No. 1s video series, we rewind from yesterday's 2000s James Blunt "Beautiful" back to the tops in 80s teen pop balladry as we chat with Debbie Gibson about her pair of No. 1s -- 1988's "Foolish Beat" and 1989's "Lost In Your Eyes." When "Foolish Beat" hit the top, "it was like validation as a writer, as a producer, as a female, as a young person," Gibson tells Billboard.com's cameras. "It meant a lot to me. And then I found out I was the youngest person to write and produce a No. 1 which was big 'I told you so' to a lot of people who did not want those songs to be heard."
"Lost In Your Eyes" reached the pinnacle of the Hot 100 on March 4, 1989, less than a year after "Foolish Beat" preceded it there on June 25, 1988. Gibson says she had an inkling "Eyes" would make a big impact even before it was a single. "It always felt like a hit," she says. She was right. Not only did it hit No. 1 -- it stayed there for three weeks.
Be sure to come back tomorrow (Dec. 8) for the next 1000 No. 1s video: Producer RedOne Talks About Lady Gaga's "Just Dance."
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