At the age of five, Deborah and her sisters began performing in a community theater, and she wrote her first song. When she was eight, she sang at the children's chorus in the Metropolitan Opera House in New York, where she got to meet such singers as Placido Domingo and others. When she was 12, Deborah was already performing in Broadway, but as an actress.
When Deborah turned 16, she was signed to a recording contract by Atlantic Records, and soon she became the youngest person ever to write, record and produce a number 1 hit, with her single "Foolish Beat", going up to number one. Another single of hers, "Only In My Dreams", also made it to the top.
Her initial success was followed by another smash hit in "Out Of The Blue". By this time, she and Tiffany, with her remake of "I Think We're Alone Now", were fighting for the top position as teen queen of the United States.
It could be argued that Gibson was another victim of the rap evolution of the late 1980s and early 1990s. After her popularity as a pop singer waned a little, she returned to Broadway in 1992, playing Eponine in Les Misérables. Then, she went to London, where she landed the character of Sandy on London's West End's theatrical production of Grease. Upon returning to the States, she also participated on the Broadway version of the 1950s musical, but this time she played Rizzo. She also played Fanny Brice on the Funny Girl touring production. She also participated in many other Broadway productions, such as Beauty And The Beast (as Belle), and Gypsy at The Papermill Playhouse (as Gypsy Rose Lee). She also participated in a national tour with Joseph and The Technicolor Dreamcoat, where she played the character of The Narrator, and as Cinderella in the national tour of the play of the same name.
In October of 2002, she began to work in a play named Chicago, being acted in the city of Boston.
Her discography includes: