Debby Boone on “You Light up my Life” and beyond: “It’s been a struggle”

Harvey Brownstone conducts an in-depth interview with Debby Boone, Renowned Singer, Actress and Author About Harvey's guest: Today’s guest, Debby Boone, is an immensely popular singer, actress and author who became an immediate global superstar in 1977 with her mega-hit song, “You Light Up My Life”. The song became one of the greatest multi-platinum singles in pop music history, spending an unprecedented 10 weeks at #1 on the Billboard charts, and selling over 4 million albums. She received a Grammy Award for Best New Artist, and since then, she’s received another 7 Grammy nominations, and winning 2 more – in 1980, for Best Inspirational Performance, and 1983, for Best Gospel Performance. She’s also won a slew of other awards, including Top New Female Vocalist at the Academy of Country Music Awards, 2 Dove Awards for Best Album, a Music City News Award for Best New Female Artist, and 7 Record World Awards. She’s recorded 13 albums, including “You Light Up My Life”, “Love Has No Reason”, “With My Song”, “Savin’ it Up”, “Surrender”, “Friends for Life”, “Home for Christmas” and my 2 personal favourites, “Reflections of Rosemary”, which is a beautiful tribute to her late mother-in-law, the legendary Rosemary Clooney – and her latest album, “Swing This”, which has solidified her reputation as one of the best vocal interpreters of the Great American Songbook. Our guest has appeared in dozens of TV shows and starred in 2 of her own TV specials - AND she co-starred in one of the most popular TV movies of the 80s, “Sins of the Past”, co-starring Kirstie Alley, Kim Cattrall and Anthony Geary. On the stage, she starred on Broadway in “Grease”, as everybody’s favourite “bad girl”, Rizzo. And in 1990, she starred in the highly acclaimed revival of “The Sound of Music” at Lincoln Center, which earned a Drama Desk Award nomination. She’s starred in hugely successful national touring productions of “7 Brides for 7 Brothers” and “The Sound of Music” - which I had the great pleasure of seeing here in Toronto in 1987. She’s had starring roles in many regional theatre productions including “Meet Me in St. Louis”, “South Pacific”, “The King and I”, “42nd Street”, “Into the Woods”, and many more great shows. And if that weren’t enough, she’s also written six bestselling children’s books, illustrated by her dear husband Gabriel Ferrer. For more interviews and podcasts go to: https://www.harveybrownstoneinterviews.com/ http://debbyboone.com/ https://www.facebook.com/debbyboone/ https://twitter.com/debbyboonemedia https://www.instagram.com/debbyboonemedia/ https://open.spotify.com/artist/1UkHCANZmdkKyVNvTLMrcJ #debbyboone #harveybrownstoneinterviews

Added 18 May 2026