Look up foolish in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Foolish may refer to:

• the derived term Foolishness
• "Foolish" (Ashanti song)
• "Foolish" (Shawty Lo song)
• "Foolish", a song by Tyler James (English musician)
• Foolish (album), an album by Superchunk
• Foolish (film), a 1999 film
• Foolish (soundtrack), soundtrack to the 1999 film

See also[link]

• Fool (disambiguation)

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

Carlos Walker (born 1975), better known by his stage name Shawty Lo, is an American rapper, founder of D4L Records, and member of hip hop group D4L. His first solo album, Units in the City, was released on February 26, 2008. On June 8, 2011 he signed his label D4L Records to 50 Cent's, G-Unit Records.^[1][2]

Early life[link]

Walker was raised in the Bowen Homes housing project, located in Bankhead, Atlanta.^[3][4] When he was a teenager, he sold drugs and mugged people. By the age of 17, Carlos had fathered his first child, and his grandmother died.^[3][4] He now has a total of ten children: eight daughters and two sons.^[4]

Music career[link]

Career with D4L[link]

After a decade of unlawful activities, Walker decided to turn his attention to music and began performing as Shawty Lo. In 2003, Shawty Lo founded D4L Records, with other rappers Fabo, Stuntman and Mook B. His associates are each from different Bankhead housing projects; Bankhead Courts, Hollywood Courts and Perry Homes respectively. The group's debut single "Betcha Can't Do It Like Me" became a local hit in 2004. Lo was convicted of assault and selling cocaine and served a year in prison until July 27, 2005.^[2][5] In January 2006, D4L's single "Laffy Taffy" reached the top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart.^[6]

Solo career[link]

[edit] 2008: Units in the City

On February 26, 2008, Shawty Lo's debut album Units in the City was released. The album peaked at #14 on the Billboard 200 and at #2 on the Top Rap Albums chart, selling over 160,000 copies to date. The debut single from the album, Dey Know, charted at #3 on the Hot Rap Tracks chart. The other two single releases from the album were Dunn Dunn and Foolish.

The album features famous guest appearances from major label artists. All featured artists, such as Gucci Mane, hail from the Atlanta area. Aside from the album-singles, several other tracks have received heavy underground play, most notably 'Got Em 4 The LO' and 'Lets Get It'. One of the most notable lyrics include Shawty Lo musing "Einee menee, mineee, L-O." Got Em 4 The Lo, featuring Gucci Mane and Stuntman is the only non-single track to have had a music video made for it.^[7]

The songs Dey Know and Foolish have both been officially remixed including many famous guest appearances. These include Ludacris, Young Jeezy, Plies, Lil' Wayne, DJ Khaled, Birdman, Rick Ross and Jim Jones. The Foolish video also included cameo appearances from Pitbull, Jadakiss and Ace Hood.

[edit] 2010–present: Bankhead Born & Raised: Carlos

Shawty Lo's second solo album, Bankhead Born & Raised: Carlos is set to be released soon. Artists to be featured include Rick Ross, T-Pain, Lil Kim, Bun B, Nate Butler, Lyfe Jennings, T.I., Lil Wayne, and Gucci Mane. Shawty Lo confirmed that Atlanta, GA, which features Gucci Mane, Ludacris and The-Dream, will be the first single released from the album. The album is also notable for Roll the Dice, a song which marks the end of the beef between himself and rapper T.I.^[8]

Signing To G-Unit Records[link]

On June 10, 2011, it was confirmed by both Shawty Lo and Allhiphop.com that he has signed a large deal with G-Unit Records after it was reported they were in talks.^[1] Shawty Lo said, "My new situation with G-Unit was just solidified and I got off the phone with 50 yesterday, I just signed a really large deal,” when talking to allhiphop.com. As well as, “Its like a new beginning and all I needed was someone behind me. 50 Cent is a marketing genius and I got my new thing D4L and G-Unit and we going to be working the south and the rest of the world if need be".^[9] It was later clarified by Shawty Lo that he had not signed as an artist but instead he had signed his label.

Controversy[link]

T.I.[link]

In 2008, Shawty Lo was involved in a highly publicized feud with another Atlanta rapper, T.I. The feud was characterized by Shawty Lo's track "Dunn Dunn", and T.I.'s reply "What Up, What's Haapnin". The song "Dunn Dunn" appears to question T.I.'s roots in Bankhead. The music video for "What Up, What's Haapnin" was shot in Bowen Homes. In an interview, T.I. insisted that his song "No Matter What" was only partially aimed at Shawty Lo.^[10]

The feud reached its climax at the November 2008 Dirty Awards where the entourages of both artists clashed during the ceremony, forcing it to be shut down. Two incidents forced police to use pepper-spray and evacuate the audience.^[11]

The feud was publicly squashed on March 7, 2009, when Shawty Lo and T.I. appeared on-stage together at Club Crucial in Bankhead, for T.I.'s farewell concert.^[12] After this performance, T.I. gave an interview to MTV, in which he stated that the feud with Shawty Lo was exaggerated by the media, and was not a 'beef'.^[13] Shawty Lo also made a song Roll the Dice, a song which marks the end of the beef between himself and T.I.^[8]

Discography[link]

• Units in the City (2008) Asylum Records
• Still Got Units (2012) G-Unit Records

Awards[link]

• BET Hip Hop Awards
  • 2008, Rookie of the Year [Won]
  • 2008, Track of the Year, "Dey Know" [Won]

• Ozone Awards
  • 2008, Best Rap Album, Units in the City [Nominated]
  • 2008, Breakthrough Artist [Won]
  • 2008, Club Banger of the Year, "Dey Know" [Nominated]
  • 2008, Best Mixtape/Street Album, "I'm Da Man 2" with DJ Scream [Nominated]

External links[link]

• Official site
• Shawty Lo on Myspace

See also[link]

• D4L

References[link]

DJ Khaled
Background information
Birth name	Khaled Bin Abdul Khaled
Born	(1975-11-26) November 26, 1975 (age 36) New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.
Origin	Miami, Florida, U.S.
Genres	Hip hop
Occupations	Disc jockey, radio personality, record producer & rapper
Years active	1998–present
Labels	We the Best, Terror Squad, Cash Money, Universal Republic
Associated acts	Rick Ross, Fat Joe, Jadakiss, Akon, Cool & Dre, T-Pain, Nicki Minaj, Lil Wayne, Trick Daddy, Ace Hood, Pitbull, Ludacris, Drake, Birdman, Young Jeezy, Busta Rhymes, Plies
Website	www.myspace.com/djkhaled

Khaled Bin Abdul Khaled (born November 26, 1975),^[1] better known by his stage name DJ Khaled, is an American record producer, radio personality, DJ, rapper & record label executive. He is a radio host for the Miami-based urban music radio station WEDR and the DJ for the hip hop group Terror Squad. In 2006, Khaled released his debut album Listennn... the Album. He went on to release We the Best (2007), We Global (2008), Victory (2010), and We the Best Forever (2011). In 2009, Khaled became the president of record label Def Jam South.

Biography[link]

Khaled was born in New Orleans, Louisiana.^[2][3] He is of Palestinian descent^[1] and lives in Sunny Isles, Florida.^[4] Currently, he hosts the weeknight program TakeOver on Miami-based urban music radio station WEDR with fellow host K. Foxx; Khaled states that he has worked for the station professionally since 2003. Early in his career he dj'd for a south Florida regional station Power 96.5 FM.^[2] In 1998, Khaled worked as a "sidekick" for Miami rapper Luther Campbell for Campbell's Friday night WEDR radio show The Luke Show.^[5] In his albums, Khaled usually provides "shoutouts" that assert his representation of "the ghetto" and urges people to listen.^[6] From 2004 to 2006, Khaled assisted in the production of the hip-hop albums Real Talk by Fabolous, True Story by Terror Squad, All or Nothing by Fat Joe, and Me, Myself, & I by Fat Joe.^[7] Many of DJ Khaled's songs are known to entice the listener by hip hop chanting his name before the song starts. Khaled represents the Kendall area of Miami. He is Muslim. He is currently engaged to Nicole Tuck.

[edit] 2006: Listennn... the Album

On June 6, 2006, his debut album Listennn... the Album was released by Koch Records; it premiered on the Billboard 200 chart at #12.^[8]

[edit] 2007: We the Best

We the Best followed in 2007 with singles "I'm So Hood" with T-Pain, Trick Daddy, Plies, and Rick Ross and "We Takin' Over" with Akon, T.I., Rick Ross, Fat Joe, Birdman, and Lil Wayne. "We Takin' Over" peaked at #28 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #11 on the Hot Rap Tracks chart and was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America on November 20, 2007.^[9] Khaled made a guest appearance on the single "100 Million" from Birdman's 2007 album 5 * Stunna; the single also featured Rick Ross, Dre, Young Jeezy and Lil Wayne. That year, Khaled won two Ozone Awards: one for Best Video ("We Takin' Over") and another for Best Radio DJ.^[10]

[edit] 2008–2009: We Global

In 2008, Khaled's third album We Global came out with singles "Out Here Grindin" with Akon, Rick Ross, Lil' Boosie, Trick Daddy, Ace Hood, and Plies, followed by "Go Hard" featuring Kanye West and T-Pain. RIAA certified the single "I'm So Hood" Platinum on June 4, 2008.^[9] That year, Khaled won DJ of the Year awards from the BET Hip Hop Awards and Ozone Awards.^[11][12]

He was appointed the president of Def Jam South in 2009.^[13]

[edit] 2009–2010: Victory

His fourth studio is titled Victory and was released in early 2010. The album featured guest appearances from Drake, Lil Wayne, Rick Ross, Nas, Snoop Dogg, Ludacris, Nelly and more. The single "All I Do Is Win" featuring Ludacris, Rick Ross, Snoop Dogg and T-Pain was certified as a double-platinum single. Other singles include: "Put Your Hands Up" featuring Ross, Young Jeezy, Plies and Schife, and "Fed Up" featuring Usher, Drake, Ross and Jeezy. The album had low sales and debuted at #12 on the Billboard 200.

[edit] 2011–present: We the Best Forever & Kiss the Ring

DJ Khaled announced the title of the album, We the Best Forever, on Twitter.^[14] On August 19, Khaled signed to Cash Money Records along to Universal Motown, the album will be released under the label, also under E1 Entertainment, Terror Squad, Def Jam South and Khaled's own label We the Best Music Group, with confirmed guests as Fat Joe, Chris Brown, Keyshia Cole, Cee Lo Green, Cool & Dre, Rick Ross, Kanye West, Jay-Z, Nas, Birdman, Lil Wayne, T.I., Akon, Drake and Nicki Minaj^{[15][16][17][18]} The first single titled "Welcome to My Hood", featuring Rick Ross, Plies, Lil Wayne and T-Pain was released in January 13 of 2011, which was produced by The Renegades, and co-produced by DJ Khaled himself and The Nasty Beatmakers. The song is the first released under Cash Money Records and Universal Motown,^[19] a music video was filmed in Miami, Florida and directed by Gil Green, featuring cameos by Flo Rida, Bow Wow, Busta Rhymes, and other artists.^[20] The next single, "I'm On One", featuring Drake, Rick Ross and Lil Wayne, was released on May 20, 2011. It debuted at #10 on the Hot 100, becoming Khaled's and Ross' highest charting song. "I'm The One" also reached the number-one spot on the Rap and Hip-Hop/R&B Songs charts, becoming Khaled's first #1 song on both charts. It was #1 on the R&B/Hip-Hop chart for 11 non-consecutive weeks, and on the Rap chart for 13 consecutive weeks, the third most of any rap song on the latter chart. The song also got a triple-platinum certification, which is Khaled's and Ross' first. We the Best Forever debuted on the Billboard 200 at #5, selling 53,000 copies. It is his most successful album. The album also debuted at #1 on the Rap Albums chart, becoming his first number-one album on that chart. On December 10, 2011 DJ Khaled announced the title of his next album, Kiss The Ring, via a video, with the release date as "coming soon", presumed 2012.^[21] DJ Khaled is working on the project with T-Pain, R. Kelly, Nas, Plies, Ice Cube, Ace Hood, Kanye West, Ryan Leslie, Rick Ross & Maybach Music Group artists (Meek Mill & More), Drake, Young Money & Cash Money artists and many more. Khaled mentioned that he has a verse from someone very special. The first single released was "Take It to the Head" featuring Chris Brown, Rick Ross, Nicki Minaj and Lil Wayne.

Performances[link]

DJ Khaled performed at BET Awards 2011 with Drake, Rick Ross, and Lil Wayne which aired on June 26, 2011.^[22]

Discography[link]

• 2006: Listennn... the Album
• 2007: We the Best
• 2008: We Global
• 2010: Victory
• 2011: We the Best Forever
• 2012: Kiss the Ring^[21][23]

Awards and nominations[link]

• BET Awards
  • 2008, Best Collaboration ("I'm So Hood (Remix)") with Young Jeezy, Ludacris, Busta Rhymes, Big Boi, Lil Wayne, Fat Joe, Birdman, & Rick Ross (Nominated)^[24]

• BET Hip Hop Awards
  • 2009, DJ of the Year (nominated)
  • 2008, DJ of the Year (Won)^[25]
  • 2008, MVP of the Year (nominated)^[26]
  • 2008, Best Collabo ("I'm So Hood (Remix)") with Young Jeezy, Ludacris, Busta Rhymes, Big Boi, Lil Wayne, Fat Joe, Birdman, & Rick Ross (Won)^[27]
  • 2007, People's Champ Award ("We Takin' Over") with Akon, T.I., Rick Ross, Fat Joe, Birdman, & Lil Wayne (nominated)^[28]
  • 2007, Best Hip-Hop Collabo ("We Takin' Over") with Akon, T.I., Rick Ross, Fat Joe, Birdman, & Lil Wayne (nominated)^[29]

• Grammy Awards
  • 2012, Best Rap/Sung Collaboration: "I'm On One" (nominated)w/ Drake, Lil' Wayne, Rick Ross & Birdman

• Ozone Awards
  • 2008, DJ of the Year (Won)^[30]

References[link]

External links[link]

• DJ Khaled on Myspace
• DJ Khaled on Twitter
• DJ Khaled at Allmusic

Jim Jones
Born	James W. Jones (1931-05-13)May 13, 1931 Randolph County, Indiana, U.S.
Died	November 18, 1978(1978-11-18) (aged 47) Jonestown, Guyana
Occupation	Religious leader
Religion	Agnostic/Atheist[1]
Spouse	Marceline Baldwin Jones (1927 - 1978)
Children	Agnes Paulette Jones (1943 - 1978) Suzanne Jones Cartmell (1953 - 2006) Stephanie Jones (1954 - 1959) Lew Eric Jones (1956 - 1978) Jim Jon Prokes (1975 - 1978) Stephan Gandhi Jones (1958- ) James Warren Jones, Jr. (1961-)
Parents	James Thurman Jones (1887 - 1951) Lynetta Putnam Jones (1902 - 1977)

Reverend James Warren "Jim" Jones (May 13, 1931 – November 18, 1978) was the founder and leader of the Peoples Temple, which is best known for the November 18, 1978 mass suicide of 909 Temple members in Jonestown, Guyana along with the killings of five other people at a nearby airstrip. Over 200 children were murdered at Jonestown, almost all of whom were forcibly made to ingest cyanide by the elite Temple members.

Jones was born in Indiana and started the Temple in that state in the 1950s. Jones and the Temple later moved to California, and both gained notoriety with the move of the Temple's headquarters to San Francisco in the mid-1970s.

The incident in Guyana ranks among the largest mass suicides in history, though most likely it involved forced suicide and/or murder, and was the single greatest loss of American civilian life in a non-natural disaster until the events of September 11, 2001. Among the dead was Leo Ryan, who remains the only Congressman assassinated in the line of duty as a Congressman in the history of the United States.^[2]

Early life[link]

Jim Jones was born in a rural area of Randolph County near the Ohio border,^[3] to James Thurman Jones (May 31, 1887 – May 29, 1951), a World War I veteran, and Lynetta Putnam (April 16, 1902 – December 11, 1977).^[4] He was of Irish and Welsh descent.^[5] Jones would later claim partial Cherokee ancestry through his mother, though this was likely false according to his maternal second cousin Barbara Shaffer.^{[5][note 1]} Economic difficulties during the Great Depression necessitated that Jones' family move to nearby Lynn, Indiana, in 1934.^[6] Jim Jones and a childhood friend both claimed that Jones' father was associated with the Ku Klux Klan.^[6]

In interviews for the 2006 documentary Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple, childhood acquaintances recalled Jones as being a "really weird kid" who was "obsessed with religion ... obsessed with death". They alleged that as a child, Jones frequently held funerals for small animals and had reportedly stabbed a cat to death.^[7]

Jones was a voracious reader as a child and studied Joseph Stalin, Karl Marx, Mahatma Gandhi and Adolf Hitler carefully,^[8] noting each of their strengths and weaknesses.^[8] After Jones' parents separated, he moved with his mother to Richmond, Indiana.^[9] He graduated from Richmond High School early and with honors in December 1948.^[10]

Jones married nurse Marceline Baldwin in 1949, and moved to Bloomington, Indiana.^[11] He attended Indiana University at Bloomington, where a speech by Eleanor Roosevelt about the plight of African Americans impressed him.^[11] Jones' sympathetic statements about communism offended Marceline's grandmother.^[11] In 1951, Jones moved to Indianapolis, where he attended night school at Butler University, earning a degree in secondary education in 1961.^[12]

Building the Temple[link]

Jim Jones' first church in Indianapolis, Indiana

Indiana beginnings[link]

In 1951, Jones became a member of the Communist Party USA, and began attending meetings and rallies in Indianapolis.^[13] He became flustered with harassment he received during the McCarthy Hearings,^[13] particularly regarding an event he attended with his mother focusing on Paul Robeson, after which she was harassed by the FBI in front of her co-workers for attending.^[14] He also became frustrated with ostracism of open communists in the United States, especially during the trial of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg.^[15] This frustration, among other things, provoked a seminal moment for Jones in which he asked himself "how can I demonstrate my Marxism? The thought was, infiltrate the church."^[13][14]

Jones' interest in religion began during his childhood, primarily because he found making friends difficult, though initially he vacillated on his church of choice.^[5] Jones was surprised when a Methodist superintendent helped him to get a start in the church even though he knew Jones to be a communist and Jones did not meet him through the Communist Party.^[15] In 1952, Jones became a student pastor in Sommerset Southside Methodist Church, but claims he left that church because its leaders barred him from integrating blacks into his congregation.^[13] Around this time, Jones witnessed a faith-healing service at the Seventh Day Baptist Church.^[13] He observed that it attracted people and their money and concluded that, with financial resources from such healings, he could help accomplish his social goals.^[13]

Jones then began his own church, which changed names until it became the Peoples Temple Christian Church Full Gospel.^[13] The People's Temple was initially made as an inter-racial mission.

Jones moved away from the Communist Party and Maoists when CPUSA members and Mao Zedong became critical of some of the policies of former Soviet leader Joseph Stalin.^[15]

Integrationist[link]

In 1960, Indianapolis Democratic Mayor Charles Boswell appointed Jones director of the Human Rights Commission.^[16] Jones ignored Boswell's advice to keep a low profile, finding new outlets for his views on local radio and television programs.^[16] When the mayor and other commissioners asked Jones to curtail his public actions, he resisted and was wildly cheered at a meeting of the NAACP and Urban League when he yelled for his audience to be more militant, and climaxed with "Let my people go!"^[17]

During this time, Jones also helped to integrate churches, restaurants, the telephone company, the police department, a theater, an amusement park, and the Methodist Hospital.^[13] After swastikas were painted on the homes of two African American families, Jones personally walked the neighborhood comforting African Americans and counseling white families not to move, in order to prevent white flight.^[18] He also set up stings to catch restaurants refusing to serve African American customers^[18] and wrote to American Nazi leaders then leaked their responses to the media.^[19] When Jones was accidentally placed in the black ward of a hospital after a collapse in 1961, he refused to be moved and began to make the beds, and empty the bed pans of black patients.^[20] Political pressures resulting from Jones' actions caused hospital officials to desegregate the wards.^[20]

Jones received considerable criticism in Indiana for his integrationist views.^[13] White-owned businesses and locals were critical of him.^[18] A swastika was placed on the Temple, a stick of dynamite was left in a Temple coal pile, and a dead cat was thrown at Jones' house after a threatening phone call.^[19] Other incidents occurred, though some suspect that Jones himself may have been involved in at least some of them.^[19]

Jones' "Rainbow Family"[link]

Brochure of the Peoples Temple, portraying leader Jim Jones as the father of the "Rainbow Family"

Jim and Marceline Jones adopted several children of at least partial non-Caucasian ancestry; he referred to the clan as his "rainbow family,"^[21] and stated: "Integration is a more personal thing with me now. It's a question of my son's future."^[22] Jones portrayed the Temple overall as a "rainbow family."

The couple adopted three children of Korean-American ancestry: Lew, Suzanne and Stephanie. Jones had been encouraging Temple members to adopt orphans from war ravaged Korea.^[23] Jones had long been critical of the United States' opposition to communist leader Kim Il-Sung's 1950 invasion of South Korea, calling it the "war of liberation" and stating that "the south is a living example of all that socialism in the north has overcome."^[24] In 1954, he and his wife also adopted Agnes Jones, who was partly of Native American descent.^[22][25] Agnes was 11 at the time of her adoption.^[26] Suzanne Jones was adopted at the age of six in 1959.^[26] In June 1959, the couple had their only biological child, Stephan Gandhi Jones.^[25]

Two years later, in 1961, the Joneses became the first white couple in Indiana to adopt a black child, James Warren Jones, Jr.^[27] Marceline was once spat upon while she carried Jim Jr.^[19]

The couple also adopted another son, who was white, named Tim.^[25] Tim Jones, whose birth mother was a member of the Peoples Temple, was originally named Timothy Glen Tupper.^[22]

Asylum[link]

Belo Horizonte

Rio de Janeiro

Jones' Brazilian locations

After a 1961 Temple speech about nuclear apocalypse,^[20] and a January 1962 Esquire Magazine article listing Belo Horizonte, Brazil, as a safe place in a nuclear war, Jones traveled with his family to the Brazilian city with the idea of setting up a new Temple location.^[28]

On his way to Brazil, Jones made his first trip into Guyana.^[29] After arriving in Belo Horizonte, the Joneses rented a modest three bedroom home.^[30] Jones studied the local economy and receptiveness of racial minorities to his message, though language remained a barrier.^[31] Jones was careful not to portray himself as a communist in a foreign territory, and spoke of an apostolic communal lifestyle rather than of Castro or Marx.^[32]

After becoming frustrated with the lack of resources in the locale, in mid-1963, the Joneses moved to Rio de Janeiro.^[33] There, they worked with the poor in Rio's slums.^[33] Jones also explored local Brazilian religion.^[34]

Jones was plagued by guilt for leaving behind the Indiana civil rights struggle and possibly losing what he had struggled to build there.^[33] When Jones' associate preachers in Indiana told him that the Temple was about to collapse without him, Jones returned.^[35]

California Eden[link]

Los Angeles

San Francisco

Ukiah

Bakersfield

Fresno

Sacramento

Santa Rosa

Some of the Peoples Temple's California locations

After Jones' return to Indiana from Brazil, in 1965, Jones claimed that the world would be engulfed in a nuclear war on July 15, 1967, that would then create a new socialist Eden on earth, and that the Temple must move to Northern California for safety.^[13][36] Accordingly, the Temple began moving to Redwood Valley, California, near Ukiah.^[13]

While Jones always spoke of the social gospel's virtues, before the late 1960s Jones chose to conceal that his gospel was actually communism.^[13] By the late 1960s, Jones began at least partially openly revealing in Temple sermons his "Apostolic Socialism" concept.^[13] Specifically, "those who remained drugged with the opiate of religion had to be brought to enlightenment — socialism."^[37] Jones often mixed those concepts, such as preaching that "If you're born in capitalist America, racist America, fascist America, then you're born in sin. But if you're born in socialism, you're not born in sin."^[38]

By the early 1970s, Jones began deriding traditional Christianity as "fly away religion," rejecting the Bible as being white men’s justification to subordinate women and subjugate people of color and stating that it spoke of a "Sky God" who was no God at all.^[13] Jones authored a booklet titled "The Letter Killeth," criticizing the King James Bible.^[39] Jones also began preaching that he was the reincarnation of Jesus of Nazareth, Mahatma Gandhi, Buddha, Vladimir Lenin, and Father Divine. In the documentary Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple, former Temple member Hue Fortson, Jr. quoted Jones as saying, "What you need to believe in is what you can see ... If you see me as your friend, I'll be your friend. As you see me as your father, I'll be your father, for those of you that don't have a father ... If you see me as your savior, I'll be your savior. If you see me as your God, I'll be your God."^[7]

By the spring of 1976, Jones began openly admitting even to outsiders that he was an atheist.^[40] Despite the Temple's fear that the IRS was investigating its religious tax exemption, by 1977 Marceline Jones admitted to the New York Times that, as early as age 18 when he watched his then idol Mao Zedong overthrow the Chinese government, Jim Jones realized that the way to achieve social change through Marxism in the United States was to mobilize people through religion.^[36] She stated that "Jim used religion to try to get some people out of the opiate of religion," and had slammed the Bible on the table yelling "I've got to destroy this paper idol!"^[36] In one sermon, Jones said that, "You're gonna help yourself, or you'll get no help! There's only one hope of glory; that's within you! Nobody's gonna come out of the sky! There's no heaven up there! We'll have to make heaven down here!"^[7]

Move to San Francisco[link]

The move of Peoples Temple headquarters to San Francisco in 1975 invigorated Jones' political career. After the Temple served an important role in the mayoral election victory of George Moscone in 1975, Moscone appointed Jones as the Chairman of the San Francisco Housing Authority Commission.^[41]

Unlike most other figures deemed as cult leaders, Jones was able to gain public support and contact with prominent local and national United States politicians. For example, Jones and Moscone met privately with vice presidential candidate Walter Mondale on his campaign plane days before the 1976 election and Mondale publicly praised the Temple.^[42][43] First Lady Rosalynn Carter also personally met with Jones on multiple occasions, corresponded with him about Cuba, and spoke with him at the grand opening of the San Francisco Democratic Party Headquarters where Jones garnered louder applause than Mrs. Carter.^[42][44][45]

In September 1976, Willie Brown served as master of ceremonies at a large testimonial dinner for Jones attended by Governor Jerry Brown and Lieutenant Governor Mervyn Dymally and other political figures.^[46] At that dinner, while introducing Jones, Willie Brown stated "Let me present to you what you should see every day when you look in the mirror in the early morning hours.... Let me present to you a combination of Martin King, Angela Davis, Albert Einstein... Chairman Mao."^[47] Harvey Milk, who spoke at political rallies at the Temple,^[48] and wrote to Jones after a visit to the Temple: "Rev Jim, It may take me many a day to come back down from the high that I reach today. I found something dear today. I found a sense of being that makes up for all the hours and energy placed in a fight. I found what you wanted me to find. I shall be back. For I can never leave."^[49][50]

In his San Francisco Temple apartment, Jones hosted San Francisco radical political figures such as Angela Davis for discussions.^[51] He spoke with friend and San Francisco Sun-Reporter publisher Dr. Carlton Goodlett about Jones' remorse regarding not being able to travel to socialist countries such as Peoples Republic of China and the Soviet Union, speculating that he could be Chief Dairyman of the Soviet Union.^[52] After his criticisms caused increased tensions with the Nation of Islam, Jones spoke at a huge rally healing the rift between the two groups in the Los Angeles Convention Center attended by many of Jones' closest political acquaintances.^[53] Jones also enjoyed a favorable relationship with Warith Deen Mohammed, son of Nation of Islam leader Elijah Muhammad.^{[citation needed]}

While Jones forged media alliances with key columnists and others at the San Francisco Chronicle and other media outlets,^[54] the move to San Francisco also brought increasing media scrutiny. After Chronicle reporter Marshall Kilduff encountered resistance to publishing an exposé, he brought his story to New West Magazine.^[55] In the summer of 1977, Jones and several hundred Temple members moved to the Temple's "Agricultural Project" in Guyana after they learned of the contents of Kilduff's article to be published in which former Temple members claimed they were physically, emotionally, and sexually abused.^[45][56] Jones named the settlement Jonestown after himself.

Jonestown's formation and operation[link]

Jonestown

Georgetown

Kaituma

Peoples Temple Agricultural Project ("Jonestown", Guyana)

Jones had first started building Jonestown in 1970 as a means to create both a "socialist paradise" and a "sanctuary" from the media scrutiny which had started in 1972.^[57] Here they also established a cooperative called the "People's Temple Agricultural Project". Regarding the former goal, Jones purported to establish Jonestown as a benevolent model communist community stating, "I believe we’re the purest communists there are."^[58] In that regard, like the restrictive emigration policies of the then Soviet Union, Cuba, North Korea and other communist states, Jones did not permit members to leave Jonestown.^[59]

Religious scholar Mary McCormick Maaga argues that Jones' authority decreased after he moved to the isolated commune, because he was not needed for recruitment and he could not hide his drug addiction from rank and file members.^[60] In spite of the allegations prior to Jones' departure to Jonestown, the leader was still respected by some for setting up a racially mixed church which helped the disadvantaged; 68 percent of Jonestown's residents were black.^[61] Jonestown was where Jones began his belief called "Translation" where he and his followers would all die together and move to another planet and live blissfully.

New children[link]

Jim Jones claimed that he was the biological father of John Victor Stoen, although the birth certificate lists Grace and Timothy Stoen as the parents of the boy.^[62] The Temple repeatedly claimed that Jones fathered the child when, in 1971, Temple member Tim Stoen had requested that Jones have sex with Grace Stoen to keep her from defecting.^[63] After Grace Stoen later defected in 1976 and began divorce proceedings against Tim Stoen in 1977, in order to avoid potentially giving up the boy in a custody dispute with Grace, Jones ordered Tim to take John to Guyana in February 1977.^[64]

After purported father Tim Stoen defected from the Temple in June 1977, the Temple kept John Stoen in Jonestown.^[65] The custody dispute over John Stoen would become a linchpin of several battles between the Temple and the Concerned Relatives.^[66]

Jim Jones also fathered a son, Jim Jon (Kimo), with Carolyn Louise Moore Layton, a Temple member.^[67]

Pressure and waning political support[link]

Congressional Pictorial of Leo Ryan

While most of Jones' political allies broke ties after Jones' departure,^[68] some did not. As a show of support, Willie Brown spoke out against enemies at a rally at the Peoples Temple, also attended by Harvey Milk and Art Agnos.^[69] Most importantly for Jones and the Temple, Moscone's office shortly thereafter issued a press release saying that Jones had broken no laws.^[70]

In the Fall of 1977, Tim Stoen and other relatives in Jonestown formed a "Concerned Relatives" group.^[71] Stoen traveled to Washington D.C. in January 1978 to visit with Congressmen, including Leo Ryan and State Department officials, and wrote a "white paper" to Congress detailing the dispute and pressing for Congressional correspondence.^[72] Stoen's efforts aroused the curiosity of Ryan, who wrote a letter on Stoen's behalf to Guyanese Prime Minister Forbes Burnham.^[73]

Amidst growing pressure in the United States to investigate the Temple, on February 19, 1978, Harvey Milk wrote a letter of support for the Peoples Temple to President Jimmy Carter.^[74][75][76] Therein, Milk wrote that Jones was known "as a man of the highest character."^[76] Regarding the leader of those attempting to extricate relatives from Jonestown, Milk wrote he was "attempting to damage Rev. Jones reputation" with "apparent bold-faced lies."^[76]

On April 11, 1978, the Concerned Relatives distributed a packet of documents, including letters and affidavits, that they titled an "Accusation of Human Rights Violations by Rev. James Warren Jones" to the Peoples Temple, members of the press and members of Congress.^[77] In June 1978, escaped Temple member Deborah Layton provided the group with a further affidavit detailing alleged crimes by the Peoples Temple and substandard living conditions in Jonestown.^[78]

Facing increasing scrutiny, in the summer of 1978, Jones also hired noted JFK assassination conspiracy theorists Mark Lane and Donald Freed to help make the case of a "grand conspiracy" by intelligence agencies against the Peoples Temple.^[79] Jones told Lane he wanted to "pull an Eldridge Cleaver", referring to a fugitive Black Panther who was able to return to the United States after repairing his reputation.^[79]

Visit by Congressman Ryan, murders[link]

In November 1978, U.S. Congressman Leo Ryan led a fact-finding mission to Jonestown to investigate allegations of human rights abuses.^[80] Ryan's delegation included relatives of Temple members, Don Harris, an NBC network news reporter, an NBC cameraman and reporters for various newspapers.^[81] The group arrived in Georgetown on November 15.^[80] On November 17, Ryan's delegation traveled by airplane to Jonestown.^[82] The delegation left hurriedly the afternoon of November 18 after Temple member Don Sly attacked Ryan with a knife.^[83] The attack was thwarted, bringing the visit to an abrupt end.^[83] Congressman Ryan and his people succeeded in taking with them fifteen People's Temple members who had expressed a wish to leave.^[84] At that time, Jones made no attempt to prevent their departure.^[85]

Port Kaituma Airstrip shootings[link]

As members of Ryan's delegation boarded two planes at the airstrip, Jones' "Red Brigade" armed guards arrived in a tractor-pulled trailer and began shooting at the delegation.^[86] The guards killed Congressman Ryan and four others near a twin engine Otter aircraft.^[87] At the same time, one of the supposed defectors, Larry Layton, drew a weapon and began firing on members of the party that had already boarded a small Cessna.^[88] An NBC cameraman was able to capture footage of the first few seconds of the shooting at the Otter.^[87] The five killed at the airstrip were Congressman Ryan; Don Harris, a reporter from NBC; Bob Brown, a cameraman from NBC; San Francisco Examiner photographer Greg Robinson; and Temple member Patricia Parks.^[87] Surviving the attack were future Congresswoman Jackie Speier, then a staff member for Ryan; Richard Dwyer, the Deputy Chief of Mission from the U.S. Embassy at Georgetown; Bob Flick, a producer for NBC News; Steve Sung, an NBC sound engineer; Tim Reiterman, a San Francisco Examiner reporter; Ron Javers, a San Francisco Chronicle reporter; Charles Krause, a Washington Post reporter; and several defecting Temple members.^[87]

Deaths in Jonestown[link]

Later that same day, 909 inhabitants of Jonestown,^[89] 303 of them children, died of apparent cyanide poisoning, mostly in and around a pavilion.^[90] This resulted in the greatest single loss of American civilian life in a non-natural disaster until the September 11, 2001 attacks.^[91] No video was taken during the mass suicide, though the FBI did recover a 45 minute audio recording of the suicide in progress.^[92]

On that tape, Jones tells Temple members that the Soviet Union, with whom the Temple had been negotiating a potential exodus for months, would not take them after the Temple had murdered Ryan and four others at a nearby airstrip.^[92] The reason given by Jones to commit suicide was consistent with his previously stated conspiracy theories of intelligence organizations allegedly conspiring against the Temple, that men would "parachute in here on us," "shoot some of our innocent babies" and "they'll torture our children, they'll torture some of our people here, they'll torture our seniors."^[92] Parroting Jones' prior statements that hostile forces would convert captured children to fascism, one temple member states "the ones that they take captured, they're gonna just let them grow up and be dummies."^[92]

Given that reasoning, Jones and several members argued that the group should commit "revolutionary suicide" by drinking cyanide-laced grape flavored Flavor Aid (not Kool-Aid despite the popular phrase). However, later released video made to show the best of Jonestown shows Jones opening a storage container full of Kool-Aid in large quantities. This may have been what was used to mix the "potion" (as was referred to in several statements obtained by the FBI in the final tape recordings) along with a sedative.^[92] One member, Christine Miller, dissents toward the beginning of the tape.^[92] When members apparently cried, Jones counseled, "Stop this hysterics. This is not the way for people who are Socialists or Communists to die. No way for us to die. We must die with some dignity."^[92] Jones can be heard saying, "Don't be afraid to die," that death is "just stepping over into another plane" and that it's "a friend."^[92] At the end of the tape, Jones concludes: "We didn't commit suicide; we committed an act of revolutionary suicide protesting the conditions of an inhumane world."^[92] According to escaping Temple members, children were given the drink first and families were told to lie down together.^[93] Mass suicide had been previously discussed in simulated events called "White Nights" on a regular basis.^[78][94] During at least one such prior White Night, members drank liquid that Jones falsely told them was poison.^[78][94]

Jones was found dead in a deck chair with a gunshot wound to his head that Guyanese coroner Cyrill Mootoo stated was consistent with a self-inflicted gun wound.^[95] However, Jones' son Stephan believes his father may have directed someone else to shoot him.^[96] An autopsy of Jones' body also showed levels of the barbiturate Pentobarbital which may have been lethal to humans who had not developed physiological tolerance.^[97] Jones' drug usage (including LSD and marijuana) was confirmed by his son, Stephan, and Jones' doctor in San Francisco.

Other issues[link]

On December 13, 1973, Jones was arrested and charged with soliciting a man for sex in a movie theater bathroom known for homosexual activity, in MacArthur Park in Los Angeles.^[98] The man was an undercover Los Angeles Police Department vice officer. Jones is on record as later telling his followers that he was "the only true heterosexual", but at least one account exists of his sexual abuse of a male member of his congregation in front of the followers, ostensibly to prove the man's own homosexual tendencies.^[98]

While Jones banned sex among Temple members outside of marriage, he himself voraciously engaged in sexual relations with both male and female Temple members.^[99][100] Jones, however, claimed that he detested engaging in homosexual activity and did so only for the male temple adherents' own good, purportedly to connect them symbolically with him (Jones).^[99]

One of Jones' sources of inspiration was the controversial International Peace Mission movement leader Father Divine.^[101] Jones had borrowed the term "revolutionary suicide"^[102] from Black Panther leader and Peoples Temple supporter Huey Newton who had argued "the slow suicide of life in the ghetto" ought to be replaced by revolutionary struggle that would end only in victory (socialism and self determination) or revolutionary suicide (death).^{[citation needed]}

Family aftermath[link]

Marceline

Jim Jones' wife, Marceline, was found poisoned at the pavilion.^[103] On the final morning of Ryan's visit, Marceline had taken reporters on a tour of Jonestown.^[104]

Stephan, Jim Jr. and Tim Jones

Stephan, Jim Jr., and Tim Jones did not take part in the mass suicide because they were playing with the Peoples Temple basketball team against the Guyanese national team in Georgetown.^[25][102] At the time of events in Jonestown, Stephan and Tim were both nineteen and Jim Jones Jr. was eighteen.^[105] Tim's biological family, the Tuppers, which consisted of his three biological sisters,^{[106][107][108]} biological brother,^[109] and biological mother,^[110] all died at Jonestown. Three days before the tragedy, Stephan Jones refused, over the radio, to comply with an order by his father to return the team to Jonestown for Ryan's visit.^[111]

During the events at Jonestown, Stephan, Tim, and Jim Jones Jr. drove to the American Embassy in Guyana in an attempt to receive help. The Guyanese soldiers guarding the embassy refused to let them in after hearing about the shootings at the Port Kaituma airstrip.^[112] Later, the three returned to the Temple's headquarters in Georgetown to find the bodies of Sharon Amos and her three children.^[112] Guyanese soldiers kept the Jones brothers under house arrest for five days, interrogating them about the deaths in Georgetown.^[112] Stephan Jones was accused of being involved in the Georgetown deaths, and was placed in a Guyanese prison for three months.^[112] Tim Jones and Johnny Cobb, another member of the Peoples Temple basketball team, were asked to go to Jonestown and help identify the bodies of people who had died.^[112] After returning to the United States, Jim Jones Jr. was placed under police surveillance for several months while he lived with his older sister, Suzanne, who had previously turned against the Temple.^[112]

When Jonestown was first being established, Stephan Jones had originally avoided two attempts by his father to relocate to the settlement. He eventually moved to Jonestown after a third and final attempt. He has since said that he gave into his father's wishes to move to Jonestown because of his mother.^[113] Stephan Jones is now a businessman, and married with three daughters. He appeared in the documentary Jonestown: Paradise Lost which aired on the History Channel and Discovery Channel. He stated he will not watch the documentary and has never grieved for his father.^[114] Jim Jones Jr., who lost his wife and unborn child at Jonestown, returned to San Francisco. He remarried and has three sons from this marriage,^[102] including Rob Jones, a high-school basketball star who went on to play for the University of San Diego before transferring to Saint Mary's College of California.^[115]

Lew, Agnes and Suzanne Jones

Lew and Agnes Jones both died at Jonestown. Agnes Jones was thirty-five years old at the time of her death.^[116] Her husband^[117] and four children^{[118][119][120][121]} all died at Jonestown. Lew Jones, who was twenty-one years old at the time of his death, died alongside his wife Terry and son Chaeoke.^{[122][123][124]} Stephanie Jones had died at age five in a car accident.^[25]

Suzanne Jones married Mike Cartmell; both turned against the Temple and were not in Jonestown on November 18, 1978. After this decision to abandon the Temple, Jones referred to Suzanne openly as "my goddamned, no good for nothing daughter" and stated that she was not to be trusted.^[125] In a signed note found at the time of her death, Marceline Jones directed that the Jones' funds were to be given to the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and specified: "I especially request that none of these are allowed to get into the hands of my adopted daughter, Suzanne Jones Cartmell."^[126] Cartmell had two children and died of colon cancer in November 2006.^[127][128] Found near Marceline Jones' body was a signed and witnessed will leaving all bank accounts "in my name" to the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and writing that Suzanne Jones Cartmell should receive no assets.^[129]

John Stoen and Kimo

Specific references to Tim Stoen, the father of John Stoen, including the logistics of possibly murdering him, are made on the Temple's final "death tape," as well as a discussion over whether the Temple should include John Stoen among those committing "revolutionary suicide."^[92] At Jonestown, John Stoen was found poisoned in Jim Jones' cabin.^[130]

Both Jim Jon (Kimo) and his mother, Carolyn Louise Moore Layton, died during the events at Jonestown.^[131]

See also[link]

• Cult suicide
• Doomsday cult
• List of people who have claimed to be Jesus
• List of Buddha claimants

References[link]

Explanatory notes

Citations

Bibliography

• Chidester, David, Salvation and Suicide: Jim Jones, the People's Temple and Jonestown (Religion in North America), 2nd rev.ed., Indiana University Press, 2004. ISBN 978-0-253-21632-8
• Klineman, George and Sherman Butler. The Cult That Died. G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1980. ISBN 0-399-12540-X.
• Layton, Deborah. Seductive Poison. Anchor Books, 1999. ISBN 0-385-48984-6.
• Maaga, Mary McCormick. Hearing the voices of Jonestown. Syracuse University Press, 1998. ISBN 0-8156-0515-3.
• Naipaul, Shiva. Black & White. Hamish Hamilton, London, 1980. ISBN 0-241-10337-1.
• Reiterman, Tim and John Jacobs (1982). Raven: The Untold Story of Rev. Jim Jones and His People. Dutton. ISBN 0-525-24136-1. 

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Jim Jones

• The Jonestown Institute
• FBI No. Q 042 The "Jonestown Death Tape", Recorded 18 November 1978 (Internet Archive)
• Transcript of Jones' final speech, just before the mass suicide
• The first part of a series of articles about Jim Jones published in the San Francisco Examiner in 1972.
• History Channel Video and Stills
• Isaacson, Barry. From Silver Lake to Suicide: One Family's Secret History of the Jonestown Massacre
• Mass Suicide at Jonestown: 30 Years Later, Time magazine
• Jonestown 30 Years Later photo gallery published Friday, October 17, 2008.
• Rapaport, Richard. Jonestown and City Hall slayings eerily linked in time and memory Both events continue to haunt city a quarter century later
• Nakao, Annie.The ghastly Peoples Temple deaths shocked the world. Berkeley Rep takes on the challenge of coming to terms with it.
• American Experience documentary, "Jonestown: The Life And Death Of Peoples Temple", shown on PBS
• Jonestown: 25 Years Later How spiritual journey ended in destruction: Jim Jones led his flock to death in jungle by Michael Taylor, San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Published Thursday, November 12, 1998.
• Utopian nightmare Jonestown: What did we learn? Larry D. Hatfield, of The Examiner staff, Gregory Lewis and Eric Brazil of The Examiner staff and Examiner Librarian Judy Canter contributed to this report. Published Sunday, November 8, 1998.
• Jones Captivated S.F.'s Liberal Elite: They were late to discover how cunningly he curried favor by Michael Taylor, San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. And [Haunted by Memories of Hell ] by Kevin Fagan, San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Published Thursday, November 12, 1998. Both stories were included in the first of a two-part series.
• The End To Innocent Acceptance Of Sects Sharper scrutiny is Jonestown legacy by Don Lattin, San Francisco Chronicle religion writer. And Most Peoples Temple Documents Still Sealed by Michael Taylor and Don Lattin, San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. And Surviving the Heart of Darkness: Twenty years later, Jackie Speier remembers how her companions and rum helped her endure the night of the Jonestown massacre by Maitland Zane, San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Published Friday, November 13, 1998. All stories were included in the second part of a two-part series.
• Inside Peoples Temple Marshall Kilduff and Phil Tracy, Used by permission of authors for the San Francisco Chronicle. Published Monday, August 1, 1977.

Debbie Gibson
Debbie Gibson at the Cinema City Film Festival
Background information
Birth name	Deborah Ann Gibson
Born	(1970-08-31) August 31, 1970 (age 41) Brooklyn, New York, United States
Genres	Pop, Dance-pop, Adult Contemporary, pop rock
Occupations	Singer-songwriter, record producer, actress, teen idol
Instruments	Vocals, piano
Years active	1986–present
Labels	Atlantic EMI SMEJ
Associated acts	Jordan Knight Eric Martin Tiffany
Website	Official Site
Notable instruments
Liberace grand piano: Baldwin SD10, Serial No. pending Finish: Austrian rhinestones

Deborah Ann "Debbie" Gibson (born August 31, 1970) is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress. In 1988 she was pronounced the youngest artist to write, produce, and perform a #1 single on the Billboard Hot 100, with her song "Foolish Beat" and she remains the youngest female to write, record, and perform a #1 single.^[1] She has gone on to starring roles on Broadway and touring musicals, as well as independent film and television work. She continues to record, and reached the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart as high as #24 during 2006 in a duet with Jordan Knight titled "Say Goodbye". In 2010, the album Ms. Vocalist, from Sony Japan was Top 10 on the Japanese Billboard chart and the first single from the album, “I Love You”, hit #1.^[2]

Early life[link]

Debbie Gibson was born in Brooklyn, New York, the third daughter of four for Diane and Joseph Gibson.^[3][4][5] She grew up in the Long Island suburb of Merrick and was raised Catholic. At the age of five, she began performing in community theater with her sisters Karen, Michele, and Denise, and cousin T.J Normandin and wrote her first song, "Make Sure You Know Your Classroom". At age eight, she sang in the children's chorus at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York. She began playing the ukulele and taking piano lessons soon after, including with American pianist Morton Estrin.^[6] She said that her household was probably the only one where bystanders would hear kids fighting over piano playing time.

Music career[link]

1987–1990[link]

In 1987, while performing around the United States at nightclub venues, Gibson was recording what would become her debut album, "Out Of The Blue". It was recorded in four weeks. Four singles from Out Of The Blue reached the Top 5 of the Billboard Hot 100: "Only in My Dreams", "Shake Your Love", "Out Of The Blue", and the #1 hit "Foolish Beat", followed by "Staying Together", which performed more modestly, reaching #22. "Foolish Beat" set a record for Gibson, making her (at 17) the youngest artist ever to write, produce, and perform a Billboard #1 single, as entered in the 1988 Guinness Book of World Records, and she remains the youngest female artist to do so. Out Of The Blue was established as a hit album and she had success in the UK and southeast Asia, filling stadiums with her Out Of The Blue tour. By the end of 1988, Out of the Blue had gone triple platinum.^[7] The Out Of The Blue music video compilation was certified platinum by the RIAA; the concert tour video was certified 2x platinum. In October 1988, Gibson sang the national anthem for Game One of the Major League Baseball World Series.

Electric Youth was released in early 1989, and spent five weeks at #1 on Billboard's Top 200 Album Chart. The first single released, "Lost in Your Eyes", was #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for three weeks, garnering her another achievement as the first female to have both an album and single simultaneously at #1. (She shared the 1989 ASCAP Songwriter of the Year Award with Bruce Springsteen.) Subsequent singles from the album were "Electric Youth" (#11), "No More Rhyme" (No. 17), and "We Could Be Together" (No. 71). The Electric Youth album was certified 2x platinum by the RIAA. The successful "Electric Youth" world tour and Live Around the World VHS (2x platinum) followed.

Style and Influence[link]

In tandem with the second album, she created a perfume called Electric Youth that was distributed by Revlon, and other makeup essentials for young girls that were distributed nationwide through Natural Wonder Cosmetics, another of her sponsors at the time, among the first of artists to do so.^[8] Debbie Gibson and other artists of the time made side ponytails and crimped hair popular. She also made tight, rolled up jeans and wearing two Swatch watches popular. Her influences were Madonna and Olivia Newton John, though she has often said she admires Elton John and Billy Joel as favorite artists. She appeared on the covers of teen magazines globally, such as Tiger Beat. Her successes opened the doorway for many of today's pop princesses.

1990–1995[link]

She recorded two more albums for Atlantic Records: Anything Is Possible (1990) and Body Mind Soul (1993). "Anything Is Possible", co-written with Motown mainstay Lamont Dozier, peaked at #26 on Billboard's Hot 100 in 1991. Subsequent singles from Anything Is Possible failed to chart on the Hot 100, although "One Step Ahead" scored on the Billboard Hot Maxi Singles and Hot Dance chart, peaking at #21 and #18 respectively. Body Mind Soul spawned another minor hit in "Losin' Myself", which was accompanied by a somewhat controversial Matthew Rolston-directed video clip featuring Gibson as a stripper. The second single from the album, "Shock Your Mama", would become a minor hit in Europe and the UK; however "Losin' Myself" remains Debbie Gibson's last appearance on the Billboard Hot 100.

Gibson on the set of the video for "No More Rhyme"

During this time, Gibson was part of the supergroup that recorded the charity single Voices that Care which peaked at #11 on Billboard's Hot 100.

In 1995, she signed with EMI's SBK Records division and recorded what would be her only album for the label, Think With Your Heart. It was an Adult Contemporary-heavy album consisting of piano and keyboard ballads recorded predominantly with the London Philharmonic Orchestra. The album's producer, Niko Bolas (usually Neil Young's co-producer), was producing the reunion album for veteran punk band Circle Jerks, and invited Gibson to a recording session for that band's album. She sang background vocals on the song "I Wanna Destroy You", as well as appearing at and participating in the Circle Jerks' performance at punk venue CBGB, wearing one of the band's t-shirts and sharing a microphone with frontman Keith Morris.

Later independent releases[link]

After parting company with EMI, Gibson formed her own record label, Espiritu, to release her original material. Her sixth album, Deborah, marked her full return to dance-pop. Deborah includes the lead single "Only Words". "Only Words" (Dance Edit) became a Top 40 Hot Dance Music/Club Play hit. The album's other single was the ballad, "Naturally". Though it only sold 20,000 in the US, Deborah remains well-respected.

In 2001, she released her seventh album on her new record label, Golden Egg, titled M.Y.O.B.---i.e. Mind Your Own Business. It featured three singles: the sensual pop song "What You Want", the Latin-infused Dance-pop song "Your Secret," and the bass heavy "M.Y.O.B." Highlights from the album include the sultry Latin flavored Smooth Jazz song "In Blue", a vintage style ballad "Wishing You Were Here", "Jaded", and a remix of "M.Y.O.B." with the background vocals of her two nieces.

In 2005, Gibson co-wrote and recorded a song titled "Someone You Love" with the O'Neill Brothers. With the O'Neill Brothers, she released an updated, acoustic version of her #1 hit "Lost in Your Eyes". There was an Emmy-nominated PBS special in 2005.^[9][10]

She had a resurgence of popularity in niche markets. Her single "Your Secret" came back from its dormant state and became popular on some radio stations including Super 91.7 WMPH in Wilmington, Delaware. "Your Secret" has been on their request show, Total Control Radio, for 12 months; it reached #1 on its third week on that station's chart in May 2006. It charted along with a few of her other singles, "M.Y.O.B." and "Only Words" (Dance Edit), the Eurodance mix. They all have become recurrent hits on WMPH.^[11]

Theater career[link]

Deborah Gibson debuted on Broadway in 1992, playing Eponine in Les Misérables. She then went to London and starred as Sandy in Grease---a role 800 other girls tried out for before producers chose Gibson---in a West End production.^[12] The show broke box office sales records.^[13] The single version of "You're the One That I Want", a duet with Craig McLachlan, taken from the Original Cast Recording, reached #13 on the UK charts in 1993.

On returning to the States, she appeared in the Broadway touring production, this time playing Rizzo. She played Fanny Brice in a revamped Funny Girl tour. She has had many successful theater credits; she was among the many actresses who took the starring role of Belle in the Broadway production of Beauty and the Beast. She replaced Kerry Butler in July 1997 and was in the show until 1998 when she was then succeeded by Kim Huber. She also starred the critically lauded production of Gypsy (in a production staged at The Paper Mill Playhouse). She starred as Louise opposite Broadway legend Betty Buckley. She participated in the national tour of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, where she played the part of The Narrator, and starred as Cinderella in the national tour of Rodgers & Hammerstein's musical with Eartha Kitt as the Fairy Godmother. In October 2002, she starred as Velma Kelly in the Boston production of Chicago. In 2003, she played Sally Bowles in the Broadway revival of Cabaret. From March to April 2004, she played the role of 'Marta' in the UCLA Reprise! production of Company.

Gibson starred as Anna Leonowens in Cabrillo Music Theatre's production of the Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II musical The King and I which began October 17, 2008 in the Kavli Theatre at the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza and ran through October 26.^[14]

Reality television[link]

In mid-2003, Gibson was a judge on the American Idol spin-off American Juniors which lasted one season. In January 2006, she joined the cast of Skating with Celebrities on Fox Television, partnered with former Canadian World Champion figure skater Kurt Browning. She was voted out in the third episode.

Gibson competed on the fifth season of The Celebrity Apprentice, which began airing on February 19, 2012.^[15] On the fourth task, she won $50,000 for her charity, Children International.^[16] Gibson was fired on April 4, 2012 in the seventh task because she had brought in the least amount of money between her teammates in the boardroom, Dayana Mendoza and Teresa Giudice.^[17] While both Mendoza and Giudice were arguably weaker candidates going forward, given that Mendoza was cited as the women's weakest link and Giudice had failed the task as project manager, Gibson was fired instead.

Music 2005–present[link]

The March 2005 issue of Playboy featured a nude pictorial of Gibson, coinciding with the release of her single, "Naked". She has said that the magazine had asked her five times to pose for them since she turned 18.^[5] She agreed to pose in an effort to revamp her image, describing how one casting call called her agent, not realizing that Gibson had long since outgrown her teenage image.^[18] The single peaked at No. 35 on the Billboard "Hot single sales" chart in March 2005.^[19]

In November 2005 it was announced that Debbie would go on tour with The O'Neill Brothers for "Someone you love Tour" ^[20] in 2006. "Lost in your eyes" was revamped with a acoustic sound and a song "Someone you love" was written and performed by Debbie and The O'Neill Brothers and also these 2 songs appeared on the The O'Neill Brothers album "Someone you love".

The 2006 single, "Say Goodbye," featuring dance-pop artist Jordan Knight, has made a good impression on the Soft AC and Hot AC radio formats, becoming the third-most added single on the format during summer 2006. It debuted at No. 35 on the Billboard magazine Hot Contemporary chart, peaking at No. 24 in early September through late November^[21] The same year, Gibson appeared in the independent film Coffee Date with Wilson Cruz and Jonathan Silverman and soundtrack song called "Sounds like love"

On November 14, 2006, Gibson released the song "Famous" on her official website. The song was written by Gibson and Tiziano Lugli, and the recording was produced by T. Lugli.

On March 5, 2009, Gibson announced via YouTube video blog that she would be releasing a new song/video called Already Gone.^[22] Released on her official website and reverberation. The song was released first on March 9, 2009 then video on March 13, 2009.^[23] Bylli Crayone(Singer/Songwriter/Producer and Fan of Gibsons) interviewed Debbie about the song and asked if this was the direction she would be going for new album.^[24] The song was written by Gibson and produced by Fred Coury (Drummer from Cinderalla)and music video produced by Guy Birtwhistle .Starring Birtwhisle,Gibson and Steve Valentine(Crossing Jordan)and directed by John Knowles.

Gibson gives sneak peek of a new song on June 5, 2009 through her YouTube video blog uploaded herself.^[25] In January 2010 an unofficial clip "Cougar" was uploaded on YouTube.^[26] She also became a spokesperson for Murad's Resurgence Skin Care and plays piano and sings a line of the song called "Cougar" ^[27]

It was announced on her official website that "I Love You", the first single off her newest album Ms Vocalist, is No. 1 on the international cable radio charts for the week of November 3. Debbie covered J-Pop tunes for the Ms Vocalist album that were originally sung by Japanese artists like Chage and Aska (Say Yes), Yutaka Ozaki (I love you), Sekaiju no Dareyori Kitto (by Miho Nakayama & WANDS) among others, plus Japanese/English version of her hit No. 1 song Lost in your eyes and a duet with Eric Martin. The first official music video from the new album is "I Love You" which was released on Gibson Official YouTube site on October 19, 2010.^[28]

It was announced in November 2010 by Gibson herself that she would be doing an "DG Live From the Living Room" on "Stageit.com on December 1, 2010. This concert sold out. Here is the setlist she performed "Heart Of The Matter" by Don Henley,^[29] Rich Girl,I dreamed a dream, Coming home,^[30] medley of : Another Brick Falls,Deep Down,Helplessly in love,We could be together,^[31] "The Rose",^[32] You don't have to see" and brief news about upcoming album 2011 ^[33]-(as of December 2011 no album),^[34] then concluded the encore with "Silent Night" ^[35]

Her song "Rise", from the forthcoming documentary "3 Billion and Counting", was included on the short list for an Academy Award for Best Song in a Film in 2010,which in 2011 didn't receive. Rise is available on I-tunes. In the summer of 2011, she released Rise on I-tunes. and also performed it on Good Morning America in NY.

In January 2011, Gibson wrote,performed and produced the song "Snake Charmer" for the film Mega Python vs. Gatoroid which is available on iTunes.^[36]

Also clips of "Rise","Cougar" and "Don't wake me" are available on her official site after the site was revamped.^[37]

Throughout many TV/press and internet related interviews,Gibson has confirmed that she is working on a studio new album of new material and would like to do a Christmas album. No official confirmation when either album will be released.

Gibson continues to tour and has become a popular attraction at gay pride parades and various charity and music festivals around the US.

On May 2007 the world premiere of Electric Youth: The Musical was unveiled at The Starlight Theatre in Orlando, FL. The musical featured 14 of Gibsons's songs and was directed by Dean Parker. ^[38] On August 24, 2007, Gibson and Frankie Avalon hosted Time Life Presents Dick Clark's American Bandstand 50th Anniversary Collection.^[39]

Debbie Gibson at LA Pride 2007

In September 2007, Gibson considered creating a camp on the West Coast. She is the founder and creator of Camp Electric Youth,^[40] a children's summer day camp which ran from July 7–18, 2008. It claims to be the first camp of its kind in the Los Angeles area. The camp was reportedly attended by "over 120 talented singers, actors and dancers" from around the world.

Gibson was a judge for the online talent competition, Total Pop Star,^[41] along with Andrew Van Slee (producer and judge),and Joey Lawrence (from Blossom). The first season ran from Nov 12, 2007 – May 30, 2008, though it was later extended to June. The show ended abruptly into the 2nd season.

In January 2008, Gibson announced that she would revive and perform her 1980s hits—along with her Broadway role songs—during a three-run week in May 2008 at Harrah's in Atlantic City.^[42] Stuck in the '80s|tampabay.com: Archives</ref>

She later appeared on the April 2008 cover of Lavender Magazine (a GLBT magazine in Minnesota)^[43] and was interviewed about her career and upcoming projects. Then on the 24th, Gibson hosted and performed on Spotlightlive 80's Karaoke Experience in New York^[44] singing songs such as "Only in My Dreams", "Out of the Blue", "Love Shack" (an original hit for the B-52's) and "9 to 5". She performed with Samantha Fox, Tiffany, & Rick Astley at the Colisee Pepsi in Quebec City, Canada on April 10, 2009.^[45]

She performed as Mother Nature in Cirque Dreams Jungle Fantasy at Foxwoods/MGM Casino from July 27 to September 1, 2010.^[46]

On April 18, 2011, Gibson confirmed via Twitter that she will be touring with fellow 1980s pop princess Tiffany during the summer of 2011. Tiffany also made the announcement via the New York Post.^[47]

In June 2011, Gibson appeared in Katy Perry's music video "Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)" alongside several other guest stars.

On August 13, 2011, the final night of the Journey Through The 80s Tour, Gibson and Tiffany sold out Chicago's House of Blues.

Movies and television[link]

On January 6, 2008 Gibson appeared on Deal or No Deal along with Corey Feldman as part of an 1980s special.

Gibson co-starred with actor Lorenzo Lamas in the low-budget action/adventure film Mega Shark Versus Giant Octopus, produced by The Asylum and released on May 19, 2009.^[48] This film drew in 2 million viewers on Syfy in 2009. The film's trailer has become a viral hit, scoring over one million hits on MTV.com and YouTube.^[49] The film premiered at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival. Ironically, Gibson's former music rival Tiffany had her film Necrosis (a.k.a. Blood Snow) premiere at the Cannes as well.^[50]

Tiffany and Debbie Gibson starred in a Syfy original movie entitled Mega Python vs. Gatoroid, aired on January 29, 2011.^[51] The pairing was at the suggestion of Tiffany, who wanted to play off their supposed rivalry.^[52]

Personal life[link]

Over the years, Gibson has been the subject of stalkers. Robert Bardo, who was convicted for murdering actress Rebecca Schaeffer in 1989, had a wall in his house adorned with pictures of Gibson and Tiffany.^[53] In May 1998, Michael Falkner, a disgruntled fan from Eau Claire, WI, was arrested outside Manhattan's Palace Theater, where Gibson was performing in the live musical adaptation of Disney's Beauty and the Beast. This was after Gibson received threatening letters, emails and faxes from Falkner, who used the alias 'Starcade'.^[54][55] However, a temporary restraining order was not issued by the court, and a court date was set to determine if a restraining order was appropriate in the matter.^[56] The proceeding was dismissed when Gibson failed to show up at the courthouse for the hearing to present her case.^[57]

Although never married, Gibson was once engaged to Jonathan Kanterman and is currently in a relationship with Dr. Rutledge Taylor.^[58][59]

Discography[link]

Studio albums[link]

• Out of the Blue (1987)
• Electric Youth (1989)
• Anything Is Possible (1990)
• Body Mind Soul (1993)
• Think With Your Heart (1995)
• Deborah (1997)
• M.Y.O.B. (2001)
• Colored Lights: The Broadway Album (2003)
• Ms. Vocalist (2010)^[60]

Charted singles[link]

The following singles charted in the U.S., the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Japan, Switzerland, Republic of Ireland and/or the Netherlands.

Filmography[link]

Film[link]

• Ghostbusters (1984) (uncredited)^[64]
• The Manhattan Project (1986) (uncredited)
• Sweet Liberty (1986) (uncredited)
• My Girlfriend's Boyfriend (1999)
• Wedding Band (2001)
• Soulkeeper (2001)
• Celeste in the City (2004)
• Coffee Date (2006)
• Body/Antibody (2007)
• Mega Shark Versus Giant Octopus (2009)
• Mega Python vs. Gatoroid (2011)

Television[link]

• Beverly Hills, 90210 East Side Story (1991)
• Street Justice as Gabrielle in Backbeat (1991)
• Step by Step (1995)
• The Kidsongs Television Show: Fun With Manners (1995)
• That '80s Show (2002)
• Maggie Bloom as Maggie Bloom (2000)
• American Juniors as judge (2003)
• Skating with Celebrities (2006)
• Rita Rocks as Cindy Schotz "Old Friends" (2009)
• Celebrity Ghost Stories (2010)
• Celebrity Apprentice (2012)

Awards and achievements[link]

Career highlights[link]

• Youngest person to ever write, produce and perform a No. 1 single (1988)
• Debut Album of the Year - "Out of the Blue" - New York Music Awards (1989)
• Debut Artist of the Year - New York Music Awards (1989)
• ASCAP Songwriter of the Year (tied with Bruce Springsteen) (1989)
• Nominated Favorite Female Music Performer - People's Choice Awards (1990)
• Rock Producer of the Year - American Songwriter Awards (1990)
• Nominated Best Pop Female Vocalist - American Music Awards (1990)
• Artist of the Year - New York Music Awards (1990)
• Song of the Year - "Lost In Your Eyes" - New York Music Awards (1990)
• Best Pop Female Vocalist - New York Music Awards (1990)

Active supporter of charities[link]

• Pediatric AIDS Foundation^{[citation needed]}
• The Make-A-Wish Foundation^{[citation needed]}
• St. Mary's Children & Families Foundation^[65]
• Red Cross Clothes Drive^{[citation needed]}
• Children International^[66]
• Long Island Head Injury Association^{[citation needed]}

References[link]