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Debby Boone
Dec21,22 Gold Coast
 Debby
Boone Recalls Clooney
The seventies will always be special for Debby Boone, the
youngest daughter of ‘50s icon Pat Boone. In 1977, she
joined the never-ending list of the recording industry’s
one-hit wonders with the mega-single “You Light Up My
Life.” The ballad topped the Billboard charts for ten
weeks, selling in excess of 4 million copies worldwide.
It also captured an Academy Award for best song in a motion
picture and Boone went on to win a Grammy as best new artist
of the year.
In 1979, Boone married Gabriel Ferrer, the son of the late
singer Rosemary Clooney and actor Jose Ferrer. They have four
grown children: a son, 27; twin daughters, 24 and a third
daughter, 21.
With “being mom a priority,” Boone didn’t
take advantage of her recording success. She did have a number
one country hit and recorded a handful of best-selling contemporary
Christian albums, but readily admits her recordings and career
lacked focus.
“There were more important things to do back then,”
she said via telephone from her San Fernando Valley home.
“We knew each other, (our sons attended the same school)
so you understand that family came first and the career was
put on the back seat. I believed in that and that is what
I was taught by my mom and dad. The Boone family has a great
faith in God and believes that family is a blessing.”
But her life took another turn in 2002 when her mother-in-law
– “the hub of the whole family” -- passed
away.
Boone’s son was Clooney’s first grandchild, so
there was a special bond and “we all had this special,
intimate relationship with her,” said Boone. “When
that’s gone, you can’t replace it.”
Instead, Debby Boone resumed her career with vengeance as
a tribute to Clooney. In 2005 she recorded “Reflections
of Rosemary,” a loving tribute to the late singer. And
now she’s on the road performing a program based on
the CD that includes a Dec. 21-22 appearance at the Gold Coast,
her first Las Vegas appearance in more than 20 years. Her
debut performance was in the seventies with her parents and
sisters at the downtown Fremont.
Clooney left Boone all her musical arrangements, which Boone
treasures.
“I wanted to honor Rosemary with more than a greatest
hits CD or songs closely associated with her,” said
Boone. “I wanted something more personal; to tell a
story about her. That’s what I do on stage. I feel our
relationship with each song I sing and it has helped me mature.”
The CD is a collection of 14 tunes distinguished by Boone’s
strong, striking vocal talents and a very personal, emotionally
rich story line.
“I wanted to select songs that would give an insight
into Rosemary from a family perspective, and from the more
than 30-years that I spent with her,” says Boone. Although
some songs were either recorded or often performed onstage
by the “Girl Singer,” including Irving Berlin’s
“Blue Skies,” Duke Ellington’s “Mood
Indigo,” and Sammy Cahn and Jule Stynes’ “Time
After Time,” Boone included other tunes for more personal
family reasons -- all of which are described in the liner
notes.
In addition to her recording career, Boone has starred as
the lead in numerous stage productions, such as “Seven
Brides for Seven Brothers” on Broadway and as Maria
in Lincoln Center’s 30th anniversary production of “The
Sound of Music,” which garnered a Drama Desk nomination.
She also starred as Rizzo in the Broadway production of “Grease,”
and toured nationally in “Meet Me In St. Louis.”
Most recently, she performed the role of Anna in the 50th
anniversary staging of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “The
King and I” and launched her symphony program “Debby
Boone Sings Stage and Screen.” She has also written
six charming children’s books in collaboration with
her husband, who created the illustrations for the best-selling
series.
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