(bright upbeat music) ♪ ♪ Yeah, the simple things in life.

♪ - My guest is actress, Grammy Award-winning singer, and author, Debby Boone.

Thank you so much for joining us.

What a pleasure!

- Well, it is my pleasure.

Thank you.

♪ 'Cause you ♪ ♪ You light up my life ♪ ♪ You give me hope ♪ ♪ To carry on ♪ ♪ You light up my days ♪ ♪ And, fill my nights ♪ ♪ With ♪ ♪ Song!

♪ - So, you are from a family of show biz with your grandfather on your mom's side, Red Foley, in country music.

Both your parents performed.

Of course, your father is Pat Boone, and you married a show biz family.

Share a little bit about your early days, when you were performing with your sisters and parents.

- Well, I think I was about 14 years old when we professionally got on stage and joined my dad's show, but prior to that there were just occasional times he would bring us on shows he was doing.

I specifically remember singing on the Glen Campbell Show, variety show; Flip Wilson.

When we were very little, there's footage of my sisters and me all dressed alike, and it was my dad's Chevy Showroom show.

And, he was moving from New York to LA and they did this bit where my mom and he were standing over a big steamer trunk that had been shipped to Los Angeles, and you hear little knocking and giggling.

And, they opened it up and there we were inside the trunk, and then they sat us on the top and we all sang a little song.

I don't really remember it.

I just remember seeing that video a lot during my life.

But, always involved in music either performing for their guests at the house, [Lillian laughs] or eventually!

At 14 years old, my dad was going to Japan to do a tour, and the Osmond Brothers were part of the tour with him, and he thought, 'well?

If they're traveling as a family 'why can't I bring my family as a means of being able to stay together?'

It was never his intention to create something that was gonna be ongoing, but it worked out so well, we did it for about eight years.

- Wow.

Now, of course, in 1977 you had your big song, "You Light Up My Life", and I think it's fair to say that it probably changed your world in many ways.

♪ You light up my life ♪ ♪ You give me hope ♪ ♪ To carry on ♪ ♪ You light up ♪ ♪ My days, and- ♪ - It changed my world in most ways, for sure.

It was very unexpected.

I had been sent a cassette tape, that tells you how long ago!

(both laughing) And, I liked the song, but I was just excited somebody was offering me a chance to fly to New York and go into a recording studio, and do a solo recording.

'Cause I'd been recording with my sisters up until then.

And, it was a strange day, and a strange experience; exciting, but not easy, because the guy who wrote the song and was producing the record was challenging to work with.

But when I flew home I just thought, 'well, that was exciting and fun, and we'll probably never hear anything else about it!'

(laughing) And months later, it's hit the charts, and then it just started going higher and higher.

Got to number one, and then stayed there for 10 weeks, and nobody was more surprised about that than I was.

- Now, when I think of that song, and I, of course, sang it, as did many.

And, it seems like when people sing that song they always sing it-?

I had a brush; that was my microphone!

Or, I'd be singing in the car at the top of my lungs hitting those high notes.

Of course, I couldn't hit them!

But, do you feel like people have told you that over and over that it's a song that they either got married to, or was part of their wedding?

How do people share with you that song?

- A lot of people have told me that they used to stand in front of the mirror with their hairbrush and sing the song!

(laughing) And, I did that with other songs, so I love that!

But, every kind of story you can imagine.

A story that's shared between a parent and a child, certainly weddings; many weddings I've heard about where that song was sung.

I've sung it at a lot of weddings myself.

And, just touching things where the song gave somebody hope in a difficult time.

And, to be associated with a song that can cross a lot of boundaries, and mean different things to different people, but connect me to them in an important way, for the rest of their lives is such an honor.

- Well, it seems that because of that that's why it stayed on the charts for so many weeks, because it was connecting in so many ways, in churches.

For sure if you were singing to the Lord, if that was your-- who lit up their life.

So, there's so many ways.

Now, I know, or it feels like you've always had kind of a squeaky clean image.

Were you okay with that?

Because there doesn't seem to be anything wrong with that, right?

(chuckles) - You know, for the most part, I have always been okay with it.

The thing that I don't like about it is it's very one-dimensional.

So people, if they sort of buy into this, 'oh, she's squeaky clean, and we have to be careful what we say around her, and she think she's...' what I hate the most is anybody that thinks I think I'm better than anyone else, because I've never done anything wrong.

Like, you know, there's no such person.

And, I think that image in many ways has separated me from people rather than connected me to them.

So, I try to squash that, as much as I can.

And, one of my favorite compliments, like when I'm working with a company doing a musical theater production or something, people get to know me and say, 'you're nothing like I thought you would be.'

And, I know they mean in a good way!

(laughing) That I can be fun; I have a sense of humor.

I'm not stuffy.

I'm not judgmental.

And sometimes that squeaky clean thing, makes people think, 'oh, she's gonna judge me', or 'she's not gonna like me', or 'I can't be myself around her.'

And, that I really don't like.

- Oh.

Well, that's a big bummer.

I know I've never had the squeaky clean image myself but I think it's lovely that it's there and that it's okay.

So now, "the" song launched your solo career.

What would you-- what would Debby of today, of 2022, tell Debby of 1977?

- Hmm?

What would I tell Debby in 1977?

- Because it was kind of a world when-- you were on, going to be on-- once you had that big song, everybody, of course, wanted you to sing it, and you had a new role to play.

Because that's what you were gonna be doing in so many areas, and even though you had a background in show business, it still came on fast and strong.

- It took me completely off guard.

And so, there was a lot of, a lot of insecurity.

Like-?

- Oh?

- I have this big opportunity and now I'm not really well prepared for it.

I was better prepared than I thought I was, in terms of I'd been on a lot of stages with my sisters, performing.

What I didn't have experience doing was performing by myself, and that was a huge adjustment to be standing in the center of a stage and not have a sister on either side.

And, we were always choreographed.

So suddenly, now I had to figure out what to do with my body.

You know?

Like, I had never really just stood there and communicated a song on my own, and that took some doing.

And, it was uncomfortable.

I chose to go on the road for the first year with my dad, because I was so unsure of myself.

That probably was not a great career move.

- Why not?

Why not?

- Because it sort of took me out of the contemporary artists, and now I was doing shows for a guy who already had, with a guy who already had an established career and an older audience.

So people that were like, when I was coming up, I-- some of my friends, like Shaun and David Cassidy, they were teen idols.

And, they were going out performing to crowds of people either younger or their own age, and I was out with my dad performing to sort of a Vegas or a nightclub crowd.

And so, that sort of took me out of the running of building a career with that demographic.

- Got it.

- But, I am the kind of person that doesn't look back and say, 'oh, what a tragedy, and what a mistake.'

I kind of think, if it happened, it's what was meant to be, and I went a different way.

I've had a glorious career of many, many opportunities that I never thought I would have.

It's never been dull, ever.

I didn't have a string of hit records, which I would've loved to have had.

- Sure.

- But, I've always continued to work, and I've done musical theater.

I've done country music.

I've done gospel music.

I done variety shows and acting, and TV movies, and that kind of-- things I never thought I would do.

So, I can't really complain, and I ended up also being able to be a good mom to my kids, and not be gone all the time.

- Right, right.

And, there's something to be said for that, for sure.

- A lot to be said!

(chuckles) - Let me talk a little bit about your family.

You've been married since 1979 to Gabriel Ferrer, and together you've collaborated on six children's books.

How did you and your husband meet?

And then, tell me the reason for writing the books.

- Well, the short and funny answer to (Lillian laughs) how did my husband and I meet is I was dating his older brother.

That's how we met!

(laughing) So, it sounds a little more salacious than it actually was, but his older brother Miguel and I had just broken up with our first serious relationship.

Our high school-- his girlfriend who was a friend of mine, and I broke up with my first boyfriend.

And so, it was a kind of a rebound thing where we went on a few dates, but we realized that it was not something that was ever gonna really happen.

And, a year later I started dating his younger brother Gabriel who's my husband of 42 years.

So, that's how I met him was through a few dates with his older brother!

(laughing) - Nice!

So, that's a good story!

Thank you for sharing that.

And then-?

- You're welcome!

- Tell me how you came to work on the children's book.

What inspired that?

- Well?

I had the record.

"You Light Up My Life" was huge.

And, like anytime anybody's had a success in one area, people from other areas start asking you, 'will you come do this?

Will you come do that?'

So, I had a lot of publishing companies saying, 'you're a young mother, and you have this big hit record.

What about writing a children's book?'

And, I just thought that was insanity!

What do I know about writing a children's book?

I have not written a book of any kind, and I don't know how to write a children's book.

So, I kept saying 'no, no.

That's not what I do.'

And then, one smart publishing company, Harvest House, came to me and said, 'we know that your husband 'is an artist.

Would you consider writing a children's book and have him be the illustrator?'

And then, it was just too interesting not to take that offer seriously.

And we talked with each other, and we just thought, 'you know?

We have four kids.

'Let's just draw on our own experience.

'And, I know you can illustrate a beautiful children's book, so the thing in question is whether I can write one.'

And really, truth be told, we wrote together.

Came up with the ideas together; we laughed, and kind of constructed how we wanted, either-?

They were conversations, our books, mostly.

We wrote one story which was called The Snow Angel, but the other books were, nightly things to read a conversation, like at bedtime, or in the morning.

"Tomorrow is a Brand New Day" was one of the books, and that was sort of, 'what's gonna happen tomorrow?'

"Bedtime Hugs for Little Ones" was just conversations with kids at night, as they're settling down.

And, one of our books was "Counting Blessings", where we just talked about all the different ways in your life you can show gratitude and count your blessings.

And, all the illustrations, except for the story, and "Counting Blessings", were drawn from Polaroids of our kids, in our own home.

And so, it made it very, very personal, and a real labor of love.

- Lovely.

So now, when I was prepping for this interview, I had to draw on a piece of paper, because you, as I indicated, you married into a show business family.

So I had to draw it out, almost like a tree.

(Debby laughs) There's Red Foley above your mom, then there's your dad and they're connected.

And then, you marry this family that's related to-- again in show business, with José Ferrer-- José, right?

Is the dad?

- Ferrer.

- And then, who's married to Rosemary Clooney, who's cousin's-- who's brother is Nick Clooney, who's son is George Clooney.

I mean I had to draw it out, 'cause I was sleeping and I'm thinking, I can't do this!

(Debby laughs) I have to look at a diagram because it was so much.

So, tell me a little bit about marrying into the family, and then later on performing the music of Rosemary Clooney.

- Well, marrying into the family, I think in the liner notes of a CD that I did, a tribute CD, to Rosemary after she passed away, it was like Dorothy going from black-and-white to color.

It was like the Wizard of Oz.

Their family was so different than mine.

Their world and their life was so different than the way I had been raised, and it was wonderful and interesting to me.

And, I got along with everyone.

Rosemary, I got along great with José.

They were not married when I came on the scene.

- Right.

- But, when we would go to New York we'd be with Gabri's dad, and when we were in LA, Gabri's mom.

And, I just loved her.

I was very nalïve about how huge she was, and how great her talent was.

And, it was my first introduction to the amazing talent of Rosemary Clooney.

And I became a forever, and maybe one of her biggest fans, of the way that she sang, the way that she interpreted a lyric of a song.

So, I sat at her feet for a lot of years, and that for me professionally was just a gift beyond measure.

But, also to have her as a grandmother to my kids?

I mean, nobody had bigger love to offer than Rosemary, and my kids were the recipients of huge love and attention, and adoration, till the day she died.

And, from my parents too.

So, I have very fortunate kids who've been around a lot of family, big, extended family, and fun.

We were at Rosemary's every Sunday night for dinner, and now we're the place where everybody comes for Sunday night dinner!

- [Lillian] Was she a good cook?

- She was a great cook.

And, my husband even better!

(laughing) - Ohh!

So, it runs in the blood there, for sure.

- Yes!

Yes.

- So, you did-- did you do-?

You went on stage.

Did you take that show on stage?

The Reflections of Rosemary?

Or did you do a CD of it?

Or, did you do both?

- Both,.

Did the CD first, and was so proud of the way that it came out, and Concord Jazz label that she had recorded for for about 20 years, they came to me after seeing a tribute that was held in Rosemary's honor.

And, everybody-- I mean, Tony Bennett; gosh, Michael Feinstein; Diana Krall, Linda Ronstadt.

I mean, it was a star-studded event and I was also asked to perform a song.

And, I was so-- I just wanted my moment to be very reflective of how I felt about her, and our relationship.

And, it took me a long time to choose the song, but I chose "Blue Skies", which she used to sing to my son.

- Mm!

- And, she had put it on a cassette tape for him to always have Grammy singing when he needed her.

- Aw!

- So, I told the story.

We played a little bit of the song.

And then, I sang "Blue Skies" as a loving tribute to that grandmother love, that I just was talking to you about.

♪ Nothing but blue ♪ ♪ Skies ♪ - [Rosemary] Big finish!

♪ From now on!

♪ (laughter) (audience applauding) (upbeat jazzy piano music) ♪ Blue skies ♪ ♪ Smilin' at me ♪ ♪ Nothin' but blue skies ♪ ♪ Do I see ♪ ♪ ♪ Blue birds ♪ ♪ Singin' a song ♪ ♪ Nothin' but blue birds ♪ ♪ All day long.

♪ And, Concord Jazz execs came to me very shortly after that saying, 'would you do a CD?'

Not of her hits, 'cause Bette Midler had already done that.

- Oh?

- Were she did a tribute to Rosemary; where she did "Come On-a My House", and "Mambo Italiano", and all the big hits.

- Yeah.

- And they were not interested, nor would I have been in me doing something like that.

But, of personal stories via the liner notes and in concert, and then songs handpicked to be able to tell those stories.

So, it was such a labor of love.

And, I opened the very first time that show in New York where she used to play, there, in the city, at Feinstein's.

So, that was the beginning of that show, and also my introduction to people that I could be a part of the American Songbook, and that I could do this music.

I wasn't just a one-hit wonder pop singer, but I could take on this very beloved American Songbook and be able to put my spin on it in a valid way.

- Right.

Now, I just have to ask before--, I wanna talk about America's Songbook and the songs you performed, but was "White Christmas" anywhere in any of your performances?

Of course, she's famous for, from White Christmas?

- Well?

I'll tell you what you might not know.

I don't know in your research if you saw any of this, but Rosemary used to do a Christmas concert tour for many years, called Rosemary Clooney's White Christmas Party, and she took a lot of the music from the movie, and then other Christmas music.

And it was usually a big orchestra, and choirs from the different cities where she performed would also participate, including a children's choir that would come and do a number or two of their own.

And then, Rosemary would get on the stage with them and ask them questions, and just have the audience in stitches at the kids' answers!

'What did your parents tell you not to do on the stage?'

And-!

(laughing) 'And, what do you absolutely have to have for Christmas?'

And, you just could never plan the little priceless gems that would come out of a six-year-old's mouth!

(laughing) And, she-- it became tiring for her to do that show every year, and she asked me to join in, and take kind of half the duties of it, which I was absolutely overjoyed to do.

And, once we decided we were going to share the responsibility of this concert tour each year, we also decided it made perfect sense to bring the kids and put them in the act and make it- - Oh!

- a real family show!

So, my twins went on stage dressed in similar outfits to Rosemary and Vera-Ellen, and did "Sisters" with her on the stage.

- Yeah.

Nice!

- My son read the narrative from "A Charlie Brown Christmas" as a little kind of pageant unfolded with the kids choir.

And, my youngest, Tessa, started at three years old, and she would pick a song every year, and they'd have an arrangement done, and she'd come sing with Rosemary!

(laughing) - Wow!

- So, we-- yeah.

And the show always ended with "White Christmas."

- Ah.

Nice.

- So, that was a joy for all of us, and priceless memories traveling all over the country doing that show for several years.

- Okay.

So, let's talk a little bit about songs from the Great American Songbook.

That's a pretty big book, right?

[Debby chuckles] - Yes!

- So, where do you lean?

When we talk America's Songbook, is it the '40s, '50s, '60s, and the '70s?

Or, are '70s not in there?

Where do you go when you wanna perform from that songbook?

- I think it's, for me, expanding.

I think I gravitated to more '40s and '50s songs in the beginning, but I-- it's America's Songbook.

So, it has to keep growing - Right.

- and expanding, and songs that have become forever in the memory of American history and music.

So, like in my show recently- I mean this isn't a current song, but it's more current than what you think of when you think American Songbook- I do Leon Russell's "A Song for You", and I think that has become a standard!

And, a lot of people think because it was a popular recording also by Donny Hathaway that it's his song, but Leon Russell wrote it.

I don't know if you're even familiar.

- [Lillian] I'm not!

- Off hand.

- Can you hum a few bars?

I'm just kidding!

(laughing) - You might know Karen Carpenter's version of it, but: (Debby sings) ♪ I've been so many places ♪ ♪ in my life and times.

♪ ♪ I've sung a lot of songs ♪ ♪ I've made some bad rhymes ♪ ♪ But, singing this song for you ♪ You know?

Does that sound-?

- It sounds like a Karen Carpenter-?

- Yes!

- I might know it from Karen Carpenter.

That sounds familiar.

Okay, lovely.

And, thank you for doing that!

- And, some of the Carpenter's songs I think are really part of the American Songbook.

- Agreed.

Yeah.

- So, it's just-- to me, it's all about "a good song is a good song", and it doesn't matter how old it is, or how new it is.

If it's a good song it can be sung in many different ways, and translated, and interpreted differently.

And, if it's some kind of gimmicky little thing it can maybe only be done one way, and it has its time, and it sort of fades.

- Yeah.

- But, the songs that last, that really connect at a heart level, I think, with people, are the ones I'm interested in.

- [Lillian] Alright.

Well, let's talk about "Swing This."

What's going on in the show of "Swing This?"

- Well after I did the Reflections of Rosemary show, in some version or another for several years, I loved doing it, but it was a bittersweet kind of theme.

We'd lost Rosemary, and I was paying tribute to her, and I knew I wanted to do the American Songbook songs for my next show, but I wanted it to be very uplifting and fun.

I just wanted it to be fun.

And, I was taking a little retreat by myself.

And so, it's sort of my time to just get still and decide 'what does the next year look like?'

And, kind of be really reflective.

And, I was there for a birthday for a couple of nights.

And there, was a party down below with live music, and it was like, horn-driven, exciting.

It made me think of Las Vegas.

- Hm!

- And, all the music that I had loved hearing in the showrooms in Vegas as a young girl when my dad was headlining there.

And, I thought, that's-- every time I hear music like you would hear from a Vegas showroom, it makes me happy!

I love the energy of it.

I love the images of Rat Pack, and glamour, and glitz, and all of that, and that's what I want this next show to be.

And so, I talked to my manager, and I talked to my agents, and my wonderful musical director who has since passed away, who did all the beautiful arrangements for the "Swing This" show.

His name was John Otto, and he was a brilliant arranger, and conductor, and musical director, for both Rosemary and for me.

- Wow.

- And, Michael Feinstein and many others.

Brilliant talent, and a huge loss.

But, he just-- I don't know.

I think he did some of his best work on, and then loved the project, we both loved doing it together.

And again, it's very story-driven, like Rosemary's show was, of images and things that I remember from being in Las Vegas when I was eight years old, was the first time I went there.

And then, going back at 13 when my dad would have one of each of his four daughters come and spend a week just daddy-daughter, one-on-one.

- [Lillian] Oh, how nice.

- Like, stories of meeting Barbara Streisand.

I have stories of meeting Elvis Presley, and then stories of eventually getting to work with Sammy Davis Jr., and Frank Sinatra, and growing up with Dean Martin's daughter.

And, stories that pertain to my own life but also could help me then infuse with great songs that you would have heard in Las Vegas in the '60s, primarily, and I wear beautiful dresses, and-!

- Which you look fabulous in!

That red dress that you're wearing for that is stunning and you look great.

- Thank you.

That was Rosemary's dress!

That's on the cover of the CD.

We found it in a suitcase long after she was gone, and it was just such a great thing to be able to take pictures at a photo session then go, 'this is the cover of the new album!'

(upbeat orchestral music) ♪ Got the sweet lips to kiss me goodnight ♪ ♪ From this moment on ♪ ♪ You and I, babe ♪ ♪ We'll be riding high, babe ♪ ♪ Every care is gone ♪ ♪ From this ♪ ♪ Moment ♪ ♪ This moment ♪ ♪ This moment ♪ ♪ On...!

♪ - So, you have performed, and you were saying some of the names that you've been around, or grew up around.

But, you performed with so many classic and iconic celebrities, including Bob Hope, the Osmonds, John Denver, Frank Sinatra, Andy Williams, Perry Como, Glen Campbell, Gene Kelly, Dionne Warwick, and the list goes on, and on, and on.

I'm wondering if you could share maybe one or two stories that you might have with any of those that you feel comfortable sharing?

- Oh wow.

I mean, you say it and it reminds me, 'yeah, I did that!'

(laughs) I did that!

I haven't thought of that in a long time.

Every name you mentioned, for me, it was just beyond delightful to work with any of those people that I looked up to and adored.

John Denver was really special for me because the way I got to work with John was he was shooting a television special in Australia.

- Oh!

- And so, they flew me.

I was just-- I mean, it was just right after "You Light Up My Life."

I was brand new on the scene, didn't know much of what I was doing, and now I'm flying to Australia to be in a television special.

I can't think of her name right now, but Robby Benson, if you remember the actor Robby Benson was in the show.

- Of course, I do!

Yes.

- Oh, Suzanne Saint James.

- [Lillian] Susan Saint James, yes.

- And John, and me, and we traveled all over Australia, including a place called Lizard Island where there were six- to eight-feet lizards just crawling around our hotel rooms!

(laughing) We snorkeled on the Great Barrier Reef.

We did parasailing in Sydney Harbor, and climbed Ayers Rock, and we did all these exciting things, plus we sang a lot of songs together!

and it was so exciting that I really thought- it was before I was married- and I thought, 'I would like to come back here for a honeymoon.'

And, Gabri and I have never made it back to Australia, but it's a dream of ours to go back and visit Australia.

- It's one of my favorite countries.

I've been a couple of times, and the people love Americans.

So, they're so warmhearted, and their lovely accents, and it's just a-- it's very much especially on one of the coasts, very much like California, which is lovely.

That's why we choose to live here, and it's lovely.

Well?

The story I was wanting you to tell-!

- Okay!

- Was because I so related to it.

It was when you were first, were pregnant, with, I'm not sure which child, maybe your first child.

And you were at Frank Sinatra's, and you threw up in the bushes.

Because (Debby laughs) when I was at Hearst Castle, I was-- I threw up about every hour and a half to two hours, and I threw up in the garden in several bushes at Hearst Castle, so when you were sharing that story-?

So, share with our audience that story!

- Well?

Anybody who's had morning sickness can identify with this story, and I was pregnant with our first, Jordan.

And, Frank Sinatra and Barbara, his wife, had every year celebrities come and stay at the compound in Palm Desert where they lived.

A huge property walled off that had his beautiful home and then several guest houses, each one named after one of his albums!

[Lillian chuckles] And, Gabri and I got to stay in "Nice and Easy", at the guest house named "Nice and Easy."

And, every morning while we were there to do this benefit for Children's Hospital, we were invited to a common area by the pool to have breakfast together.

Or, you could eat in your guest house.

Just order something to your guest house, but who doesn't wanna go eat with all the other participating celebrities, and Frank, and his wife?

- Sure!

So, we were walking from the guest house, across a lawn, and the pool, to where everybody was.

And, I started to get really nauseous, and I went, 'Gabri, I'm not gonna make it.

'I'm gonna run back to the room and I'll meet you in a little bit.'

And, I went running to get back to the room but I just knew I'm not even gonna make it inside the guest house.

So, I just ducked into the bushes to just heave my guts out.

And, I hear this electronic sound, and I look up, and a sound-activated security camera is, like, (mimicking electronic humming) and aiming right at me as I'm (mimicking gagging)!

(laughing) So, I figure it's on somebody's footage somewhere!

- With you throwing up in the bushes there, or the flower plant, or whatever it was.

One of the things I love is when I love when a performer, of course, is singing, but tells stories in between.

And, you're a good storyteller, and I know a lot of artists don't like that.

It's not their comfort zone, because they're thinking about their music and what they're doing, so it's not easy.

But, you choose to tell stories during your performances?

- I do.

And-- I don't know.

I would imagine that my strongest influences have been watching my dad on the stage and watching Rosemary, and they both did that.

What I love about both of them as performers is they made the audience so comfortable.

Like you're sitting in a living room, and you're just having a conversation.

You're not-- it's not like this show with a big, kind of, glass-encased separation.

It's, 'hey!

I'm here to sing.

'I'm here to have you get to know me a little bit better.

- Yeah!

- 'And interact.'

I mean, there's nothing greater to me either somebody shouting something out to you, or just seeing somebody just eat up every word, or a tear dripping down, from something that's touched them.

It's the connection that really is the reason that I do this.

It's not to stand up on a stage and say, 'listen to me.

Aren't I great?'

It's, 'let's experience something together.'

And, my dad does that, and Rosemary did that, and my favorite performers over the years, have done that.

Frank Sinatra did that.

- Paul Anka does it.

Dionne Warwick doesn't like doing it.

And she says- I've seen her perform a couple- she goes, 'I know I should be up here telling stories, but I just wanna sing.'

And, I get that, but I feel like when the performer is telling stories either about their children, their husbands, their wives, their life, we're getting that much closer to them, and we leave with that much more feelings for them.

So, that's how I feel, and I just love when performers tell a little bit 'cause I feel like I'm getting that inside scoop, of their life, or their world.

- It's something completely different than you're gonna get by buying an album, too.

You can always hear the music that they put out there.

Some people-- a lot of people, including myself put things in their show that have never been recorded.

But, that's the goal of being able to see a performer live is that you're seeing things that are happening in real time, that aren't gonna happen just that way for anyone else, and the stories are a huge part of it.

(live) And, this next guy I wanna talk about, is not somebody I had the opportunity to work with but I got to know him a little bit because I knew his kids.

So, I am talking about Dean Martin, and I was friends with his beautiful daughter Gina Martin.

And, any day with Gina was a great day in my book, when I was in high school.

'Cause Gina had two older brothers!

(audience laughing) Did she ever!

(Debby laughs) - You have a great smile!

You have a great laugh.

You still sound wonderful.

Is there anything that you wanna do?

Or, things you wanna perform?

Or, is there a project you're sitting on that you wanna get off the ground?

Is there anything on the back of your mind that you're hoping to do?

- There are lots of things that I'm hoping to do!

I would love to, when we can see our way clear, my husband and me, to do another children's book.

- Oh!

- 'Cause now we have grandchildren.

We have a whole different resource, and a whole different sensibility, because we're not the parents now.

We're the ones that just get to take them in, and buy them things!

- [Lillian] Isn't that great?

- Give them food that they don't usually get to eat, and-!

(laughing) All the fun stuff!

And, just adore having grandkids and seeing our kids be parents is such a delight.

So, there's another book or two in us, I think.

So, that!

I would love to do more musical theater.

I would love to originate a role.

I've always played roles that were originated by other people in famous shows, and I would love to have the opportunity to create something to be the first to play a role.

That's one dream.

I-- you mentioned Red Foley, my grandfather, who has a body of work that is really stunning.

I mean, he really did so much for country music, and he has so many great records.

And, I didn't really appreciate him when he was alive 'cause I was too young to know.

- Sure.

- But when I was choosing a song for the Reflections of Rosemary, to tell the story that both Rosemary and I came from country roots, I started listening to his music with fresh ears and going, 'oh, my goodness.

What a talent, and what great songs.'

And my kids were falling in love with it, and I went, 'I have got to do a tribute to my grandfather.'

And, I would love to get famous country music artists, or maybe even people that aren't from country but like the music, that I can show them to do duets with me, and do a beautiful tribute project.

It could be a television special.

I think there should be a documentary of his life.

It's so interesting.

And, I would just love to do this musical tribute.

- Now, I wanna ask you, You did mention your grandchildren, and, you mentioned that your husband cooks, and that he draws.

What are some of the other things you do together with your grandchildren?

Because, I'm like you.

It's different when you're the grandparent and you get to do what you want with them on the time limit, and then give them back, and you go home and sleep!

- Right!

(laughing) - It's so different!

What are some of the things you and your husband and your grandchildren do?

- Well, the pandemic turned out to really be a gift on this front for us, because we had our Sunday dinners already in place.

But we became a bubble with our kids and grandkids, and we weren't seeing anybody else except each other, and we were staying outside, just to be safe.

And so, there were no screens, and we were playing music outside, and singing, and playing games, and just being outside where we were focused so much more on each other than if you come inside and kids run upstairs to play one thing, and we're talking to each other.

Or the TV's on, and not to say that we don't do all of that still, or a game's on and everybody's watching.

Our grandson is way into football, so there was more football than ever in my entire adult life, because of him!

So, I had full charge of a six- and a five-year old for the four days just before this, because my daughter and her husband are in Italy attending one of her best friend's weddings.

So, I have them, and I'm still exhausted!

- Yeah!

- Full-time care and getting waked up at 5:45, and all of that stuff, but we went to the Noah's Ark exhibit at the Skirball.

We bought a Slip-and-Slide with water balloons.

I mean, we got very creative to make it (laughs) a fun time!

Graham, my grandson who's five, made chocolate chip pancakes with Gabri in the kitchen, and I took videos of it.

- Oh, nice!

- Just a really-- special memories forever!

- Debby, thank you so much!

It's been great speaking with you.

- Thank you, great to speak with you, too!

Lots of fun.

- [Lillian] This program was originally produced for 91.9 KVCR-Radio.

♪ ♪ Yeah, the simple things in life.

♪ [whoosh]