Tiffany Darwish

Early life and music career

Tiffany was born in 1971 to James Robert Darwish and Janie Wilson, who divorced when she was very young. She grew up in Norwalk, California.

Tiffany began singing around 1975, when she was four years old, and learned the words to the song "Delta Dawn". After the break-up of her family, she moved in with her father, but then she rebelled against his strict Baptist parenting. While attending Leffingwell Christian High School, a group of friends and she took to behaving in a manner which contravened the regulations imposed in their upbringing; she acknowledged this on Celebrity Ghost Stories in 2012.

1980s

In 1981, Tiffany debuted with country music singer Jack Reeves at a country and western venue called Narods in Chino, California. She passed a hat among the crowd afterwards, and collected $235 in what was her first career earnings.

Tiffany was singing at the Palomino Club (North Hollywood) when she was discovered by Hoyt Axton and his mother Mae Axton. Mae took her to sing in Nashville, Tennessee, where she performed at the Ralph Emery Show, singing Juice Newton's "Queen of Hearts" and Tammy Wynette's "Your Good Girl's Gonna Go Bad."

In 1982, Tiffany toured several cities in Alaska. Also that year, she performed on the same bill as Jerry Lee Lewis and George Jones. Until at least 1987, she was managed by George Tobin. Later on, Ronald Kent Surut became her manager.

In 1984, Tiffany's previous manager, George Tobin, signed her to a recording contract after he heard a demonstration tape that she had recorded and again became her manager. In 1985, she appeared on Star Search with Ed McMahon, where she finished in second place overall. In 1986, Tiffany signed a contract that gave Tobin total control over her career. She recorded her first studio album and was signed to an MCA contract. Tiffany's album, Tiffany, was released in 1987, but the first single she released from it, titled "Danny", failed to chart. Following the failure of "Danny", Tobin sent Tiffany on a nationwide tour of shopping malls, titled The Beautiful You: Celebrating The Good Life Shopping Mall Tour '87. The tour kicked off at the Bergen Mall in Paramus, New Jersey. Her second single, a cover of Tommy James & the Shondells' hit, "I Think We're Alone Now," became a number-one hit on the Billboard Hot 100 list, and as of March 2017, it remains her biggest hit.

Soon, Tiffany was vying with fellow pop star Debbie Gibson for space on the covers of teen magazines, including Tiger Beat, Bop, and Teen Beat, as well as on television shows on MTV. Her ballad "Could've Been" also peaked at the No. 1 spot on the Billboard charts in February 1988. Tiffany's modified version of the Beatles' "I Saw Her Standing There," retitled "I Saw Him Standing There," peaked at the number-seven position on the Billboard Hot 100. "Feelings of Forever" also had chart success from the over 4.1 million selling debut. Tiffany also set a record for the youngest female artist to top the Billboard charts with a debut album. Later that year, Tiffany discovered New Kids on the Block and hired them as her opening act for her concert tour.

In 1988, at the peak of her popularity, Tiffany ended up in the middle of a conflict in which Tobin, then still her manager, was embroiled with her mother and her stepfather over control of her career and earnings. This led to a court fight which included an attempt by Tiffany to have herself declared an emancipated minor. This was rejected by the court; however, the judge did allow her to move out of her mother's home due to obvious conflicts, and her grandmother (who supported and sided with Tiffany during the trial) became her temporary guardian. These legal battles took a toll on the singer's career.

In late 1988, Tiffany released her second album, Hold an Old Friend's Hand. The first single "All This Time" made the top 10. Hold an Old Friend's Hand received positive reviews from critics, and immediately went platinum. Later that year, she provided the voice of Judy Jetson on Jetsons: The Movie, which was released in 1990. She also contributed three songs to the soundtrack, including the single "I Always Thought I'd See You Again". Some controversy resulted from the fact that Janet Waldo, who had voiced the character in all previous Jetsons material, had had all of her recorded dialogue in the movie replaced by Tiffany's voice. The replacement was made by Universal, due to Tiffany's international worldwide stardom and household name recognition.

Shortly after her 18th birthday, Tiffany left Tobin's management and signed with Dick Scott and Kim Glover, who managed New Kids on the Block, who had become massively successful (partially in credit to Tiffany's help to launch their career).

1990s

Tiffany's career suffered as musical tastes changed in the early 1990s, swinging away from dance-pop and towards harder-edged rock and rap. This was shown in her third album, the urban-influenced New Inside. It was her first album away from Tobin, and some of her fans felt the new soulful, sultrier Tiffany was a hard sell. New Inside received mixed reviews from critics, but was successful in Japan.

In 1991, she took part in the recording of the song "Voices That Care", which peaked at number 11 on the Billboard Hot 100.

During a brief early-1990s comeback attempt, Tiffany reunited with Tobin, released the album Dreams Never Die, which spawned the number-one single, "If Love is Blind", and top-10 power ballad, "Can't You See" (both of which continued to be played on radio). Tiffany also headlined her own show at the Las Vegas Hilton in the summer of 1993, before breaking with Tobin again.

In 1995, Tiffany moved to Nashville to develop her craft as a songwriter, but she never released any music of that genre until 2011's Rose Tattoo.

2000s

In 2000, Tiffany released the album, The Color of Silence, which received positive reviews from every major music critic and magazine. Billboard pegged it as "one of the best pop albums of the year" and the year's "biggest surprise." Her College Promotional Tour broke attendance records at most tour stops.

Tiffany posed for the April 2002 issue of Playboy, which became one of the highest-selling issues of all time. Tiffany stated in interviews that she had to explain to her then-nine-year-old son that it was no different than posing in Vogue or Elle, except that it showed more. She added years later that while she had no regrets posing in Playboy, she had family members who weren't too happy with her at the time because of how young her son was at the time.

On April 2, 2005, Tiffany was featured on the British TV show Hit Me, Baby, One More Time, winning the first heat and subsequently securing a place in the show's finale. She also appeared on the US version of the show on June 2, 2005, but she lost to hip-hop group Arrested Development. Tiffany performed the Girls Aloud song "Love Machine" on the UK version of the show. In 2006, Girls Aloud returned the favor by covering Tiffany's best-known song, her version of "I Think We're Alone Now," on their greatest hits album The Sound of Girls Aloud.

In May 2005, Tiffany released the album Dust Off and Dance. It was dedicated to her new husband, but recorded as a thank you to her fans (particularly her gay and European fanbase) for reminding her about the fun to be had with her career. The album consisted of Eurodance and Hi-NRG style songs. The singles from Dust Off And Dance, such as "Ride It", "Fly", "Be With U Tonite", "Na Na Na", and "Artificial Girlfriend", all charted on listener-sponsored radio stations that also streamed online, such as WMPH and C895Worldwide. A few of the singles made the Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart.

Tiffany toured with the album, which in September 2006 was nominated for six JPF awards. She won for best dance song of the year for "Be With U Tonite" and best dance CD of the year on November 4, 2006.

In 2007, Tiffany, who had begun to struggle with her weight, was cast for the fifth season of VH1's Celebrity Fit Club. The show premiered on April 22, 2007. During the show, the singer's weight started at 152 lbs and finished with 124 lbs, a difference of 18.4%.

Tiffany and the music video version of "I Think We're Alone Now" were featured in the episode of The Goldbergs titled "The Adam Bomb", as well as in the movie Ted.

Tiffany signed a recording contract with 10 Spot Records, a new division of Water Music Records Group, distributed by Universal Music Group. She released a new album on June 5, 2007, titled Just Me. The album contained all-new material in a singer/songwriter format à la her earlier album The Color of Silence. The first single from the album, "Feels Like Love", was released on May 1, 2007. On April 15, 2007, Tiffany filmed a music video for "Feels Like Love" in Los Angeles.

In early August 2007, the dance single "Higher" began showing up online. On October 2, 2007 (Tiffany's 36th birthday), it debuted on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart as the number-one breakout, her first Billboard chart appearance since 1989. From there, the single climbed the charts to number 19.

In March 2008, she released a limited edition (only 500 copies pressed) album Mimi's Kitchen, full of rare demos from age 3 until the present, was shipped to fans in a personalized package which also included autographed photos.

In late April 2008, a track with the same name as her 2005 dance album Dust off And Dance became available for download on the Internet. The song consisted of Tiffany doing vocals for a dance team called Hydra Productions, and was to be found on their album Liquid. In early January 2009, Tiffany grabbed the number-one spot on the Hot Club Play Breakout charts with this single.

In late July 2008, a new Tiffany dance song, "Just Another Day", was released on CD, having been remixed by Dave Audé. It peaked at number 28 on the US Billboard Dance chart.

2010s

In January 14, 2011, Tiffany released the single "Serpentine" on iTunes. This country song was taken from the soundtrack of the film Mega Python vs. Gatoroid, in which she also starred. Her album Rose Tattoo, released on March 1, 2011, was her first professional foray into country music.

On April 22, 2011, it was announced that Tiffany would be teaming up with fellow 1980s pop music sensation Debbie Gibson for an upcoming summer concert tour titled Journey Through the 80's. When asked what material the pair would perform in the concerts, Tiffany said it would be an 1980s retrospective that, in addition to their own material, would also feature covers by Stevie Nicks, Guns 'N' Roses, and Reba McEntire.

In December 2012, having opened and by then operating a clothing boutique of her own, Tiffany volunteered to appear on TLC's fashion show What Not to Wear.

In January 2014, Tiffany became one of the eight stars competing in season three of Food Network's Rachael vs. Guy: Celebrity Cook-Off. She won an MVP bonus of $2,500 in week one of the competition, and ultimately placed third.

Acting career

Tiffany has made a foray in films and television shows. Her first acting job was providing the voice of Judy Jetson on Jetsons: The Movie, where she replaced Janet Waldo because studio executives thought Tiffany would attract a younger audience. She contributed three songs to the soundtrack, including the main song "You and Me".

In 2002, she appeared on the short-lived sitcom That '80s Show as Candy, an employee of a punk nightclub called Chaos.

In April 2008, Tiffany starred in a national commercial campaign for AT&T titled "Paradise by the GoPhone Light" for AT&T's GoPhone, which featured Meat Loaf. The ad, which parodies his "Paradise by the Dashboard Light", has been released in two versions, an extended music video version and a short commercial edit.

Also in April 2008, Tiffany made a cameo appearance on the situation comedy How I Met Your Mother in the episode "Sandcastles in the Sand", playing herself as a backup singer in the 1980s-inspired music video by Canadian pop star Robin Sparkles, whose previous video "Let's Go To The Mall" was inspired by Tiffany.

Tiffany starred in the 2008 short film The Isolationist, which made the film festival rounds. Her character, Barbara Newman, is a sexually aggressive woman unwilling to let a co-worker enjoy some alone time. In 2009, she completed work on her first feature film, Necrosis, which was released internationally as Blood Snow. Necrosis was a psychological thriller in which she starred alongside James Kyson Lee and George Stults. In the film, she acted out the role of Karen, a fun-loving adrenaline junkie who took matters into her own hands after a blizzard had trapped her friends and her in a cabin, and paranoia got the best of them. Necrosis premiered at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival. Tiffany's former music rival, Debbie Gibson, had her film Mega Shark Versus Giant Octopus premiere at Cannes, as well. Tiffany also starred in a film from The Asylum, the mockbuster Mega Piranha, directed by Eric Forsberg, which also starred Barry Williams. Mega Piranha was the highest-rated Syfy movie of 2011.

Tiffany and Gibson likewise starred in a Syfy original movie Mega Python vs. Gatoroid, which aired January 29, 2011. Featured in the movie was a protracted catfight waged between Tiffany and Gibson.

The 2008 documentary I Think We're Alone Now was about two fans of Tiffany who both claimed to be in love with her, and had been labeled "stalkers" by the media. The program followed them through their lives as they discussed the source of their obsession.

In 2013, she starred in a Miracle Whip commercial "Keep an Open Mouth" alongside Wynonna Judd, Lance Bass, Susan Boyle, The Village People, and other iconic celebrities. The same year, she participated in the Klondike Celebrity Challenge where she was dared to relive her '80s years by singing in a mall.

Personal life

She is of Irish and Native American descent from her maternal side and Syrian and Lebanese descent from her paternal side. Tiffany married makeup artist Bulmaro Garcia in 1992. Their only son, Elijah Garcia, was born on September 17, 1992. They divorced in 2003.

She married British businessman Ben George in 2004.

In 2011, she filmed an episode of the Biography Channel TV series Celebrity Close Calls. On the episode first broadcast July 7, 2013, of the reality TV series Celebrity Wife Swap, she traded places with actress/singer Nia Peeples.