See '80s Teen Idol Tiffany Now at 50
The "I Think We're Alone Now" singer has had an interesting life as a former child star.
Tiffany Darwish, better known to 1980s babies as just Tiffany, is best known for her iconic cover of the Tommy Janes and the Shondells song "I Think We're Alone Now." It was a huge hit, spending two weeks in the No. 1 spot on the Billboard charts in 1987. Thanks to that instant hit and a mall tour—back when malls were actually a thing—Tiffany became a household name. Her self-titled debut album produced more great singles, including "Could've Been" and "I Saw You Standing There," but none have endured as long as her famous cover.
The pop star released another album in 1988, Hold an Old Friend's Hand, and while it did go platinum, it didn't see the same success as her first album. She released two more albums throughout the '90s, New Inside and Dreams Never Die, but again, she failed to recreate that same magic fans felt when they crowded mall plazas to hear her sing.
But while Tiffany might be classified as a one-hit wonder to some, she continues to make music, act, and entertain fans on her Instagram page. Here's what else the now 50-year-old has been up to.
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Tiffany tried to emancipate from her mom.
Many might remember that, at the height of her fame, Tiffany tried be legally emancipated from her parents. Her mother and father split early in her life, and her mother admitted during the trial that she was in recovery for alcoholism. Tiffany and her mother settled, as reported by The Los Angeles Times, with Janie Williams remaining her daughter's legal guardian and Tiffany being allowed some financial freedom. The two eventually personally reconciled, before Williams died.
In 2018, when Tiffany was on the reality show I'm a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here!, she explained the situation. "I wanted to go live with my grandmother because when I got famous, going back to that environment was toxic," she said, via news.com.au. "When I got my record deal, my mum was still struggling a little bit so the entertainment industry took advantage of that. My mum needed money, and so she signed a contract."
She's still making music.
After a seven-year hiatus, Tiffany returned with another album in 2000, though it didn't garner any of the same success she enjoyed in the '80s. Since then, she's recorded six more studio albums, including her latest, 2021's Shadows. And though they weren't huge mainstream hits either, Tiffany is still important to the fans who grew up with her. In 2019, she was a part of the nostalgic Mixtape Tour, with New Kids On The Block (who used to open for her in the '80s), Debbie Gibson, Salt-N-Pepa, and Naughty By Nature. She then kicked off her own solo tour, which, according to her official website, was met with "rave reviews."
That tour made headlines for an unfortunate reason in November 2021. As reported by TMZ, Tiffany was on stage in Florida when she started to berate the crowd, cursing at them and telling them to get out. She also mumbled her way through her biggest hit.
She later posted a video apologizing and chalking the strange behavior up to a simple panic attack.
She's acted and done lots of reality TV.
In addition to music, Tiffany has delved into other parts of the entertainment industry. Her first acting job was voicing Judy in Jetsons: The Movie in 1990. Around the start of the 2010s, she appeared in a handful of Syfy TV movies, including Mega Piranha. She's also appeared on a handful of reality shows, such as Celebrity Fit Club, What Not to Wear, Celebrity Wife Swap, and Hulk Hogan's Celebrity Championship Wrestling. Back in 2002, she posed for Playboy, and she told Billboard 13 years later that she didn't have a single regret about it. "It was a confidence booster," she said, adding that she received more offers for projects after the issue came out.
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She has her own cooking club.
While she's still heavily involved in performing, Tiffany has other projects, too. (Including being the mother of 29-year-old Elijah.) On Instagram, the singer runs a cooking club. She shows off her recipes on social media and then hosts events in which she takes a famous restaurant menu item and "zhuzh's" it up. Given her long career in the public eye, it's just one other way for Tiffany to connect with fans both old and new.
