The Bangles star Debbi Peterson is celebrating her 65th birthday – and the ’80s icon is still performing more than four decades after finding fame with the legendary girl group.
The band was responsible for some of the biggest songs of the 1980s, from ‘Manic Monday’ and ‘Walk Like an Egyptian’ to the unforgettable ‘Eternal Flame’.
And more than four decades after the group first found fame, drummer and singer Debbi Peterson looks as youthful as ever as she celebrates her 65th birthday on August 22.
The musician, who co-founded The Bangles with her older sister Vicki Peterson and Susanna Hoffs in Los Angeles in the early ’80s, has largely stayed away from the celebrity spotlight in recent years – but she’s certainly not stepped away from music.
Finding fame with The Bangles
Born in Los Angeles in 1961, Debbi began playing drums at a young age and had just one formal lesson, instead learning much of her craft by watching other musicians.
© Christian RoseShe and Vicki eventually teamed up with Susanna after the singer responded to an advertisement, with the group initially performing under the name The Bangs before becoming The Bangles.
Their breakthrough came with their 1984 debut album All Over the Place, but it was 1986’s Different Light that sent them stratospheric.
© Getty ImagesThe album featured ‘Manic Monday’, which was written by Prince, as well as ‘Walk Like an Egyptian’, and was followed two years later by Everything, featuring the chart-topping ballad ‘Eternal Flame’.
The Bangles went on to score nine UK Top 40 singles, including three Top 10 hits, before going on hiatus in 1989. They reunited in 2000 and have continued to record and perform together at various points since.
© Getty ImagesMore than just the drummer
While Debbi is best known as the woman behind The Bangles’ drum kit, she was also an important vocalist for the group.
She sang lead on their 1984 cover of ‘Going Down to Liverpool’, as well as the 1989 single ‘Be with You’, and has worked with musicians including Cyndi Lauper, Tom Petty and Elvis Costello over the course of her career.
Debbi has continued making music outside The Bangles too, and in 2025 appeared on The Minus 5’s album Oar On, Penelope!.
© WireImageThe band’s legacy also remains very much alive. An authorised biography, Eternal Flame: The Authorized Biography of The Bangles, was created with access to Debbi, Vicki and Susanna and charts their journey from Los Angeles’ club scene to becoming one of the defining bands of the ’80s.
More than 40 years after that journey began, Debbi is still doing what she loves – and proving that rock ‘n’ roll has no age limit.
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