Deborah Voigt grew up in Wheeling, Ill., came of age in Southern California, and became a sensation on the operatic stages of the world. But binge eating and weight problems plagued her all her life until an incident involving a little black dress put the issue front and center in headlines all around the world. In her autobiography, Call Me Debbie: True Confessions of a Down-to-Earth Diva, Voigt recounts the turbulence in her life that contributed to multiple addictions all the while she was becoming an operatic superstar. We revisit a conversation with her about eating, singing, that little black dress, and the weight loss that changed her life and career.

Watch a video of Voigt confronting the little black dress she couldn't fit into.