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Happy Birthday to Debbie Harry who hits 65-years-old today. Deborah Ann Harry was born on July 1, 1945 and grew up in Hawthorne, New Jersey with her adoptive parents. Harry became an iconic figure in the late 1970s as the lead singer of Blondie.

Debbie Harry was already 30 by the time Blondie was formed in the mid-1970s. She had begun her musical career several years before as a member of the folk rock group The Wind in the Willows. She then moved moved on to the girl-group trio The Stilettos, which featured future Blondie guitarist Chris Stein as one of the backup musicians.

Debbie Harry and Blondie

Blondie was formed in 1975 by Debbie Harry and Chris Stein and became a pioneer of the American new wave and punk scenes before achieving more mainstream success later in the decade.

The first Blondie album, titled simply “Blondie,” was released in 1976 and had limited success. The second, released in 1978, was “Plastic Letters, which attracted little attention in the US, but did well in Europe, hitting number 10 and number nine on the UK and German charts, respectively.

Blondie’s third album, “Parallel Lines,” also released in 1978, is the band’s most well known and most commercially successful album. “Parallel Lines” hit number one in the UK and number six in the US, and featured the smash hit single “Heart of Glass,” as well as “Hanging on the Telephone,” “Sunday Girl” and “One Way or Another.” This critically acclaimed album is generally regarded as one of the most important releases of the period.

Blondie – “One Way or Another”

“Parallel Lines” was followed by “Eat to the Beat” in 1979 and “Autoamerican” in 1980, and three US number one singles with “The Tide is High,” “Rapture” and “Call Me.” The latter was Billboard’s number one song of 1980 and featured on the soundtrack of the movie American Gigolo.

Blondie – “The Tide is High”

Blondie were on tour promoting their sixth studio album “The Hunter” in 1981 when Chris Stein fell ill with a rare autoimmune disease. The band split up shortly after and wouldn’t regroup until 1997. Their seventh studio album, “No Exit,” was released in 1999 and the lead single from the album, “Maria,” hit number one on the UK charts. The album hit number three in the UK and number 18 in the US.

Blondie – “Maria”

Since “No Exit,” the band has embarked on several successful tours and released one studio album, “The Curse of Blondie” (2003) and two live albums, “Livid” (2000) and “Live By Request” (2004).

Debbie Harry is about to conclude her first UK tour for 12 years with Blondie, which included an appearance at the Isle of Wight Festival on June 12. The band will commence a US tour on August 4 at the Fillmore in San Fransisco.

Click here for Blondie concert ticket information

Debbie Harry – solo work and collaborations

Debbie will forever be associated with Blondie and has done her best work with the band, but she has also had some success as a solo artist. Her first and biggest solo album, “Koo Koo” (1981) hit number six in the UK and number 23 in the US. This was followed by “Rockbird” (1986), “Def, Dumb and Blonde” (1989), “Debravation” (1993) and “Necessary Evil” (2007). These albums didn’t fare well in the US, but did a little better in the UK. “Rockbird” also spawned the single “French Kissin’ in the USA,” which hit the top 10 in several countries, including number four in Australia and number eight in the UK, but only made number 57 in the US. Blondie and Debbie Harry have generally been better appreciated outside the US it seems.

Debbie Harry – “French Kissin’ in the USA”

As well as the solo work, Debbie Harry has also been involved with a number of collaborations, including with Giorgio Moroder on the song “Rush Rush” in 1983, two tracks on the Talking Heads album “No Talking, Just Head” in 1996, and a four-year association with The Jazz Passengers from 1994 to 1998.

Debbie Harry has also appeared in over thirty films, including David Kronenburg’s “Videodrome” in 1983.

Happy Birthday Debbie Harry.

Recommended releases

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Blondie – "Parallel Lines" CD	Buy Now	Buy Now	Buy Now
"Blondie Greatest Hits" CD & DVD	Buy Now	Buy Now	Buy Now