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Debbie Harry

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Debbie Harry is an American singer, songwriter and actress, best known as the lead singer of Blondie. She was born in Miami in 1945 and grew up in Hawthorne, New Jersey. Before her breakthrough she worked as a dancer, a Playboy Bunny and a secretary, including a spell at the BBC in New York. In the late 1960s she was a backing singer in the folk rock group The Wind in the Willows, and in 1973 she joined The Stillettoes, where she met Chris Stein. In 1974 the two of them formed Blondie in New York.

Music and breakthrough

Blondie released their debut album in 1976. With Parallel Lines in 1978 the group became known worldwide. Four of the band's songs reached number one on the US Hot 100 between 1979 and 1981. With her bleached hair, daring clothes and tough image, Harry became a punk icon and the face of new wave. Her image was so closely tied to the group that many people thought Blondie was her own name. In 1981 her first solo album, KooKoo, followed, and later Rockbird in 1986 and Debravation in 1993. She also acted in films, such as David Cronenberg's Videodrome from 1983. Blondie reunited in the late 1990s and released No Exit, among other albums.

Influence

Harry thus became one of the faces of new wave and showed how a female singer could embody a band.

Listening

Listening tip. Listen to Heart of Glass from Parallel Lines. Notice how the beat and the vocals together sound cool and danceable, and how little this resembles classic punk.

Discography

Studio albums

Categories: Artists