Deborah Ann Harry (born Angela Trimble; July 1, 1945) is an American singer, songwriter and actress, best known as the lead vocalist of the band Blondie. Labelled the "Queen of New Wave" by American Songwriter,Debbie Harry (Queen of New Wave): four of her songs with the band reached on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 between 1979 and 1981.
Born in Miami, Florida, Harry was adopted as an infant and raised in Hawthorne, New Jersey. After college she worked various jobs—as a dancer, a Playboy Bunny, and a secretary (including at the BBC in New York)—before her breakthrough in the music industry. She co-formed Blondie in 1974 in New York City. The band released its eponymous debut studio album in 1976 and released three more studio albums between then and 1979, including Parallel Lines, which spawned six singles, including "Heart of Glass". Their fifth studio album, Autoamerican (1980), produced hits including a cover of "The Tide Is High", and "Rapture", which is considered the first rap song to chart at number one in the United States.
Harry released her debut solo studio album, KooKoo, in 1981. During a Blondie hiatus, she embarked on an acting career, appearing in lead roles in the neo-noir Union City (1980) and in David Cronenberg's body horror film Videodrome (1983). She released her second solo studio album, 1986's Rockbird, and starred in John Waters's cult dance film Hairspray (1988). She released two more solo albums between then and 1993, before returning to film with roles in a John Carpenter-directed segment of the horror film Body Bags (1993), and in the drama Heavy (1995).
Blondie reunited in the late 1990s, releasing No Exit (1999), followed by The Curse of Blondie (2003). Harry continued to appear in independent films throughout the 2000s, including Deuces Wild (2002), My Life Without Me and Spun (2003), and Elegy (2008). With Blondie, she released the group's ninth studio album, Panic of Girls, in 2011, followed by Ghosts of Download (2014). The band's eleventh studio album, 2017's Pollinator, charted at number 4 in the United Kingdom.
Life and career 1945–1965: Early life Harry was born Angela Trimble on July 1, 1945, at the Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami, Florida. At the age of three months, she was adopted and renamed Deborah Ann Harry by Catherine () and Richard Harry, of Hawthorne, New Jersey, later gift shop proprietors in Cooperstown, New York. She is of Scottish ancestry and her biological parents' surnames were Trimble and Mackenzie. Harry learned of her adoption at four years old. At first, she decided against locating her birth parents, but nonetheless, in the late 1980s, located her birth mother, a concert pianist, who chose not to establish a relationship with Harry. In her memoir, she recalls being a tomboy, spending much of her childhood playing in the woods adjacent to her home.
Harry attended Hawthorne High School, where she was voted "Best Looking", graduating in 1963. She graduated from Centenary College in Hackettstown, New Jersey, with an Associate of Arts degree in 1965. Before beginning her singing career, she moved to New York City in the late 1960s, and worked there as a secretary at BBC Radio's office for one year. Later, she was a waitress at Max's Kansas City, a go-go dancer in a discothèque in Union City, New Jersey, and a Playboy Bunny.
1966–1975: Early bands and formation of Blondie
In the late 1960s, Harry began her musical career as a backing singer for the folk rock group The Wind in the Willows, which released an eponymous album in 1968 on Capitol Records.The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia Of Rock & Roll c1983, page 48.
In 1973, Harry joined The Stillettoes with Elda Gentile, Billy O'Connor, Fred Smith, Rosie Ross, and later with Amanda Jones. Shortly thereafter, the band added guitarist Chris Stein, who became her boyfriend.Stevie Chick, Psychic Confusion: The Sonic Youth Story (Omnibus Press, 2007).
In 1974, Harry and Stein left the Stillettoes (along with the band's bassist and drummer) and formed Angel and the Snake with Tish Bellomo and Snooky Bellomo. Shortly thereafter, they changed the name of the band to Blondie, named after the catcall men often directed at Harry after she bleached her hair blonde. The band quickly became regulars at Max's Kansas City and CBGB in New York City.
1976–1981: Global success
With her beauty, "daring" choice of clothing, and two-tone bleached-blonde hair, Harry quickly became a punk icon.
Blondie released their self-titled debut album in 1976; it peaked at in Australia and (later, in 1979) in the United Kingdom. Their second album, Plastic Letters, garnered some success outside the United States, but their third album, Parallel Lines (1978), was a worldwide hit and catapulted the group to international success. It included the global hit single "Heart of Glass". Riding the crest of disco's domination, the track made in the US and sold nearly two million copies. It also reached in the UK and was the second highest-selling single of 1979.
In June 1979, Blondie was featured on the cover of Rolling Stone. Harry's persona, combining cool sexuality with streetwise style, became so closely associated with the group's name that many came to believe "Blondie" was the singer's name. The difference between the individual Harry and the band Blondie was emphasized by a "Blondie is a group" button campaign by the band in 1979. The band's success continued with the release of the platinum-selling Eat to the Beat album (UK , US ) in September.
In August 1980, Harry had a photoshoot with Pop artist Andy Warhol at the Factory. The artist created a small series of four acrylic and silkscreen ink on canvas portraits of Harry in different colors, as well as Polaroids and a small number of rare silver gelatin prints from the shoot. Stein was also present that day to capture Warhol photographing Harry in a series of his own photographs later exhibited in 2013 in London.
The Blondie album Autoamerican (UK , US ) was released in 1980. That year, Blondie had further hits with "Call Me" (American Gigolo soundtrack) (US and UK ), "Atomic" (Eat to the Beat album) (UK ), "The Tide Is High" (US and UK ), and "Rapture" (US ).
During this time, both Harry and Stein befriended graffiti artist Fab Five Freddy, who introduced them to the emerging hip-hop scene in the Bronx. Freddy is mentioned in "Rapture". Through Fab Five Freddy they were also able to connect with Grandmaster Flash who was replaced by Jean-Michel Basquiat in the video. "Rapture" became the first rap-oriented song to reach on the U.S. Billboard charts in 1981. Grandmaster Flash said Harry "opened up so many doors for hip hop" by mentioning him in "Rapture". 1981–1996: Solo work and acting In 1981, Harry issued a press release to clarify that her name was not "Debbie Blondie" or "Debbie Harry" but rather Deborah Harry, though Harry later described her character in the band as being named "Blondie", as in this quote from the No Exit tour book:
Harry began her solo career with the album KooKoo (1981). Produced by Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards of Chic, the album peaked at in the US and in the UK; and was later certified gold in the US and silver in the UK. The album's cover art was controversial, showing Harry apparently with skewers through her face, and many stores refused to stock it. "Backfired", the first single from the album, had a video directed by H.R. Giger (who also created the album's front cover featuring Harry's face with metal skewers through it). The single reached on the Billboard Hot 100, on the Hot Dance Club Songs, and on the UK Singles Chart. "The Jam Was Moving" was lifted as the second single and peaked at No. 82 in the US. In the same year (1981) Harry appeared in the movie "Downtown 81" where Jean-Michel Basquiat played the leading role. Harry plays a bag lady who turns into a princess when Basquiat kisses her.
After a year-long hiatus, Blondie regrouped and released their sixth studio album, The Hunter (1982). The album was not as successful as their previous works, and a world tour was cut short due to slow ticket sales. It was around this time that Stein also fell seriously ill with the rare autoimmune disease pemphigus and Harry' solo output slowed down as she cared for him. His illness, along with declining record sales and internal struggles, caused the band to split up.
In June 1982, Harry contributed backing vocals to the Gun Club's second album, Miami, being credited as 'D.H. Lawrence Jr' while Stein also produced the record and is credited as 'bongos' and 'cover photos/design'. The Gun Club's singer Jeffrey Lee Pierce was an ardent fan, emulating Harry's hairstyle and founding the West Coast Blondie Fan Club, before becoming friends with the band in New York.
Harry released the single "Rush Rush" in 1983 (produced by Giorgio Moroder and taken from the film Scarface), but it was commercially unsuccessful. The same year, Harry had a leading role in David Cronenberg's body horror film Videodrome (1983), playing the sadomasochistic lover of a television producer who uncovers an underground video output of snuff films. Harry received rave reviews for her performance in the film. Critic Howard Hampton noted in a retrospective that Harry "carries herself with the wry, burned-out, but still titillated instincts of a voyager buying a one-way ticket for the outer limits. A vivid, smallish part can either anchor or undo a risky, conceptually spiky film like David Cronenberg's viscerally deranged phantasia: Harry's presence grounds it in acute, self-aware reality."
In July 1985, Harry and Warhol collaborated on a presentation for Commodore at Lincoln Center, and she was given an Amiga 1000 computer. Later that year, she was the first guest on Warhol's MTV show Andy Warhol's Fifteen Minutes. Harry said of her friendship with Warhol, "I think the best thing [Andy Warhol] taught me was always to be open to new things, new music, new style, new bands, new technology and just go with it. Never get mired in the past and always accept new things whatever age you are."
A new single, "Feel the Spin" (taken from the film Krush Groove), was released as a limited 12" single in 1985, which peaked at on the Billboard Dance chart. In 1986, Harry released her second solo album, called Rockbird, which peaked at in the US, and in the UK (where it has been certified gold for 100,000 sales by the BPI). The single "French Kissin' in the USA" gave Harry her only UK solo top 10 hit () and became a moderate US hit (). Other singles released from the album were "Free to Fall" and "In Love with Love", with the latter completely re-recorded in London with hit British producers Stock Aitken Waterman (SAW). The track hit on the US Dance Charts and was released with several remixes. Harry also recorded another track with SAW during the same sessions, "Mind Over Matter", which was never officially released.
In 1987, Harry starred opposite Alec Baldwin in the comedy mystery film Forever, Lulu, playing the title character.
"Liar, Liar" was recorded by Harry for the soundtrack album Married to the Mob in 1988 and was produced by Mike Chapman. It was their first collaboration since the 1982 Blondie album The Hunter. The same year, Harry starred as Velma Von Tussle in John Waters's satirical dance film Hairspray.