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'Deborah Ann Harry' (born July 1, 1945, in Miami, Florida) is a Grammy-winning and Golden Globe-nominated musician most famous for being the lead singer for the punk rock/new wave band Blondie. Following her success, she went on to moderate success as a solo artist.
Harry has also enjoyed a modest acting career, with over 30 film roles and several television appearances to her credit.^[1]

Contents

Life and early career

Blondie

Solo albums

Other various musical projects

Acting roles

Current projects

Discography

Albums

Compilations/non-LPs

Singles

Filmography

References

Official sites

Fan sites

Media links

Life and early career

Harry was adopted when she was three months old by a family from Hawthorne, New Jersey, and attended Hawthorne High School, where she graduated in 1963.^[2] Prior to starting her singing career she moved to New York in the late 60's and worked as a secretary at the BBC Radio New York office for one year. Later, she was a waitress, a dancer in Union City, and a Playboy Bunny.^[3]
She began her musical career with a folk rock group, the Wind in the Willows. Harry then joined a girl-group trio, The Stilettos, in the early 1970s. The Stilettos' backup band included her eventual boyfriend and Blondie guitarist, Chris Stein. Harry and Stein formed the band Blondie in the mid 1970s, naming it for the wolf whistle men who often yelled at Harry from passing cars. Blondie quickly became regulars at Max's Kansas City and CBGB's in New York City. After a debut album in 1976, commercial success followed in the late 1970s and early 1980s, first in Australia and Europe, then in the United States.

Blondie

With her two-tone bottle-blonde hair, Debbie Harry quickly became a recognizable icon of punk style. Her look was further popularized by the band's early presence in the music video revolution of the era. The clip for 'Rapture' appeared within the first 24 hours of MTV's launch. Harry's strong stage persona of cool sexuality and streetwise style became so closely associated with the group's name that many came to believe the singer's name to be "Blondie". The difference between the individual Harry and the band Blondie was famously highlighted with a "Blondie is a Group" button campaign by the band in 1979. ^[4] To complicate matters further, Harry sometimes described her character in the band as being named "Blondie", as in this quote from the No Exit tour book:
Through 1976 and 1977, Blondie released their first two LPs to a little success outside the US. However, 1978's ''Parallel Lines'' shot the group to huge international success, led on by the single "Heart of Glass". Several singles followed from the album as did the release of ''Eat to the Beat'' in 1979 and ''Autoamerican'' in 1980. Along the way came several more important singles of the band's career, including "Atomic", "The Tide Is High", "Rapture" and a non LP, #1 single "Call Me".

In 1982 Blondie regrouped and released their sixth studio album ''The Hunter'', which featured the U.S. and UK hit single "Island of Lost Souls" and the minor UK hit "War Child". Blondie launched a North American tour to support the release, but it was cut short when Stein fell ill with the rare genetic disease pemphigus. Immediately afterwards, the band called it quits and announced their split.
The mid 1990s saw the release of Blondie remix albums ''Beautiful'' (in Europe) and ''Remixed Remade Remodeled'' (in the U.S.). New mixes of "Heart of Glass", "Atomic", and "Union City Blue" were released as singles and all made the UK Top 40, while remixes of "Atomic", "Rapture", and "Heart of Glass" had major success on the U.S. dance charts. Then in 1997 Blondie began working together again for the first time in 15 years. Two tracks recorded with TV. Mania (the production duo of Duran Duran members Nick Rhodes and Warren Cuccurullo), "Studio 54" and "Pop Trash Movie" were scheduled to be released on a Blondie compilation entitled ''This Is Blondie''. However, the project and the tracks were shelved as the four original members (Harry, Stein, Clem Burke and Jimmy Destri) embarked on sessions for what would become Blondie's seventh studio album. During this period they released a cover of Iggy Pop's "Ordinary Bummer" on the tribute album ''We Will Fall'' (1997).
After a final tour of Europe with The Jazz Passengers in the summer of 1998, Deborah Harry resumed duties as lead vocalist of Blondie. Prior to the release of ''No Exit'', the band completed a sold out tour of Europe. Dates at London's Lyceum Theatre were recorded by the BBC and aired on national BBC Radio 1. A week prior to the release of ''No Exit'', the lead single "Maria" debuted at number one in the UK, making Harry the oldest female singer to reach No. 1 in the UK, a record she still holds. "Maria" hit #1 in 14 different countries, the top 10 on the US Dance Charts, and Top 15 on the US Adult Top 40 Charts. ''No Exit'' debuted at No.3 in the UK and #17 in the US, where it is very close to gold certification, and Blondie announced dates for a major Arena tour that summer during which they played the Glastonbury Festival and Party in the Park in London. "Nothing Is Real but the Girl" was another UK Top 30 hit, while the title track was released as a single to coincide with further arena dates in November that year.
Harry entered the Guinness World Book of Records in 1999 as the "Oldest Female Singer to Reach No. 1 in the UK Chart" when Blondie went to number one with "Maria" on February 13, 1999 at the age of 53 years and 227 days.^[5]
Tracks culled from dates throughout the 1999 world tour were released as a live album, titled ''Live'' in the U.S. and ''Livid'' in the UK, and released in late 1999 and early 2000 respectively. A ''Blondie Live'' companion DVD was also released, recorded at a show in NYC Town Hall.


Although Blondie commenced recording tracks for the follow-up to ''No Exit'' in 2001, the sessions were besieged with problems including the loss of master tapes after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. In the winter of 2002 Blondie burst back into life with a full scale UK tour. This preceded the release of a new single in summer of 2003 entitled "Good Boys" (a hit across the UK and Europe that autumn, and top 10 on the US Dance Charts the following spring) and the release of Blondie's eighth studio album, the critically acclaimed ''The Curse of Blondie''. Blondie toured throughout 2003 and 2004 completing two further full scale tours of the UK.
A second live album, entitled ''Live By Request'', was released in 2005 along with a companion DVD set. 2005 saw the release of a dual disk CD/DVD of ''The Curse of Blondie'' and a mash-up, "Rapture Riders", which combined their 1981 hit "Rapture" with The Doors' "Riders on the Storm". This track was taken from a Blondie Greatest Hits compilation entitled '' - released with a companion DVD disk and new mixes of "In the Flesh" and "Good Boys".
In the winter of 2005 Blondie toured the UK for the fourth time in as many years. In 2006 they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Around this time Blondie released a new studio track, a cover of the Roxy Music song "More Than This" to promote their "Road Rage" tour.
At the end of 2006 a new mix of "Heart of Glass" became a big club hit in Europe, while Harry released the single "New York New York", a collaboration with Moby. The song debuted on youtube some four weeks before its official release.
In June 2007, Harry delineated the different personas (Blondie the band, her role in the band, and Deborah Harry the singer) in an interview which asked why she played only solo music on the 2007 True Colors Tour: "I've put together a new trio with no Blondie members in it - I really want to make a clear definition between Debbie's solo projects and Blondie - and I hope that the audience can appreciate that and also appreciate this other material." ^[6]

Solo albums

Harry began her solo career with the album ''Koo Koo'' in 1981. The album peaked at #28 in the US and #6 in the UK. "Backfired", the first single from the album, had a video directed by H.R. Giger and climbed to #43 on the Billboard Hot 100, #29 on the Hot Dance Club Play and #32 on the UK Singles Chart. "The Jam Was Moving" was lifted as the second single and peaked at #82 in the US as well as failing to chart in the UK.
In 1986, Harry released her second solo album ''Rockbird'', which peaked at #97 in the US and #32 in the UK. The single "French Kissin' in the USA" brought her into the UK top 10 singles chart and became a moderate US hit. Other singles released from the album were "Free To Fall" and "In Love With Love" which hit #1 on the U.S. Dance Charts and was released with several remixes.
Her next solo venture was the album ''Def, Dumb and Blonde'' in 1989. At this point Harry reverted from "Debbie" to "Deborah" for her professional name. The first single "I Want That Man" was a big hit in Europe, Australia, and on the U.S. Modern Rock Charts. The success propelled the album to #12 on the UK charts. However, the US was less receptive and it peaked at #123. She followed this up with the ballad "Brite Side" and the club hit "Sweet and Low". "Maybe For Sure", a track originally recorded by Blondie for the ''Rock and Rule'' animated film, was the fourth single released from the album in June 1990 to coincide with a UK tour. "Kiss It Better" was also a Top 15 Modern Rock single in the U.S.
From 1989 to 1991 Deborah toured extensively across the world with former Blondie guitarist Chris Stein, Underworld's Karl Hyde, and Blondie Mk2 bassist Leigh Foxx. In July 1991 she played Wembley Stadium with INXS. In 1991 Chrysalis released a "best of" compilation in Europe entitled '', containing hits with Blondie as well as solo hits. The collection reached #3 in the UK album charts. The album also included her duet with Iggy Pop on the Cole Porter song "Well Did You Evah!" from the ''Red Hot and Blue'' AIDS charity album released at the end of 1990.
Deborah Harry's fourth solo album, ''Debravation'', appeared in July 1993. The album's first single was the Baker-produced "I Can See Clearly", which peaked in the UK at #23 and #2 on the U.S. dance charts. This was followed by "Strike Me Pink" in September. Controversy surrounded the latter track's drowning man video, which was banned and subsequent record company promo cancelled. U.S. editions of the album feature two additional tracks recorded with pre-recorded music by REM: "Tear Drops" and "My Last Date (With You)".
In November 1993 Harry toured the UK with Stein, Peter Min, Greta Brinkman and James Murphy. The set list of the Debravation Tour featured an offbeat selection of Harry material including the previously unreleased track "Close Your Eyes" (from 1989) and "Ordinary Bummer" (from the Stein- produced Iggy Pop album ''Zombie Birdhouse''; a track which under the moniker "Adolph's Dog" Blondie would cover in 1997). Tentative plans to record these shows and release them as a double live CD never came to fruition. However, a cover of The Rolling Stones' "Wild Horses" is available as a bootleg. At the end of 1993 Chrysalis released the Blondie rarities collection ''Blonde and Beyond'', which featured the previously unreleased tracks "Scenery" and "Underground Girl". In early 1994 Harry took the ''Debravation'' tour to the U.S.
In 2006 Deborah Harry started work in New York City on tracks for her fifth solo album ''Necessary Evil'' (2007). Working with production duo Super Buddha (who produced the remix of Blondie's "In the Flesh" for the 2005 '', as a cab dispatcher.
She sang "Ghost Riders in the Sky" over the closing credits of Alex Cox's film ''Three Businessmen''.
She played the role of "Elizabeth" in the FMV-based game Double Switch, which was released for the Sega CD (1993), the Sega Saturn, Apple Macintosh, and Windows 95.
She played the lead in the 2005 short film ''I Remember You Now'', directed by Henry S. Miller, and worked with the same director again in his 2007 psychological thriller ''Anamorph''.

Current projects

★ Harry is one of the faces of MAC Cosmetics' Viva Glam VI campaign. The campaign donates every cent of the selling price of their iconic lipstick shades to the MAC AIDS Fund, which helps people living with HIV/AIDS worldwide.

★ European Tour in July 2007 (with Blondie).

★ Solo Album ''Necessary Evil'' with August/September 2007 release on Eleven Seven Music.

Discography

:''See also: Blondie discography''

Albums

Year	Album	Chart positions
		U.S.	UK
1981	''Koo Koo''	28	6
1986	''Rockbird''	97	32
1989	''Def, Dumb and Blonde''	123	12
1993	''Debravation''	—	24
2007	''Necessary Evil''	TBR	TBR

Compilations/non-LPs

★ ''Once More into the Bleach'' (1988)

★ '' (1991)

★ ''Individually Twisted'' (The Jazz Passengers featuring Deborah Harry) (1997)

★ ''Live In Spain'' (The Jazz Passengers featuring Deborah Harry) (1998)

★ ''Deborah Harry Collection'' (1998)

★ ''Most of All - The Best of Deborah Harry'' (1999)

★ ''French Kissin' - The Collection'' (2004)

Singles

Artist	Year	Song	US Hot 100	US Dance	US Modern Rock	UK singles	Album
Debbie Harry	1981	"Backfired"	43	29	-	32	''Koo Koo''
Debbie Harry	1981	"The Jam Was Moving"	82	-	-	-	''Koo Koo''
Debbie Harry	1983	"Rush, Rush"	105	28	-	87	''Scarface'' (Soundtrack)
Debbie Harry	1985	"Feel The Spin"	-	5	-	-	''Krush Groove'' (Soundtrack)
Debbie Harry	1986	"French Kissin' in the USA"	57	-	-	8	''Rockbird''
Debbie Harry	1987	"In Love With Love"	70	1	-	45	''Rockbird''
Debbie Harry	1987	"Free To Fall"	-	-	-	46	''Rockbird''
Debbie Harry	1988	"Liar, Liar"	-	-	14	-	''Married to the Mob'' (Soundtrack)
Deborah Harry	1989	"I Want That Man"	-	-	2	13	''Def, Dumb and Blonde''
Deborah Harry	1989	"Kiss It Better"	-	-	12	-	''Def, Dumb and Blonde''
Deborah Harry	1989	"Brite Side"	-	-	-	59	''Def, Dumb and Blonde''
Deborah Harry	1990	"Sweet and Low"	-	17	-	57	''Def, Dumb and Blonde''
Deborah Harry	1990	"Maybe For Sure"	-	-	-	89	''Def, Dumb and Blonde''
Deborah Harry	1993	"I Can See Clearly"	-	2	-	23	''Debravation''
Deborah Harry	1993	"Strike Me Pink"	-	-	-	46	''Debravation''
Groove Thing featuring Debbie Harry	1997	"Command and Obey"	-	42	-	-	''This Is No Time''
Groove Thing featuring Debbie Harry	1999	"Command and Obey" (Remix)	-	49	-	-	''-''
Moby featuring Debbie Harry	2006	"New York, New York"	-	-	-	43	''Go - The Very Best of Moby''
Debbie Harry	2007	"Two Times Blue"	-	-	-	-	''Necessary Evil''

Filmography

★ ''Unmade Beds'' (1976)

★ ''Deadly Hero'' (1976)

★ ''The Blank Generation'' (1976) (documentary)

★ ''The Foreigner'' (1978)

★ ''Mr. Mike's Mondo Video'' (1979)

★ ''Union City'' (1980)

★ ''Roadie'' (1980)

★ ''New York Beat Movie'' (1981)

★ ''A New Face of Debbie Harry'' (1982) (short subject)

★ ''Rock & Rule'' (1983) (voice)

★ ''Videodrome'' (1983)

★ ''Forever, Lulu'' (1987)

★ ''Satisfaction'' a.k.a. ''Girls of Summer'' (1988)

★ ''Hairspray'' (1988)

★ ''New York Stories'' (1989)

★ '' (1990)

★ ''Double Switch'' (full motion video video game) (1993)

★ ''Dead Beat'' (1994)

★ ''Drop Dead Rock'' (1995)

★ ''Heavy'' (1995)

★ ''Wigstock: The Movie'' (1995) (documentary)

★ ''Sandman'' (1996) (short subject)

★ ''Cop Land'' (1997)

★ ''Six Ways to Sunday'' (1997)

★ ''Who Is Harry Smith?'' (1998) (documentary)

★ ''Joe's Day'' (1998)

★ ''Zoo'' (1999)

★ ''Red Lipstick'' (2000)

★ ''The Fluffer'' (2001)

★ ''Deuces Wild'' (2002)

★ ''Spun'' (2002)

★ ''Try Seventeen'' (2002)

★ '' (2003) (documentary)

★ ''My Life Without Me'' (2003)

★ ''A Good Night to Die'' (2003)

★ ''Ghostlight'' (2003)

★ ''The Tulse Luper Suitcases, Part 1: The Moab Story'' (2003)

★ ''Mayor of the Sunset Strip'' (2003) (documentary)

★ ''Ramones Raw'' (2004) (documentary)

★ ''Picture This: Blondie and Debbie Harry'' (2004) (documentary)

★ ''Honey Trap'' (2005) (short subject)

★ ''Kiki and Herb Reloaded'' (2005) (documentary)

★ ''All We Are Saying'' (2005) (documentary)

★ ''Patch'' (2005) (short subject)

★ ''Face Addict'' (2005) (documentary)

★ ''I Remember You Now...'' (2005) (short subject)
Upcoming:

★ ''Full Grown Men'' (2006)

★ ''Anamorph'' (2007)

★ ''House of Boys''

★ ''Elegy (film)'' (2007)

References

1. {{cite web|url=http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001323/
2. Rohan, Virginia. "North Jersey-bred and talented too", ''The Record (Bergen County)'', June 18, 2007. Accessed June 25, 2007. "Debbie Harry: Class of 1963, Hawthorne High School"
3. Does Blondie Really Have More Fans?
4. More Males Per Oxide
5. 2004 Guinness World Book of Records (paper) (in English), p. 18. ISBN 0-85112-180-2. "Humans" chapter.
6. Three questions with Debbie Harry...
7. http://jackiebeatrules.com/blog/?page_id=13
8. http://www.rainbownetwork.com/Music/detail.asp?iData=20714&iCat=111&iChannel=17&nChannel=Music

Official sites

★ www.debbie-harry.net, Official Deborah Harry Web Site

★ www.deborahharry.com, Official Deborah Harry Web Site

★ www.tikilab.com, Official Deborah Harry Forum at Tiki LAB

★ www.dhbis.com, Official Deborah Harry & Blondie Mailing List

★ www.myspace.com/deborahharry_dot_com, Official Deborah Harry Web Site MySpace page

★ www.myspace.com/debbieharry, 10th Street Entertainment (Management) Debbie Harry MySpace page

★ www.blondie.net/deborah_harry.shtml, Deborah Harry's personal blog on official Blondie site

Fan sites

★ www.recmod.com, comprehensive Deborah Harry and Blondie discography

★ www.bobsamerica.com/blondie, long running Blondie fanzine

★ www.rip-her-to-shreds.com, Blondie fan site including extensive press and memorabilia sections

★ www.deborah-harry.com, Deborah Harry fan site with lots of media

★ www.blondieforum.com, a friendly Deborah Harry and Blondie fan forum

★ www.debbieharry.net, information on the Debbie Harry Collector's Society, including the defunct "Fan Mail" fanzine

★ members.aol.com/Dblswitch/DH.html, Deborah Harry tribute by former tour manger

★ blondie_retrofanclub.tripod.com, Extensive collection of old Blondie fan club memorabilia

★ www.rockgirls.com.br/blondiebrasil, Brazilian Blondie fan site

★ page.freett.com/sundaygirl, Japanese Blondie fan site

Media links

★

★ Rock and Roll Hall of Fame entry

★ Blondie at Rolling Stone

★ UnRated Magazine: 2006 Blondie Live Review