Blondie

Blondie was a pop sensation, emerging from the New York punk scene with a series of irresistible hit singles accentuated by frontwoman Debbie Harry's overtly sexual Marilyn Monroe persona. A former waitress and Playboy Bunny, Harry became one of the world's most famous pop stars after meeting guitarist Chris Stein. Using the name Blondie, which truckers invariably shouted at Harry in the street, the musicians released a self-titled album in 1976 and hit on a magical, driving pop formula. Their second album, Plastic Letters, featured the hit single "Denis," a cover of an old 1963 record, and the commercial floodgates opened. For the next few years, Blondie dominated the charts with smashes like "Heart of Glass" (1979), "Call Me" (1980), "The Tide Is High" (1980), and "Rapture" (1981), all of which hit Number 1 in America. The band split in 1982, with Harry pursuing a solo career. The bandmates then reunited in 1996 and topped the UK charts again with 1999's "Maria," making Blondie the only American band to have UK chart-toppers in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. The Curse of Blondie was released in 2003, and although the album failed to generate the same buzz as the group's earlier albums, Blondie remained active for the following two decades. Greatest Hits: Sight + Sound appeared in 2005 and cracked the Top 50 in the UK Albums Chart, and the group embarked on a world tour in 2008, celebrating the 30th anniversary of Blondie's third album, Parallel Lines. The following year, the band began working on brand new material for its ninth album, Panic of Girls, which scored a Number 12 position on the UK Indie Charts upon its release in 2011. 2014's Ghost of Download went gold in the UK, while 2017's Pollinator found the band in a collaborative mood, performing songs written by Sia, Charli XCX, and Dev Hynes. Meanwhile, the band continued to tour the world, capturing a performance in Cuba with the live album Blondie: Vivir en la Habana in 2021. While the band recorded a new album, drummer Clem Burke died of cancer on April 6, 2025.