Blondie

Blondie is a US rock band from New York, formed in 1974 by singer Deborah Harry and guitarist Chris Stein. The group is active from 1974 to the present and is associated with disco, new wave, pop, pop rock, power pop and punk. Its sound develops in the New York club scene, including CBGB, and it becomes closely linked with the early American new wave and punk movements.

Early line-up and first releases

The original line-up includes Deborah Harry on vocals, Chris Stein on guitar and bass, Clem Burke on drums and percussion, Jimmy Destri on keyboards, and Gary Valentine on bass and guitar. The band first performs under the name Angel and the Snakes before adopting the name Blondie, which comes from remarks made to Harry about her blond hair.

Blondie releases its first album, Blondie, in 1976. Gary Valentine leaves later that year, and the group continues as a four-piece for a period, recording Plastic Letters and reaching wider airplay with “Denis”. The band’s early work keeps a clear connection to punk while also drawing on older pop and dance styles, including Phil Spector’s “wall of sound” approach.

Breakthrough and chart success

Frank Infante joins in 1977, having already played guitar on one track from Plastic Letters. Nigel Harrison also joins, making the group a six-piece for the first time. In 1978, Blondie releases Parallel Lines, the album that brings international success. It includes “Heart of Glass”, “Sunday Girl”, “Hanging on the Telephone” and “One Way or Another”. “Heart of Glass” is a disco-influenced single that becomes a number one hit and attracts some controversy among fans of the band’s punk roots.

The band follows with Eat to the Beat in 1979, Autoamerican in 1980 and The Hunter in 1982. Autoamerican includes the number one singles “The Tide Is High” and “Rapture”. Blondie also records “Call Me” for the film American Gigolo, and the song becomes another number one single. The band sells over 40 million records worldwide.

Split and solo work

Health problems for Stein, falling sales and tension within the group lead to a split in 1982. After that, Harry continues in acting and music, while Burke plays and records with the Eurythmics. Stein starts the record label Animal Records. Destri releases a solo album, Heart On A Wall, and Harry releases Koo Koo in 1981.

Reunion and later albums

Reformation plans begin in 1997 with Harry, Stein, Destri, Burke, Valentine and Harrison. Infante is not invited back. Valentine and Harrison are later replaced by Paul Carbonara on guitar and Leigh Foxx on bass. Blondie releases No Exit in 1998, which does well in the US and UK charts and includes the number one hit “Maria”.

The Curse of Blondie follows in 2003 and includes the dance track “Good Boys”. Destri stops touring in 2004 and is replaced first by Kevin Patrick, then by Matt Katz-Bohen in 2008. The group performs at its Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction in 2006, the same year it tours as support for The New Cars on the Road Rage Tour.

2010s and 2020s

Blondie tours Europe in 2007 and later stages a world tour to mark the 30th anniversary of Parallel Lines. In 2009 the band tours North America with Pat Benatar and The Donnas, then records its ninth studio album in Woodstock, New York with producer Jeff Saltzman. The group releases “We Three Kings” in 2009 and begins the Endangered Species Tour in 2010, with set lists that include older songs and new material from Panic of Girls.

In 2017 Blondie releases Pollinator, with the single “Long Time”. In 2021 it releases the short film and soundtrack EP Vivir en la Habana, along with an alternate version of “Rapture” titled “Yuletide Throwdown” featuring Fab 5 Freddy. In 2022 the band releases the Sunday Girl EP, containing an unreleased demo, a live version and the French version of the song. It also tours the UK with Johnny Marr and the US with The Damned on the “Against the Odds Tour”, while Chris Stein does not attend because of health problems. The band also announces an archival box set, Against the Odds: 1974–1982, begins work on its twelfth studio album, and remasters its music videos in HD.