Congratulations to Debbie Harry who is celebrating her birthday today !!!
(Photo: Roberta Bayley)
We have filtered out for you some important facts about the woman and the blonde:
1. She was born on July 1, 1945, in Miami Florida as Angela Trimble.
2. At just three months old, she was adopted by Richard and Katherine Harry in New Jersey.
3. At the age of 4 she learned that she was an adopted child. In the 1980s she was able to locate her biological mother, she was a pianist but preferred not to be in touch with Harry.
4. Her biological father was a singer and he was the one who probably wanted to give her up for adoption, since at the time he was married.
5. In high school, Debbie was part of a school choir and also part of the cheerleading team.
6. After graduating from high school, Debbie studied art at a college in New Jersey.
(Image: Harry Papadopoulos)
7. In the late 1960s, after graduating from high school, she moved to the big city of New York to seek her fortune. She has worked as a secretary at the BBC, as a waitress, as a gogo dancer, and even as a Playboy bunny.
8. Her first band was the folk band "The Wind In The Willows" with which she released an album in 1968.
9. She later moved on to a girls' band called "The Stilettos". After a short time, they added guitarist Chris Stein who also became her boyfriend.
10. During this time, Harry was raped in her shared apartment with Stein. The rapist also stole all the guitars that were in the apartment.
11. After the breakup of "The Stilettos" Harry and Stein formed "Angel and the Snake" which later turned into "Blondie".
12. The name Blondie came from the color of Harry's hair, but did you know that her original color is red? Harry dyes her hair from a young age.
13. Blondie has gained momentum in regular appearances at the mythical CBGB club, alongside bands like "Television", "Talking" Heads, and "The Ramones" which even was the opening act for Blondie while still being called "Angel and the Snake".
14. In 1976 Blondie released their first album which was simply called "Blondie". Already then, Harry was revealed as a great performer but also as a songwriter, with 6 of the album's songs written in collaboration with her.
15. At the same time, the band continued to perform in clubs in New York and the surrounding area as Harry became an iconic figure in the punk scene.
16. The band's second album - "Plastic Letters" was a hit outside the US as well, but on the third album "Parallel Lines" Harry and the band already broke out with hits like "Heart of Glass" that made them a worldwide act.
17. The band's next hit - "One Way or Another" was written about a harasser who also threatened Harry with a gun.
18. Debbie and the band continued with the momentum of success on two more albums and in 1980 released the song "Call me", which entered the soundtrack of the movie "American Gigolo" and became a huge hit all over the world.
19. In 1980 Harry and Blondie became rap pioneers with the song "Rapture". Harry and Stein, who were exposed at the time to the hip hop scene in the Bronx, wrote the song that became the first rap-oriented song that reached number one in the US.
20. At that time Harry teamed up with Andy Warhol who released a series of her paintings. In return, she was a guest on his MTV TV show "Andy Warhol's Fifteen Minutes."
21. In 1981, Harry began her solo career with the album "KooKoo". The album cover featuring Debbie with nails nailed to her face has sparked controversy in England.
22. Harry later released four more solo albums, the last of which was from 2007.
23. Her big hit as part of her solo career - "French Kissin 'in the USA", co-written by Chuck Lorre, creator of the series "Big Bang Theory" and "Two and a Half Men".
24. The song "For Your Eyes Only" from the 1982 album "The Hunter" was written by Harry Westin for the James Bond movie of the same name, but was rejected in favor of a song of the same name by Sheena Easton.
(Photo: Private Stock Records)
25. This was the band's last album released until the reunion in 1997. The break the band took was due in part to a rare illness of Stein.
26. Harry and Stein continued to be a couple until 1989 when they separated, but continued to collaborate on Blondie's albums and Harry's solo albums.
27. In 1997 Blondie reunited with the original lineup and released the successful album "No Exit".
28. That same year the band recorded a song for the Iggy Pop tribute album under the name "Adolph's Dog". The choice of the name came in response to fans spreading rumors that the name Blondi was chosen after the dog of Adolf Hitler Blondi (note the change in spelling).
29. In 1999 Harry broke a Guinness record when she became the oldest singer to put a song at number one on the UK charts. It was with the song "Maria" from "No Exit".
30. Harry released 11 studio albums along with Blondie, the latest from 2017 was called "Pollinator" in which Debbie and her friends collaborated with artists like Sia, Dave Sitek from "TV" on the Radio, and Johnny Marr from The Smiths.
31. In 2002, Harry contributed her voice to the computer game "Grand Theft Auto: Vice City".
32. Harry also has an extensive acting career. She has starred in over 50 films, including "Videodrome," "Hairspray," "New York Stories" and more.
33. Interesting to note that she was also the first choice to play the role of Pris in the iconic film "Blade Runner", but lost to Daryl Hanna.
34. In 2007, Harry was voted one of the 100 most beautiful people over the age of 60 by People magazine.
35. In 2008 she was a guest on the "Out Out Boy" album "Folie à Deux" on the song "West Coast Smoker".