{"id":653176,"date":"2026-05-06T11:17:20","date_gmt":"2026-05-06T11:17:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/653176\/"},"modified":"2026-05-06T11:17:20","modified_gmt":"2026-05-06T11:17:20","slug":"debbie-harry-the-importance-of-blondies-leader-of-the-pack","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/653176\/","title":{"rendered":"Debbie Harry: The importance of Blondie’s leader of the pack"},"content":{"rendered":"

Oh, the nights I have spent desperately back-combing, lipsticking and bra-lessly throwing my legginged limbs around indie discos alongside other similarly gawkish, blunt-fringed Debbie Harry<\/a> wannabes. Her look, her style and her attitude were everything I admired while growing up.<\/p>\n

And even though I eventually (reluctantly) realised I would never quite achieve such illuminating finesse, I can thankfully say she shaped my life in a multitude of other ways. Her fusion of different genres has totally moulded my music collection, and her iconic cool is visible on the covers of so many of my favourite albums \u2013 take PJ Harvey<\/a>\u2019s glampunk stance on the 4-Track Demos artwork, MIA\u2019s Pop Art pout on the front of Kala, and Karen O\u2019s defiant fist punch on Fever To Tell. Without Harry, my CD collection would be a grumpy selection of ashen angst, a box of brutish nothingness.<\/p>\n

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She was the face of the 70s, 80s, of pre-MTV music videos and of Warhol\u2019s iconic prints, but, crucially, behind that classically beautiful face there was one hell of a character. Not one to rely on those Himalayan-proportioned cheekbones, it was Harry\u2019s distortion of stereotypes, her costumes and confrontational use of sexuality, that really defined her as a true artist. At a time when female musicians were either stern and serious or sedate and submissive, Debbie Harry opened the floodgates for frontwomen who could be both extraordinarily sexy and credible.<\/p>\n

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In the 80s, you could see flecks of the Blondie<\/a> frontwoman in Stevie Nicks<\/a>, while Bananarama\u2019s injection of feminism into the glossy mainstream was very Debbie-esque. Without Harry, 90s Britpop would have exclusively been a mass of floppy fringes, sun-shee-ine overbites and egotistic lad rock. There would have been no Sleeper, Elastica, Republica, Kenickie or Garbage<\/a>: Shirley Manson, a huge fan and now friend\/confidante of the star, once welcomed Harry onto the stage as \u201cthe most beautiful girl in any room, in any city, on any planet\u201d.<\/p>\n

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\"Debbie\n<\/p>\n

Debbie Harry in New York, 1978 (Image credit: Goddard Archive\/Alamy)<\/p>\n

The late 90s were ignited by the cartoon playfulness of the likes of Gwen Stefani, snatching the bleach blonde baton from Pammy Anderson and her troop of regressive Baywatch fembots. And who could forget PJ Harvey\u2019s PVC\/crimson-lipsticked era, using her fetishistic stylings as a declaration of empowerment and general shit-hottness. We can thank Debbie for that too. And the most blatant of all Harry homages were clear in the platinum glare of Courtney Love<\/a> and Madonna.<\/p>\n

In the noughties, we reaped the rewards of Debbie\u2019s influence on female frontwomen. Yeah Yeah Yeahs\u2019 Karen O, who exclaimed to Harry during a face-to-face interview in Dazed & Confused, \u201cYou\u2019re so fucking amazing!\u201d, was easily one of the most enigmatic and important stars of that decade. Karen fuses punk attitude with a playful glint in her eye. She is confrontational yet adorable. She is breathtaking to see at the front of the stage, throughout all of her different musical incarnations and costumes. She is clearly indebted to Debbie\u2019s very groundbreaking existence.<\/p>\n

As I look through my record collection, it is smattered with artists who must have been cajoled by Debbie\u2019s devilish defiance. The Scando section is littered with the surreal and veiled kookiness of Fever Ray and Bj\u00f6rk<\/a>, while the elegant swagger of The Cardigans\u2019 Nina Persson is easily traceable.<\/p>\n

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There\u2019s the sexual ambush and New York nastiness of Peaches, Beth Ditto\u2019s molten-hot snarl, Crystal Castles\u2019 Alice Glass with her smoky eyes and atomic punk attitude, MIA\u2019s kaleidoscopic sounds, R\u00f3is\u00edn Murphy\u2019s fashionista disco and theatrical costumes, Allison Mosshart\u2019s rock\u2018n\u2019 roll strut, Florence Welch\u2019s ability to beguile and beseech in a satin gown.<\/p>\n

Then you\u2019ve got your pop heavyweights: Lady Gaga, her sultry raps and her dark roots peeking through a Marilyn bleach, Katy Perry and Nicky Minaj\u2019s bubblegum pinup stylings, Lily Allen\u2019s Ariel falsetto, not to mention the sass of Kylie at her very best. And they\u2019re still coming: Hayley Williams, Sleigh Bells\u2019 Alexis Krauss, Lykke Li, Uffie, Lovefoxxx, Marina & The Diamonds, Santigold, Sia, Charli XCX, Miley Cyrus, Halsey, St. Vincent…<\/p>\n

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\"Debbie\n<\/p>\n

Debbie Harry onstage at the Roundhouse, London, in 2017 (Image credit: Dave J Hogan\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Call me melodramatic, but I believe the music world would be a dried-up, tumbleweed-riddled desert if it weren\u2019t for Debbie Harry. No Riot Grrrls! No gyrating Madonna hips! No Karen O pudding bowls! No butt-naked Beth Ditto! No dresses made out of meat! No Courtney Love Twitter outbursts! No Courtney Love! No fun.<\/p>\n

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She is the most iconic and influential frontwoman ever to have graced our paths. An artist who ensured all Hollywood-esque popstarlets, femmepunks and superstars sparkled in her comet\u2019s tail. She is exhilarating to watch, to listen to, to admire.<\/p>\n

Before Debbie Harry was launched into the mainstream, on one end of the scale, you were smothered by Olivia Newton-John\u2019s tear-soaked pillow as she assured she was \u2018hopelessly devoted to you!\u2019, before Siouxsie Sioux\u2019s mic stand would come hurtling past.<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t quite the eclectic pick \u2018n\u2019 mix we\u2019re exposed to in 2026. You see, not only was Blondie\u2019s trailblazing musical influence paramount to the way music sounds now, but Debbie Harry\u2019s existence was integral in forming the place of the female in popular music as it stands today.<\/p>\n

Whether Debbie Harry\u2019s music is playing or not, she remains ubiquitous on every stage, pressed up against every railing at any venue and most importantly, inside every ecstatically grateful geek\u2019s music collection.<\/p>\n

This original version of this feature appeared in Classic Rock presents Blondie, published in June 2011.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Oh, the nights I have spent desperately back-combing, lipsticking and bra-lessly throwing my legginged limbs around indie discos…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":653177,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[64,63,134,136],"class_list":["post-653176","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-entertainment","tag-music"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/653176","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=653176"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/653176\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/653177"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=653176"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=653176"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=653176"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}