{"id":551781,"date":"2026-03-29T05:31:13","date_gmt":"2026-03-29T05:31:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/551781\/"},"modified":"2026-03-29T05:31:13","modified_gmt":"2026-03-29T05:31:13","slug":"on-the-charts-45-years-ago-blondie-kicked-off-a-two-week-run-with-the-first-ever-no-1-hit-to-feature-rap-vocals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/551781\/","title":{"rendered":"On the Charts 45 Years Ago, Blondie Kicked off a Two-Week Run With the First-Ever No. 1 Hit to Feature Rap Vocals"},"content":{"rendered":"

In 1974, vocalist Debbie Harry and guitarist Chris Stein formed the new wave band Blondie in New York City. Initially enjoying success on the U.S. underground music scene, Blondie broke into the mainstream in 1978 with their third studio album, Parallel Lines. The next two years brought a string of four No. 1 hits, each one practically unrecognizable<\/a> from the last. On this day (March 28) in 1981, Debbie Harry & Co. launched a two-week run atop the Hot 100 with \u201cRapture\u201d. Melding new wave, disco, and hip-hop, \u201cRapture\u201d also stood out for its use of rap vocals\u2014the first-ever U.S. No. 1 hit to do so.<\/p>\n

Blondie Paid Homage to These Hip-Hop Legends in \u201cRapture\u201d<\/p>\n

While Blondie certainly did not invent rap music, as some assert, the group was among the first to shine a spotlight on it. \u201cRapture\u201d was a surreal marriage of rap and new wave, with some sci-fi imagery sprinkled in for good measure.<\/p>\n

One night in 1978, Debbie Harry and Chris Stein joined their friend Fred Brathwaite\u2014better known as Brooklyn hip-hop pioneer Fab 5 Freddy\u2014at a rap event in the Bronx. Impressed by the artists\u2019 energy and flow, they attended a few more such events before deciding to combine what they\u2019d heard with the booming disco subgenre.<\/p>\n

Trying her hand at rapping, Harry name-checked both Brathwaite (Fab 5 Freddy told me, \u2018Everybody\u2019s fly) and another New York hip-hop fixture, Grandmaster Flash (Flash is fast, Flash is cool).<\/p>\n

[RELATED: Blondie\u2019s Debbie Harry and Chris Stein Share New Details About Next Album and if They\u2019ll Tour Again]<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t honestly say that \u2018Rapture\u2019 is a real rap,\u201d Harry, now 80, said in 2019<\/a>. \u201cBut it\u2019s more of an homage to it\u2026 There were quite a few things that were recorded by then, but never in the charts. And so we sort of broke the ice, which I\u2019m very proud of.\u201d<\/p>\n

Blondie released \u201cRapture\u201d as the second single from their fifth studio album Autoamerican. It followed \u201cThe Tide Is High\u201d, also a No. 1 hit.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u201cWhen we gave the album to the record company, they basically said they didn\u2019t hear any hits,\u201d drummer Clem Burke later recalled.<\/a> \u201cAnd that was their quote: \u2018We don\u2019t hear a single\u2019\u201d.\u00a0It had two number ones! And both were very innovative as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

Featured image by Al Levine\/NBC\/NBCU Photo Bank<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In 1974, vocalist Debbie Harry and guitarist Chris Stein formed the new wave band Blondie in New York…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":551782,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[53],"tags":[20278,39362,88,216,55310,2156],"class_list":["post-551781","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-1980s","tag-blondie","tag-entertainment","tag-music","tag-rap-music","tag-rock-music"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/551781","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=551781"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/551781\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/551782"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=551781"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=551781"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=551781"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}