We Help You Hire, Book and Produce a Blondie Performance
Hire Blondie for Your Event
Celebrity Direct Inc. will help you select, book and hire Blondie to perform at your corporate event, non-profit event or private performance.
We are always uniquely positioned as your advocate throughout the hiring process and we won’t let you overpay.
Contact us for availability, price and other production details at:
212-521-4115 Tell Us About Your Event
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Blondie Songs
- “Call Me”
- “Maria”
- “Heart of Glass”
- “Rapture”
- “Dreaming”
- “Tide Is High”
- “Sunday Girl”
- “Atomic”
- “One Way Or Another”
- “Hanging On The Telephone”
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Blondie Bio
Blondie started as an ironic update of trashy ’60s pop. By the end of the ’70s it was far and away the most adventurous and commercially successful survivor of the New York punk scene, with three platinum albums (Parallel Lines, Eat to the Beat, and Autoamerican) and an international recognition factor for bleached-blond lead singer Deborah Harry, new wave’s answer to Marilyn Monroe. Blondie’s repertoire, most of it written by Harry and boyfriend Chris Stein, was always on the melodic side of punk and grew increasingly eclectic, trademarked mostly by Harry’s deadpan delivery.
Born in Miami, Harry was adopted at age three months by Richard and Catherine Harry. She grew up in Hawthorne, New Jersey, and after graduating from high school moved to Manhattan. Harry joined a folk-rock band, the Wind in the Willows, which released one album for Capitol in 1968; she worked as a beautician, a Playboy bunny, and a barmaid at Max’s Kansas City. In the mid-’70s she became the third lead singer of a glitter-rock band, the Stilettoes, which also included future Television bassist Fred Smith. Stein, a graduate of New York’s School of Visual Arts, joined the band in October 1973, and he and Harry reshaped it, first as Angel and the Snakes, then as Blondie.
By 1975 the band was appearing regularly at CBGB, home of the burgeoning punk underground. Its first single, “X Offender,” was independently produced by Richard Gottehrer and Marty Thau, who sold it to Private Stock. The label released Blondie’s debut, also produced by Gottehrer, in December 1976. The group expanded its cult following to the West Coast with shows at L.A.’s Whisky-a-Go-Go in February 1977 and opened for Iggy Pop on a national tour. A few months later, they made their British concert debut. In July Gary Valentine (who wrote “[I’m Always Touched by Your] Presence Dear,” a 1978 U.K. Top 10 hit) left the band to form his own trio, Gary Valentine and the Know, which broke up in spring 1980. In early 1978 Blondie’s “Denis” hit #2 in the U.K.
After one album for Private Stock and some legal wrangling, Blondie signed with Chrysalis in October 1977. Mike Chapman, a veteran of glitter pop, produced Parallel Lines, which slowly made its way into the Top 10, breaking first in markets outside the U.S. The disco-style “Heart of Glass” hit #1 in April 1979 and established the group with a platinum album. Blondie maintained its popularity and dabbled in black-originated styles, collaborating with Eurodisco producer Giorgio Moroder for the American Gigolo soundtrack (“Call Me,” #1, 1980), covering the reggae tune “The Tide Is High” (#1, 1980), and writing a rap song, “Rapture” (#1, 1981), on Autoamerican (#7, 1980). Harry also did the rounds as a celebrity, including an endorsement of Gloria Vanderbilt designer jeans in 1980.
As the group’s success continued, there were reports that Stein and Harry were asserting more control; by 1981 some Blondie backing tracks were played by session musicians under Stein’s direction. Burke produced the New York band Colors, and Destri released a solo album, Heart on a Wall, in 1982. In 1981 Harry released her solo KooKoo (#25). Produced under the direction of Chic’s Bernard Edwards and Nile Rodgers, KooKoo went gold.
Harry also began acting, appearing off-Broadway in Teaneck Tanzi: The Venus Flytrap (1983), in the films Union City (1979),Videodrome (1982), and John Waters’ Hairspray (1988), in the television series Wiseguy, and in Showtime’s Body Bags.
Early in 1982 Infante brought suit against the group, claiming they were out to destroy his career by excluding him from group meetings, rehearsals, and recording sessions. The suit was settled out of court and Infante remained in the band. However, by late 1982, following a disastrous tour (Blondie was never known as a great live act), the group quietly disbanded.
Harry and Stein’s planned vacation from the music business stretched to a couple of years after he was felled by a rare genetic illness called pemphigus. By 1987, their romantic relationship had ended. Harry’s comeback momentum was again stalled in the mid-’80s by legal problems with the group’s label, Chrysalis. Rockbird (#97, 1986) drew critical raves, but neither it nor her subsequent releases have approached Blondie’s in sales or acclaim, although she has had major hits in the U.K. (“French Kissin’ in the U.S.A.,” #8, 1986, and “I Want That Man,” #13, 1989). She sang a duet with Iggy Pop, “Well, Did You Evah!,” on the AIDS benefit album Red Hot + Blue. Harry collaborated with New York underground group the Jazz Passengers and appeared on their 1996 album Individually Twisted (32 Records).
Harrison and Burke joined a group called Checquered Past, which included ex–Sex Pistol Steve Jones. Later Harrison supervised the music for several feature films, including Repo Man, before becoming an A&R man for Capitol and Interscope. In the early ’90s Burke became one of the Romantics and worked as a session musician with the Plimsouls, Dramarama, and Mark Owen. Stein continued producing acts for his Animal Records label, and Destri began producing.
In 1998 Harry, Burke, Stein, and Destri reunited and recorded No Exit (#18, 1999), Blondie’s seventh studio album. No Exit, which contains an appearance by rapper Coolio on the title cut and yielded the poppy “Maria” (#82), helped ring in a new generation of Blondie fans. In early 1999 the band launched a U.S. tour – its first in over 15 years – and became inspired to record a live album. Meanwhile, ex-members Infante and Harrison filed a lawsuit in the summer of 1998 over the use of the Blondie name and due royalties. In a separate legal case, Blondie sued former label EMI for breach of contract, claiming that EMI refused to pay the group proper royalties for albums recorded from 1977 to 1982 – a payment plan agreed upon in 1996.
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Contact Blondie Manager or Agent | You May Ask?
How can I hire Blondie for a corporate event, non-profit or charity event or private performance? How much does Blondie cost for a performance, a song, an appearance at an event, party or convention ending gala? What kind of budget would I need for a Blondie performance at our event? How can I find out if Blondie is available for our event date? How do I contact Blondie’s manager? How do I contact Blondie’s agent?
We can answer all your questions.
Contact our National Booking Office at 212 521-4115 or send us your questions via email to hire Blondie.
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Why Celebrity Direct Inc.
Direct Source for Celebrity Performers We are the industry leader in celebrity talent buying and production for corporate events. We work on your behalf to hire the best possible celebrity for your budget and we are uniquely positioned as your advocate in the booking process so you never overpay.
Corporate & Non-Profit Events and Private Performances We are dedicated to private performances, not publicly ticketed events, and we are the experts in this highly specialized entertainment market.
Complete Turn-Key Production Nationwide Event planners work with us in several ways, either choosing from a menu of our services or asking us to produce a show delivered completely turn-key at your event nationwide.
