How much is Debbie Harry worth?
| Net Worth: | $40 Million |
|---|---|
| Profession: | Professional Singer |
| Date of Birth: | July 1, 1945 |
| Country: | United States of America |
| Height: | 1.6 m |
About Debbie Harry
As early as the late ’60s, Harry was performing in the music industry as a backup singer for the folk rock band The Wind in the Willows, who released their self-titled debut album in 1968 on Capitol Records. In Miami, Florida, on July 1, 1945, Harry was born Angela Trimble. Deborah Ann Harry was adopted as a baby by Catherine (née Peters) and Richard Harry of Hawthorne, New Jersey, who ran a gift business. When Harry was four years old, she was told about her having been adopted. She initially decided against looking for her parents, but in the late 1980s she tracked down her birth mother, a concert pianist, who actually decided against establishing contact with Harry.
When Elda Gentile and Amanda Jones formed the Stilettoes in 1973, Harry was quick to join them. Shortly after that, she started dating the band’s guitarist, Chris Stein. Harry writes in her autobiography, Face It, of being raped at knifepoint in the Steins’ shared home.
Leaving the Stilletos in 1974, Harry and Stein founded Angel and the Snake with Tish and Snooky Bellomo (the band’s former bassist and drummer, respectively). After Harry’s hair was dyed blonde and she was subjected to frequent sexist comments from men, the band rebranded themselves as Blondie. Almost immediately, the band was a fixture at New York City venues including Max’s Kansas City and CBGB.
Blondie’s self-titled first album was published in 1976 and reached the top 14 in Australia and the top 75 in the UK by 1979. They had modest success internationally with their second album, Plastic Letters, but it was their third album, Parallel Lines (1978), that really broke them out. Blondie were on the cover of Rolling Stone in June 1979.
The 1980 album Autoamerican peaked at #3 in the UK and #7 in the US. Additional top-charting singles by Blondie include “Call Me” (from the American Gigolo soundtrack) (both the US and UK No. 1), “Atomic” (from the Eat to the Beat album) (UK No. 1), “The Tide Is High” (both the US and UK No. 1), and “Rapture” (both the US and UK No. 1).
In 1980, Andy Warhol used photographs taken of Harry at the Factory to create a series of paintings, drawings, and silkscreens that have since become iconic.
Deborah Harry, neither “Debbie Blondie” or “Debbie Harry” released a press release in 1981 to set the record straight; Harry afterwards referred to her character in the band as “Blondie” The album KooKoo marked the beginning of Harry’s successful solo career (1981). During the month of June in 1982, Harry sang harmony vocals on the second album by The Gun Club, titled Miami.
Due to caring for her unwell husband Chris Stein, Harry’s solo productivity halted after Blondie’s 1982 breakup. In 1983, she released the commercially unsuccessful single “Rush Rush” which was produced by Giorgio Moroder and used music from the movie Scarface.
Harry’s second solo album, Rockbird, was released in 1986 and reached No. 97 in the US and No. 31 in the UK. Despite becoming a moderate success in the United States (peaking at No. 57), “French Kissin’ in the USA” was Harry’s lone UK solo top 10 hit (No. 8).
In the 1987 comedy-mystery picture Forever, Lulu, Harry played the lead role opposite Alec Baldwin. In 1988, Harry recorded Mike Chapman’s “Liar, Liar” for the soundtrack album Married to the Mob. Harry dated Blondie’s guitarist, Chris Stein. While they were still friends after their 1987 breakup, the couple no longer shared a romantic relationship.
It was around this time that Harry made her cinematic debut in a supporting role in Tales from the Darkside: The Movie (1990). Over the course of three years, from 1989 to 1991, Harry traveled the globe extensively with Chris Stein (ex-Blondie guitarist), Karl Hyde (Underworld), and Leigh Foxx (future Blondie bassist). The album’s fourth single, “Maybe for Sure” was released in June 1990 to coincide with a UK tour; it was a revised version of “Angel’s Song” which she had recorded for the Rock and Rule animated film (her second in six months). Another Top 15 Modern Rock single in the States was “Kiss It Better”
Deborah Harry’s solo and Blondie-related singles were collected on a new “best of” album by European label Chrysalis in 1991; the album was titled The Complete Picture: The Very Best of Deborah Harry and Blondie. From the 1990 Red Hot + Blue AIDS charity album, she and Iggy Pop sang a duet of “Well, Did You Evah!” by Cole Porter. In 1992, Harry published “Prelude to a Kiss” and worked with German post-punk band Die Haut on the track “Don’t Cross My Mind.” Harry embarked on a tour of the United Kingdom in November 1993 alongside guitarist Peter Min, bassist Greta Brinkman, and drummer James Murphy, all members of Stein’s band.
After hearing the Jazz Passengers’ album In Love, she decided to join the group in 1994. Harry also reconnected with Blondie keyboardist Jimmy Destri for a cover of Otis Blackwell’s “Don’t Be Cruel” for the 1995 album Brace Yourself! A Festschrift in Honor of Otis Blackwell. Harry has contributed vocals to several albums, including the 1996 EP No Talking, Just Head by Talking Heads side project the Heads and the 1998 LP Individually Twisted by the Jazz Passengers (1997).
After a 15-year hiatus, Blondie reunited to make music in 1997. In the United Kingdom, Blondie scored their sixth consecutive No. 1 album with the release of Maria. Aside from topping the charts in 14 countries, “Maria” also climbed into the top 10 on the US Dance Charts and the top 20 on the US Adult Top 40 Charts. No Exit debuted at No. 3 in the UK and No. 17 in the US.
In May of 2002, she performed at London’s Barbican Centre with the Jazz Passengers and the BBC Concert Orchestra, premiering an orchestral arrangement of her jazz compositions. They used her voice in their 2003 single “Uncontrollable Love” by DJ duo Blow-Up. When Dan Zanes and Friends covered “Waltzing Matilda” for their 2003 CD House Party, she contributed vocals. The album The Curse of Blondie was released the same year (2003).
In 2006, Harry released a slew of new songs on her Myspace page, including “Charm Alarm” “Deep End” “Love with a Vengeance” “School for Scandal” and “Necessary Evil” as well as two duets with Miss Guy (of Toilet Böys fame): “God Save New York” and “New York Groove” In May of 2007, Harry posted a streaming version of the first track, “Two Times Blue” to her Myspace profile. The “If I Had You” music video premiered on the internet on January 18, 2008.
Harry began recording songs for The Jeffrey Lee Pierce Sessions Project in 2010. These recordings include both solo performances and collaborations with Nick Cave and others. Panic of Girls, Blondie’s ninth studio album, was released in July 2011. During their relationship, Harry and Stein, who both admitted to drug use in 2011, reportedly spent time in a rehabilitation clinic and no longer take drugs.
Stein was there to see Warhol’s photography of Harry for his own series of images, which were displayed in London in 2013. Harry performed at the 2014 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival as a special guest of the band Arcade Fire. As of 2014, Harry admitted to have had multiple sexual encounters with females throughout her younger years. In March of 2015, Harry performed for many weeks straight at New York’s Café Carlyle.
Pollinator, Blondie’s eleventh studio album, was released in May of 2017 and debuted in the United Kingdom at position number four. This past October, Harry’s autobiography, Face It, was published by Dey Street Books. While in the home she shared with Stein, Harry was raped at knifepoint, an experience she details in her 2019 memoir Face It. During the third episode of the 2020 season of the web television romantic comedy series High Fidelity, Harry made a cameo appearance.
Summing-Up
Including her contributions to five compilation albums and 24 singles, Deborah Harry has released a total of 25 studio albums and 25 total releases. Prior to 1988, Harry went by her nickname “Debbie” on all publications; after then, she has adopted the name Deborah Harry as her official one. Harry divides her time between New York City and Monmouth County, New Jersey, where she keeps her four dogs.
