Debbie Harry | |||
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Debbie Harry performing in Toronto in October 1977
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Background information | |||
Birth name | Angela Tremble | ||
Born |
Miami, Florida, U.S. |
July 1, 1945 ||
Genres | |||
Occupation(s) |
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Instruments | Vocals | ||
Years active | 1964–present | ||
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Deborah Ann "Debbie" Harry (born Angela Tremble, July 1, 1945) is an American singer-songwriter and actress, best known as the lead singer of the new wave band Blondie. She recorded several worldwide number one singles with Blondie during the 1970s and 1980s. She is sometimes considered the first rapper to chart at number one in the United States due to her work on "Rapture". She has also had success (mainly in Europe) as a solo artist before reforming Blondie in the late 1990s. Her acting career spans over 60 film roles and numerous television appearances.
Deborah Harry was born in Miami, Florida, and then adopted at three months old by Richard Smith and Catherine (née Peters) Harry, gift shop proprietors in Hawthorne, New Jersey. She attended Hawthorne High School, where she graduated in 1963. She graduated from Centenary College in Hackettstown, New Jersey, with an Associate of Arts degree in 1965. Before starting her singing career she moved to New York City in the late 1960s and worked as a secretary at BBC Radio's office there for one year. Later, she was a waitress at Max's Kansas City, a go-go dancer in a Union City, New Jersey discothèque, and a Playboy Bunny.
In the late 1960s, Harry began her musical career as a backing singer for the folk rock group, the Wind in the Willows, which released one self-titled album in 1968 on Capitol Records. The group also recorded a second album, which was never released and the studio tapes remain lost.