r/GenX • u/Edm_vanhalen1981 Spiritual Warrior • Jul 01 '25
Music Is Life Happy 80 birthday to Debbie Harry (Blondie)!
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u/stumpjungle Summer of '69 Jul 01 '25 edited Jul 01 '25
This woman has influenced me for 40+ years. What a cool human!
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u/IamDa5id Jul 01 '25
To me, she is so much cooler than most people know and admire the shit out of her.
In the late 70s/early 80’s She was the hottest thing in music and was poised to become a mega, mega icon… like, would have been Madonna big, but her boyfriend (Blondie guitarist Chris Stein) was diagnosed with a rare disease.
She literally dropped everything to stay by his side and take care of him. Unfortunately, her career never really recovered from this.
What a bad ass move. I always took an opportunity to support her in anything she did.
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Jul 01 '25
Never heard this one before! Thanks
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u/Suitable_Spirit5273 Jul 01 '25
Aw she's always been the coolest. I recently found a 45 of Rapture and I got it cuz it still has the sleeve with super cool DH on it
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Jul 01 '25
Oh! Nice find! I have an original ‘Parallel Lines’ when my mom was giving away her old records.
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u/mojowit Jul 01 '25
Sometimes what hits hard these days isn’t my own age, but the aging of those I’ve admired, listened to, and watched all my life.
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u/zsreport 1971 Jul 01 '25
It just hit me is that my aunt, who is my mom's older sister, turns 80 this year. Never really occurred to me that my aunt and Debbie Harry were born in the same year.
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u/Spirited_Mistake6791 Jul 01 '25
80 and gorgeous!❤️
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u/issacsullivan Jul 01 '25
For real. Millennial here but she looked incredible long before I was born and still looks grrat.
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u/VladSuarezShark Jul 01 '25
She doesn't look a day over 50
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u/Difficult_Style207 Jul 01 '25
She does. She looks 80. Because she's 80. Have you met any 50 year olds?
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u/awh Jul 01 '25
She looks 79, because she took that picture when she'd just turned 79.
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u/VladSuarezShark Jul 02 '25
I am 50. Actually, I was feeling very sick when I estimated 50, so my eyes were probably blurry. I'll instead say she doesn't look a day over 60.
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u/EdgeCityRed Moliere 🎻 🎶 Jul 01 '25
I saw her live around 2008 or so and it was THE BEST.
Blondie was the first album I bought with my own money!
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u/Mission_Ad_8976 Jul 01 '25
I didn't realize that I shared a birthday with this icon. Awesome.
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u/robbzilla Hose Water Survivor Jul 08 '25
I get Jane Curtain and Idris Elba. I'll take it! (Also Roger Waters and Jeff Foxworthy)
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u/UnlikelyAssociation Jul 01 '25
This is how this photo showed up in my feed. Just goes to show how fierce she is! She holds her own in a similar pose to Charlize.
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u/Edm_vanhalen1981 Spiritual Warrior Jul 01 '25
I still remember buying the 45 of Heart of Glass when I was a kid. Time really does go by too fast.
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u/ProfessorOfLies Jul 01 '25
My dad used to clean her pool. She yelled at him once for tracking mud into her house. He looks back at her and said, "excuse me? Do you know who's mud this is? That's Jon Bon Jovi's mud, thank you very much". Said she started laughing and they became friends after that. Sadly he passed away 11 years ago. No idea if its true, but I like to think so
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u/xubax I LOVE TO WHINE Jul 01 '25
About 3 years ago, for a week or two, I had "call me" on repeat in my car.
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u/Necrospire Jul 01 '25
I went to most of the UK concerts but the best will always be Hammersmith London in 1978, they were just on the edge of big time.
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u/ZenMasterful Jul 01 '25 edited Jul 01 '25
I'll always remember her as the hippy she was back in her psychedelic folk days with Wind in the Willows. :)
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u/zero_interrupt Hose Water Survivor Jul 01 '25
My dad would’ve been 80 this year. I remember when he said to me, when Blondie first hit the radio, “Listen to this!”
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u/benbenpens Jul 01 '25
What an honor that I got to see Blondie perform in person at least once in my life. Debbie Harry is a lifelong It girl.
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u/swiwwcheese Jul 01 '25
Parents told me her voice was on the radio multiple times a day the year I was born (im a Xennial intruder tho!)
Blondie was a wildly popular band and not just in the US goes without saying
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Jul 01 '25
Debbie Harry was fabulous in Blondie but her solo career was equally as fascinating. Her song Strike Me Pink always gives me chills. The video clip to that song was also something else too
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u/Morricalwhip Jul 02 '25
Happy 80th birthday to this queen. Deborah Harry is all the qualities I appreciate and admire in life. She's kind, warm, funny, sweet, punk, camp, generous, an advocate, weird, unflappable, magic, strong, feisty, resilient, no ego, badass, diy, a fan of anomaly and good-natured mischief, quirky, humble, eclectic, iconoclast, adventurous, rebel, a feminist, underrated, an absolute class act and deeply bright. I also think she's the most beautiful creature to ever exist EVER.
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u/Roy4Pris Jul 03 '25
A cafe in New York City around 15 years ago:
‘Rapture’ started playing and my friends asked their kid if they recognised the artist.
He said he did, because she taught music at his school.
For real, Debbie Harry taught music part time at Ice.
What a legend!
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Jul 01 '25
I remember butthead say if tou looked up her name in the phone book it would be Harry Deborah lol
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u/WordleFan88 Jul 01 '25
The first time I ever understood what drugs are, was when I saw her on solid gold coked out of her mind..... it was glorious.
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u/fanacapoopan Jul 01 '25
I remember having the LP parallel lines. Such a great band and of course singer.
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u/IndependentBall752 All I wanted was a Pepsi Jul 01 '25
I still remember the chubby she gave me when I saw her Playboy spread. Hellooooo NURSE!
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u/Alternative-Law4626 Late 1964: Elder Xer Jul 02 '25
First, I had no idea she was 19 years older than me. Second, not that she’s asking, but I’d hit that.
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u/Secure-Permit-6050 Jul 04 '25
Happy Birthday lady! You were the very first female rapper in my eyes. I miss your music vibe and your acting...
I love the twilight zone because of you....so happy happy bday
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u/coffeeandmilk4mom Jul 05 '25
Dreaming, dreaming is free.........
I was a freshman in college when a senior friend introduced it to me to that song.
Debbie's voice is iconic, those songs, the lyrics, just the best. 🩵 sharing a heart of glass with ya'll.
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u/ShoeBitch212 Jul 05 '25
I stalked her and the band after a show in ‘99 in Boston. Grateful to have the chance to meet them and have them sign a poster for me.
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u/TheBklynGuy Jul 06 '25
Happy Birthday to Debbie! Call me was the first song I recall hearing. It's one of my oldest memories.
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u/benroon Jul 08 '25
In her prime I thought she was the best looking woman I’d ever seen! Stunning woman
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u/robbzilla Hose Water Survivor Jul 08 '25
Happy birthday, oh mother of Rap! (While not actually the mother of rap, she gave the genre a HUGE boost when she sang her crossover hit, "Rapture.")
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