After Dinner Speakers: Debbie Harry, John Major, Bono

. 1 July 1945, Miami, Florida, USA. Raised in New Jersey, Harry was drawn to the alternative music emanating from New York's Greenwich Village in the mid-60s. Spells in a succession of avant garde groups, including the First National Unaphrenic Church And Bank, preceded her tenure in the Wind In The Willows, a baroque folk/rock act which completed an album for Capitol Records in 1968. For five years Harry abandoned music altogether, but resumed singing in 1973 as a member of the Stilettos, an exaggerated version of girl-group the Shangri-Las. The following year she formed Blondie with Fred Smith (bass), Billy O'Connor (drums) and long-time boyfriend Chris Stein (guitar). Having made its debut at the New York punk haven CBGB's, the band rose to become one of the leading pop attractions of the late 70s, scoring a succession of hits in the US and UK. Meanwhile, Harry established herself as the leading female rock sex symbol of the time. However, as the dividing line between the band and its photogenic lead singer became blurred, so inner tensions proved irreconcilable. In 1981, Harry released her solo debut Koo Koo, produced by Chic mainstays Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards. Despite the presence of Stein, the set failed to capture Blondie's sense of simple pop and the singer resumed her commitment to the parent act. Stein's recurrent ill health brought the band to an end and a further period of retirement ensued. Harry did pursue an acting career, including roles in Union City Blue, Videodrome and a memorable comic role in John Water's movie, Hairspray. In 1986, she released Rockbird which featured the UK Top 10 hit "French Kissing In The USA". It was not until three years later that Harry made a return to the UK Top 20, this time with the Tom Bailey and Alannah Currie (aka the Thompson Twins) composition, "I Want That Man". The accompanying album, Def, Dumb And Blonde, credited to Deborah Harry, achieved a similar chart position, since when the singer has completed several tours, performing material drawn from Blondie and her subsequent work. Subsequent compilations were credited to and included, tracks from Harry's solo career and with Blondie. In the late 90s, she appeared as a featured vocalist with the experimental Jazz Passengers, before appearing alongside Stein, Burke and Destri in a re-formed Blondie.