Debbie Harry at 78 and Blondie’s version of “Heroes”

Debbie Harry turned 78 earlier this month (on July 1st, to be precise). I saw a lot of social media posts about that, perhaps in part because, well, I don’t think of Debbie Harry as being 78. I’m guessing others don’t, either. It’s been a while since she or Blondie have had a hit record, but I don’t think they ever really went away. But still, she hasn’t commanded the public spotlight for some years and most images we’ve seen of her are from the 70s and 80s. Anyway, although she never collaborated with Bowie, they seem to have liked each other and carried about them a complimentary vibe.

The other reason Debbie Harry has been in the news is that she recently came put with a memoir that apparently has some Bowie stories in it, including one in which she gave him and Iggy Pop cocaine, and in response— apparently as a bizarre form of thanks— Bowie dropped his pants and flashed her. She seems appreciative of the gesture to this day.

This is a video, almost certainly a bootleg, of Blondie performing heroes from, it looks like around 2010 or 2011. She still sounds like Debbie Harry but looks older than the pictures we usually see.

So, Happy birthday!