Debbie Harry has always felt like more than a rock star to the people who grew up with her. For many Gen X fans, she was the quintessential older sister. The impossibly cool girl you wanted to know, whose beauty made her seem unreal. Even if you only knew Blondie through the radio, you likely danced to “Heart of Glass.” You sang along to “The Tide Is High.” Or perhaps first encountered her in an unexpected place, such as The Muppet Show. Born in 1945, adopted and raised in New Jersey, she struggled through 1970s New York, worked as a Playboy Bunny, and built both Blondie and a long partnership with guitarist Chris Stein. Then came the explosion of fame, with albums like Parallel Lines selling tens of millions and turning her into an icon. Fame, however, did not shield her from hardship either. At the height of Blondie’s success, her partner, Stein, fell gravely ill, money vanished through mismanagement, and the IRS pursued them relentlessly, even stripping away his health insurance while he was hospitalized. Loss followed, including Andy Warhol’s death on the same day she and Stein finally separated. Debbie Harry helped define an era, teaching generations how to move through the world with style, defiance, and nerve. Now, she stands as proof that the greatest fashion and the greatest artistry are reinvention and survival. Debbie Harry on stage looking gorgeous in 1979 Iggy Pop and Debbie Harry, 1977. Photo by Bob Gruen. Debbie Harry, 1979 Debbie Harry, 1978 Debbie Harry (1970s) Debbie Harry in London for Vogue in 1994 Before Blondie, Debbie Harry worked at New York’s Playboy Club, where she waited tables from 1968 to 1973. Debbie Harry, 1970s Debbie Harry, late 1960s Debbie Harry, 1980 Debbie Harry, 1970s Debbie Harry Polaroids by Andy Warhol (1980) Debbie Harry, 1981 Debbie Harry, 1978 Debbie Harry, on the roof of her apartment at 17th St and 6th Ave, 1980 (by Chris Stein) Debbie Harry, ‘Blondie’, 1970 Debbie Harry Coney Island NY – 1977 Joan Jett and Debbie Harry – late 1970s Debbie Harry (late 70s) Debbie Harry at Shinko Music, Tokyo, 1978 A young Debbie Harry when she was a singer with Wind of the Willows, 1968. Debbie Harry, 1978 Debbie Harry, 1970s Debbie Harry, 1976. Debbie Harry (1977) Debbie Harry / “Heart of Glass” / 1979 Debbie Harry outside CBGB in NY, late 1975 Debbie Harry (1978) Debbie Harry, ca. ’70s Debbie Harry at Coney Island, 1977 Debbie Harry in her New York apartment with her Warhol portrait on the radiator, 1988. Ray Davies and Debbie Harry, 1978 Debbie Harry, 1970s Debbie Harry, 1979. Debbie Harry, 1979 Debbie Harry, 1970s Debbie Harry backstage at the Philadelphia Spectrum on January 1, 1978 Debbie Harry, 1970s Debbie Harry, 1980s Debbie Harry in the ‘Vulture’ T-shirt, her fav – (1977) Debbie Harry, 1970s Debbie Harry, 1978 Debbie Harry, 1978 Meat Loaf & Debbie Harry, 1980 Debbie Harry cover shoot for Cosmopolitan magazine, December 1978. Photographer | Terence Donovan Debbie Harry, 1978 Chris Stein & Debbie Harry, 1970s Debbie Harry, 1981 Debbie Harry, 1970s Debbie Harry photographed by Brian Aris (1980) The post Electric Photos of Debbie Harry Over The Years first appeared on History Defined.