Quote Of The Day By Debbie Harry: 'If I'd Been My Parents, I Wouldn't Have Thought ...'

Contrary to popular belief, Debbie Harry and Blondie aren't the same thing — the former is the yellow-dressed lead singer of the latter, an explosively popular and influential new wave-punk-pop-reggae-disco-rock band of the late 1970s and early 1980s. Blondie broke up because of health issues, but they reemerged in the late 1990s with Harry once more at the helm. Through the years, she commanded the stage with endless swagger, cool, and charisma as she belted out classic hits like "Call Me," "Heart of Glass," "The Tide is High," and "One Way or Another."

What many might not know about Debbie Harry is that she had a lengthy and labyrinthine journey to the top — Blondie was far from her first band. After paying her dues in the New York City musical world of the '70s, Harry only became globally recognized and admired well after her 30th birthday, a rarity in the younger-is-better world of rock. It was a long time coming and not something that Harry — much different than her stage character would suggest — could've been predicted when she was a kid. And that's why Blondie's frontwoman is the source of today's quote of the day.

"If I'd been my parents, I wouldn't have thought it would have happened to me either. I was very shy and quiet, and all my ambitions were dreams."

In a 2011 interview with The Guardian, Debbie Harry was asked to reflect on her pre-fame days, looking for clues in her childhood that foretold the rock star greatness, influence, and fame that awaited her in adulthood. But in retrospect, they weren't really there. Neither Harry nor her parents thought that stardom was a real possibility because she was the kind of kid who wasn't particularly outgoing or goal-focused. This shows that childhood behaviors aren't necessarily an accurate predictor of how life will unfold.

Everything Debbie Harry did to become an influential rock star and one of the most famous people on earth was hard work performed in adulthood. Indeed, she lacked advantages over the myriad other people looking for celebrity success in the mid-20th century. Harry also had a history of such low-key normalcy that her celebrity came as a surprise to both her and her parents.

Born in Florida and adopted by a couple from New Jersey, Harry finished high school in 1963 and later in the decade moved to New York. Here, she kept a series of survival jobs and joined a folk group called the Wind in the Willows that recorded one unheralded album and one unreleased LP. Harry's next band, a tongue-in-cheek girl group called the Stilettos, gave way to Angel & the Snake, later settled on Blondie after a nickname she acquired when she started using blonde hair dye. 

And with that very gradual journey, Harry got huge, with the first of Blondie's eight Top 40 hits, "Heart of Glass," reaching No. 1 in 1979. All the while, her parents didn't quite understand that their daughter was becoming a well-known rock star. Only when fans discovered they ran a gift shop in New York and inquired about Harry did her parents really get it.

• "I've always had strong tastes and I don't think I'm particularly afraid of controversy. From my point of view, that's what rock and roll is all about, coming from the age that I come from, when rock and roll was considered antisocial and clandestine and bad for you—that it was gonna ruin everything."

• "To be an artist, you have to be able to touch areas that maybe you don't want to touch, or that you are afraid to touch. And I can't honestly say that I get there every single time."

• "Nostalgia is a drag. But it's also enough to make you want to fight for your individuality and make a statement that's not contained within the selling of a product."

• "The best thing ... is to be inside my own head. I'm a head person. The wildest most incredible things go on in my mind. Just the things I think up."

• "I was an artist for a long time, but I was always into being a general practitioner. I did a little of this and a little of that. And nothing has got me anywhere. You have to specialize, it takes you until you're about fifty years old before anybody notices you're doing anything at all."

• "A persona gave me freedom, a world of my own. You pick a character that you love and then it becomes you."

• "I can't say it was a great idea to be as curious and reckless as I was. Like daredevil athletes or people that jump out of planes, we're all testing our boundaries, and mine were very large. I barely took notice of any lucky escapes. I really went after discovery."