It can be disappointing when a new band on the music scene creates a marvelous song, only for it to remain the only hit they ever produce. These brief flashes of brilliance are typically called “one‑hit wonders.”
It’s even more disappointing when a wonderful band with a proven track record breaks up before fans are ready to see them go. Musical history is replete with examples of bands that broke up too soon, among them: Cream lasted but two years (1966–1968); The Smiths made it to five years (1982–1987), the Zombies to six years (1962–1968). There are more, of course, but one of the more painful dissolutions was the group Blondie. The iconic albums they released between 1974 and 1982 with Debbie Harry as lead singer lasted a too-short eight years before they called it quits.
Fans will grudgingly concede that artistic temperaments and creative differences can give rise to conflicts, but that wasn’t the case with Blondie. A devastating, potentially fatal disease caused one of the most popular and versatile bands of the late ’70s and early ’80s to silence itself.
Debbie Harry and guitarist Chris Stein not only wrote Blondie’s hits, “Heart of Glass,” “Dreaming,” and “Rapture” together, they were also romantic partners. When Chris Stein fell ill with a rare autoimmune skin disease called pemphigus vulgaris that caused painful blistering on the skin, mouth, throat, and lungs, it consumed Harry’s life, too.
For the many years that Stein was out of action, Harry stayed by his side. Although they split up in 1989, they have remained very close friends, and Debbie Harry is even godmother to Stein’s children, a reflection of an enduring relationship. When Blondie had a reunion in 1997, Stein’s disease was under control and he toured extensively with during the reunion years. Sadly, Stein hasn’t toured regularly since around 2019 due to other health issues, notably atrial fibrillation and cancer treatment, but he remains an official member of Blondie and continues to be involved creatively and organizationally.
We would be guessing that Debbie Harry’s other important relationships have been with her dogs. An avowed dog lover, Debbie Harry had a Japanese Chin named Chi Chi in the 1990s, and as of 2023, she maintained her love of the breed with a Japanese Chin named, “Kiseki” (whose house mate is ‘Jupiter,’ a mixed breed). “I don’t want to sound like an old lady with dogs. They are funny, though. You get entertainment value with pets. When you have more than one, they work as a collective. I had a herd of cats when we lived on the Bowery,” Debbie Harry said in a New York Times interview in September, 2019.
Debbie Harry is 79 now, and presumably (we hope), her dogs are still keeping her company.
Why do we share stories of famous people and the purebred dogs they own?
In part, it’s just interesting. But when a celebrity owns the same breed as other owners, it can validate intentional ownership and serve as a springboard to subtly educate people about a breed’s qualities. In Debra Harry’s life, that breed has been the Japanese Chin.
Image: Japanese Chin by Pjatochka/Dreamstime