In a new interview with Forbes, Chris Stein said he wasn’t jealous of Debbie Harry.
Blondie’s early albums didn’t hit big in the U.S., but ‘Parallel Lines’ changed everything. After that, Blondie had a rapid rise with more hits like ‘The Tide Is High,’ ‘Rapture,’ and ‘Call Me,’ and lots of attention on Harry’s appeal. Stein recalled that period:
“A photographer would show up and take five shots of the band and then want to do 30 shots of Debbie. That was very standard. But I never had a problem with it – we were together, so I always identified through her. I also saw it as kind of Mick Jagger syndrome where he was singled out. It was even more so because Debbie was a pretty girl, so that’s what it was. But it made for some tensions [within the band].”
Stein’s Earlier Words On Harry
In a 2020 interview with Big Issue, the rocker again noted that he had no issues with Harry being the center of attention in Blondie. Stein explained:
“It didn’t bother me that Debbie got all the attention. We were together [they were a couple for 13 years, from the late Seventies] so I always just heavily identified with her, I was never jealous. That was probably different for some of the other guys in the band. I’d never thought about that, I just wanted to be in a band. Fame wasn’t something I aspired to especially. When we go out travelling and all the autograph people come up to us in the airport I can always dunk away. I still feel protective about Debbie but she gets the brunt of it.”
Stein also informed the fans in a Guitar World interview last month that new Blondie music is coming. The band last released an album in 2017 called ‘Pollinator’ and a song called ‘Yuletide Throwdown’ in 2021. The guitarist confirmed that they have another album ready and are currently mixing it. It should be out soon.