Is Blondie Ready To Call It Quits?
Drummer Clem Burke says Deborah Harry is suggesting privately that the end may be near for Blondie. Of course, she denied retirement rumors last year but, this time, things just might be different.
The band is in the midst of an extensive worldwide jaunt in support of 'Ghosts of Download' -- and it may be wearing on Harry, who just turned 69. "By the time we get to beautiful Vancouver, B.C.," Burke tells the Province. "We will have toured Europe, played Glastonbury and done a number of big festivals in North America. As for the rumors of the last tour, we've decided we’ll live forever. But Debbie is older than me and has hinted it could be time. Obviously without her, there is no Blondie."
Burke, 58, guitarist Chris Stein, 64, and Harry have been a part of every incarnation of Blondie since '75. Should the group once again go on hiatus -- as they did between 1982-97 -- Burke will likely have a full plate, anyway. Over the years, he's been a regular session musician, even working with the Ramones for a time (using the pseudonym "Elvis Ramone"). Burke is also part of the Empty Hearts with members of the Cars, the Romantics and Chesterfield Kings.
Blondie's current tour closes in October in Valley Center, CA, with a series of European dates between then and now.