Deborah Harry

by Cathay Che

Madonna has called Deborah Harry "the coolest chick in the universe", Andy Warhol named her "my favorite pop star", and Shirley Manson of Garbage said that without her "we'd still be in a state of arrested development in terms of women's forays in the music world". Authorized biographer Cathay Che sums her up as "a '50s bad girl, a '60s freethinker, a '70s punk, an '80s pop star, and a '90s postmodern artist". From her first hit, "In the Flesh", with Blondie in 1976 to the chart-topper "Maria" for their 1999 reunion album, No Exit; from her movies with John Waters and David Cronenberg to hanging out at CGBG, Studio 54, and Warhol's Factory, Che follows Deborah Harry across the worlds of punk, rock, rap, art, film, and fashion.