VG

I’ll get up early & stay up late for baseball, cycling, soccer, music, science & medicine.

[Crazy Vibes @CrazyVibes_1]

Her birth mother gives her up at birth. Adopted at three months old, renamed forever. Nobody expects this quiet New Jersey girl to become rock's fiercest icon.

In 1974, she forms a band inside New York's filthiest clubs. Five years later, she rules the charts. Her real story hides darkness.

Angela Trimble is born on July 1, 1945, inside Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami, Florida.

Her birth mother cannot keep her. Three months later, a couple named Richard and Catherine Harry adopt the baby girl and rename her Deborah.

She grows up in Hawthorne, New Jersey, a quiet gift-shop town nowhere near a stage or a spotlight.

At age four, she learns she is adopted. It changes something in her, quietly and permanently.

Decades later, she finally locates her birth mother, a concert pianist. The woman chooses not to build a relationship with her.

By the late 1960s, Deborah Harry moves to New York City with nothing but ambition.

She works as a secretary, a beautician, and a waitress at Max's Kansas City, the legendary bar where rock stars and artists collide every night.

She becomes a go-go dancer in Union City and a Playboy Bunny in Vernon Township. None of it feels like her real life.

Here is what most people miss: before Debbie Harry became an icon, she survived New York's streets completely unprotected.

In the early 1970s, after failing to hail a cab late at night, she climbs into a stranger's car for a ride.

Something about the man feels wrong. The inside of the car is stripped bare. The passenger door has no handle. She escapes.

Years later, she becomes convinced the driver was serial killer Ted Bundy.

She keeps moving forward. In 1973, she joins a female punk trio called The Stilettos and meets a young guitarist named Chris Stein.

They fall in love. In 1974, they leave The Stilettos and form a new band. Truck drivers used to shout one word at platinum-haired Harry on the street: "Blondie." She turns the insult into a name.

In 1976, Blondie released their self-titled debut album. Critics barely noticed.

In 1977, Plastic Letters followed. Mainstream America still was not paying attention.

Then, in 1978, everything changes.

Parallel Lines becomes a phenomenon. "Heart of Glass" hits number one in the United States. "Picture This" and "One Way or Another" become anthems.

"One Way or Another" is not fiction. Harry writes it after being stalked by a man in real life.

In 1980, "Call Me," co-written with producer Giorgio Moroder for the film American Gigolo, becomes Blondie's second US number-one hit.

In 1981, "Rapture" hits number one too. It becomes one of the first songs to bring rap into mainstream American radio, years ahead of its time.

By 1981, Debbie Harry is one of the most famous women on Earth. She is also nearly broke.

Here is what most people miss: their record contracts, signed back when the band was unknown and desperate, locked them into an unheard-of low percentage of their own earnings.

Then it gets worse. Harry's business manager fails to pay her taxes for two years. The Internal Revenue Service seizes her assets.

The world sees a platinum superstar. Behind the scenes, she is fighting to keep her home.

In 1982, disaster strikes again. Chris Stein is diagnosed with a rare, life-threatening autoimmune skin disease.

Blondie breaks up. Harry walks away from her own career at its peak to care for him full time.

She nurses him back to health over several years, spending nearly everything she has earned to do it.

They split romantically in 1987. But she never leaves his life. She becomes godmother to his two daughters and remains his close friend for decades.

Harry battles heroin addiction during these same hard years. She gets clean and keeps going.

She rebuilds as a solo artist. KooKoo arrives in 1981, produced by Nile Rodgers, and goes gold. Rockbird follows in 1986.

Def, Dumb & Blonde arrives in 1989, giving her a UK top-20 hit with "I Want That Man." Debravation follows in 1993.

In 1999, after a 17-year wait, Blondie reunites and releases No Exit. The comeback single "Maria" shoots straight to number one in the UK.

The woman once written off as a washed-up 1970s act proves everyone wrong.

In 2006, Blondie is inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

She keeps releasing music into her sixties and seventies: Panic of Girls in 2011, Ghosts of Download in 2014, and Pollinator in 2017, which reaches number four in the UK charts.

In 2019, Harry publishes her memoir, Face It. For the first time, she tells the world about the rape she survived at knifepoint inside her own apartment, and about the night she believes she escaped a serial killer.

In 2023, Rolling Stone ranks her among the 200 greatest singers of all time.

She never marries. She never has children. She builds something else instead: a body of work that outlives every label executive who once underpaid her.

On July 1, 2026, Deborah Harry turns 81 years old.

She was given up at birth. She was underpaid, robbed by her own accountant, assaulted in her own home, and possibly hunted by a killer. She still became one of the most influential voices in music history.

[VG @doctorwhynot]

The best

[Don Winslow @donwinslow]

One of the all time great stories.

[VG @doctorwhynot]

Long Branch is lucky

[Cap’tain Bob @BobTharin]

What I find beautiful about Bruce is that, despite his fame, he can still enjoy the simple pleasures of life back where it all began, in relative peace, while remaining available to his fans.

[Springsteen news - Point Blank @PointBlankSpain]

Very nice interview with Bruce at PBS, done at the Bruce Springsteen Center.

Bruce Springsteen on 'critical patriotism' and the power of protest music https://t.co/h4hj654Orr

[Spring-Nuts @SpringNuts_]

Saturday morning was the dedication and ribbon cutting for the official opening of the Bruce Springsteen Center for American Music in technically Long Branch on the campus of Monmouth University.

Bruce Springsteen and his wife Patti Scialfa were at the ceremony along with their son Sam and his wife, Bruce's sisters Ginny and Pam, New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill and many other musicians and dignitaries.

The ceremony took place under a tent in the parking lot of the Center.
Bruce spoke last and was very visibly moved. He started his speech saying "Excuse the sunglasses for it's getting a little misty here."
He said, "I'm also glad and relieved that fans will have another place to go instead of my house."

He thanked his parents, thanked many at Monmouth University who made this center possible including Eileen Chapman and was emotional as he said, "I got to thank my beautiful wife of 35 years. It's our anniversary (June 9). Without her, so much of this simply would not exist. Her love, her talent, her patience, her support are essential to everything I do and I have done. She is my heart, my soul, she has struggled, and she is my hero and my favorite E Street Band member."

He continued, "The mighty E Street Band, who without them, I wouldn't be here. The impact they give me on a nightly basis -- the power, the heart, the soul and complete dedication. ... They deliver for me night after night after night for the past 50 years. Thank you fellas. .... Well this is the wonderful beginning of something that I hope will bring life, hope, creativity education, dreams and inspiration to this campus, our community and our country. I'm deeply honored to be a part of it. Thanks."

The ceremony in front of about 300 people began at 11 a.m. and was over at 12:30 p.m.

Melissa Kozlowski, the Center's director of curatorial affairs, was the emcee. Speakers included Monmouth University President Patrick Leahy; Joy Hargo, the U.S. poet laureate (2019–22); Governor Sherrill, Bob Santelli, the executive director of the Center, and Jon Landau who introduced Bruce.

A formal ribbon cutting then took place to open the Center.

Among the audience: Jon Bon Jovi, Jackson Browne, Max Weinberg, Garry Tallent, David Sancious, Vini Lopez, Charlie Giordano, George Travis, Ron Aniello, Thom Zimny, Kevin Buell, Lisa Lowell, Rich Russo, Jake Thistle, Erik Flannigan, Jimmie Vaughan, Sonny Kenn, Marc Ribler, Woody Guthrie's daughter Nora, Brian Williams, and photographers Rob DeMartin, Danny Clinch, Eric Meola and Frank Stefanko.

There was pre-ceremony music by the New Breed Brass Band from New Orleans and during the ceremony, David Sancious played a beautiful version of "New York City Serenade."

[Jocelyn Benson @JocelynBenson]

I am honored to have the support of the Northern Midwest Regional Council of Carpenters and the thousands of hard-working Michiganders they represent.

This campaign is about making sure the people who keep our economy and our state running can afford to live, raise a family, and retire with dignity in. The support of the Carpenters is a critical part of the coalition we are building to win and finally deliver a Michigan government and economy that puts our residents first.

[RC deWinter @RCdeWinter]

i’m not afraid
to admit i’m afraid
for the country
for the world
for myself
as i try to survive
with a modicum of 
if not happiness
at least sanity 
in this jungle 
of too much noise
and not enough kindness
as so many who make the rules
laugh as they set us
against each other
~ RCdW

[Nils Lofgren @nilslofgren]

last show of Land Of Hope and Dreams tour. Honored to be fighting for freedom with @springsteen @azsweetheart013 @tmorello @MaryLTrump @jamie_raskin
heroes all. #E Street Band #SacredWeapon #LetFreedomRing 🔥🎶

[Newsweek @Newsweek]

Springsteen launched another attack on Trump at a concert in DC this week, calling the president "racist [and] incompetent." https://t.co/rgq46Wljw0

[Oriol Serra @oriolserra]

Bruce Springsteen s’acomiada de Washington DC després d’un dels concerts políticament més combatius de la seva carrera. #LandOfHopeAndDreams https://t.co/x8MVkLgADC

[VG @doctorwhynot]

🙌

[Rolling Stone @RollingStone]

Bruce Springsteen, Foo Fighters, Joan Baez, and more artists and activist are among the star-studded lineup for Tom Morello’s Power to the People Festival
https://t.co/qv5x3JTeAA

[julie k. brown @jkbjournalist]

I can't wait until Saturday!!!

[Baseball In Pics @baseballinpix]

Yogi Berra and Whitey Ford prior to Game 1 of the 1962 World Series at Candlestick Park. Ford threw a complete game, giving up 2 runs in a victory.

[Jim Acosta @Acosta]

Springsteen sings in honor of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in DC. #nokings #iceout

[Spring-Nuts @SpringNuts_]

Bruce just announced tonight in Washington that he will be returning to DC on October 3rd for a Power to the People Festival, that will include the Foo Fighters, Dropkick Murphys, Dave Mathews and Tom Morello. Details to be announced tomorrow. @springsteen #Springsteen

[Joyce Alene @JoyceWhiteVance]

Here’s to Springsteen’s courage being contagious. We need more of it.
https://t.co/24pzgWN025

[Barb McQuade @BarbMcQuade]

The allies at Normandy died to save democracy. We can show our appreciation by protecting ours.
#MemorialDay2026

[Henry Winkler @hwinkler4real]

E Street

[Matthew Keys @MatthewKeysLive]

Just one day after ending "The Late Show" on CBS, Stephen Colbert returned to TV — to host a public access show with rocker Jack White in Monroe, Michigan.

Appearances by Jeff Daniels, Eminem and Steve Buscemi.