In 2021, two iconic bands—Blondie and Garbage—are set to embark on a joint tour, led by their powerful frontwomen, Debbie Harry and Shirley Manson. Their decades-long friendship, which began in 1990, has deepened as they’ve shared the challenges of the music industry, ageing, and confronting past traumas. Both women have experienced fame as sex symbols, but their stories of survival and resilience tell a much more complex tale.
#1. Rock’n’Roll Icons and Lifelong Friends
Shirley Manson recalls first meeting Debbie Harry in 1990, while playing in her early band, Goodbye Mr. MacKenzie, on tour with Blondie. Despite the frenetic energy of her bandmates, Manson remembers standing still, captivated by the crowd. Harry, noticing her, felt an instant connection: “You put Shirley in a situation that’s a bit dicey or unaccepting, and she will make it work. That’s what we do.” This bond of survival and strength has united them, despite the challenges they faced as women in a male-dominated industry.
Manson has long admired Harry’s stage presence, describing her as “uniquely uninhibited, especially for such a beautiful woman. When she’s performing, there are moments that feel so wild that it’s extraordinarily exciting. That combination of unpredictability and beauty is lethal.” This unfiltered energy has made Harry an enduring icon in the world of rock.
#2. Ageing in the Music Industry
At 75, Debbie Harry acknowledges the complexities of growing older in a profession where youth is often celebrated. “Age is a problem in my profession. It’s a four-letter word,” she says, recognizing the fear her presence might evoke. “I make them aware of mortality. Although death is an inevitability, and I guess it scares me too.”
Manson, who is 57, shares her own experiences with ageing in the spotlight. “Women are brainwashed from childhood to believe that the best years of their lives are when they are hot and sexy,” she reflects. As she entered her thirties, she felt societal pressure to tone down her appearance, but she found inspiration in women like Vivienne Westwood and Dolly Parton, who refused to conform. “They gave me permission to be myself, although the culture wanted to shrink me.”
Both artists have faced the reality of being former sex symbols, and how that has impacted their careers and personal lives. Harry built her Blondie persona on a mix of femininity and strength, playing a “dumb blonde with the little-girl voice and the big-girl body” as she describes in her memoir Face It. But beneath the surface, she was always in control, flipping the script on the male gaze and reclaiming her power on her terms.
#3. Overcoming Trauma and Assault
Beyond the music and the fame, both Harry and Manson have confronted deep personal trauma. Harry was raped in the 1970s during a home invasion, a horrific experience she recounts in her memoir with stark honesty: “He f***ed me. And then he said, ‘Go clean yourself,’ and left.” In reflecting on the incident, Harry reveals how the stolen guitars from her apartment hurt more than the assault itself. It’s a remark that has sparked criticism from some, but Manson defends her: “People judge how she has processed what happened to her. It was a different time… Debbie came up at a time when women were blamed for everything sexual that ever happened to them.”
Manson’s own experience of sexual assault began when she was 13, in an encounter she describes as violent and terrifying. The assault marked the start of a complex relationship with power and sexuality, compounded by a later relationship with a schoolteacher when she was 15. While she considers that relationship consensual, it shaped her understanding of the power imbalance between men and women, fueling her outspoken stance on sexual harassment in the music industry.
“Every woman has awful experiences,” Manson says. “That’s what men don’t seem to understand. Every woman will have been frightened at some point… Most men can’t relate to that.”
#4. Creating Stage Personas for Protection
To survive in an industry that often objectifies and criticizes women, both Harry and Manson created stage personas. For Harry, being adopted as a child gave her a sense of flexibility with her identity. “I was frameless,” she says, explaining how she borrowed elements from other women to construct her Blondie character. Watching David Bowie helped her realize that she could develop different characters to navigate fame.
Manson, too, has used her platform to delve into deeper truths, using music to explore what people hide and what they fear. “I am interested in the parts of people that swim under the surface. I’m uninterested in examining the surface because I see that all day.”
#5. A Legacy of Grit and Resilience
Harry and Manson’s careers are marked by grit, resilience, and an unrelenting desire to stay true to themselves. Blondie’s genre shifts—from punk to disco to rock—alienated some fans, but Harry’s willingness to embrace change has kept the band relevant. Garbage has also faced industry challenges, but Manson attributes their survival to “grit” and their outsider status. “We’re mongrel rock, pop punks… We were very careful with the band money, so we always had a recording fund, whether we had a label or not.”
Both women continue to challenge norms, not only in their music but in the way they live their lives. Manson’s fascination with breaking down gender binaries and Harry’s refusal to conform to ageist expectations demonstrate their forward-thinking attitudes, which have only strengthened with time.
As they prepare to tour together in 2021, Harry and Manson are more than just rock icons—they are survivors, innovators, and women determined to control their own narratives, no matter the cost.
