Evening Standard - ES Magazine
Atomic BLONDE
From heroin addiction to extreme violence, Debbie Harry has survived it all. And whether it’s Taylor Swift or Miley Cyrus, she isn’t afraid to tell it how she sees it. Ellie Austin meets a true rock ’n’ roll iconoclast
In a penthouse suite at Public hotel on New York’s Lower East Side, Debbie Harry sits perfectly still, eyes closed and lips pursed, as a swarm of people swirl around her making nervous small talk and telling her how beautiful she looks. And she does. A few minutes earlier, Harry, 74, had quietly slipped in the door looking like she’d just stepped off stage, with a face of perfect make-up (complete with fake eyelashes) and her greyblonde hair artfully swept back. ‘I’ve had a go at getting started but I know I’m going to need some help,’ she giggles in her slightly doll-like New York lilt. At 5ft 2in, she’s petite but strong-looking, the ski-slope cheekbones and heart-shaped lips that made her a global sex symbol still very much intact. She’s dressed all i n black i n Lycra leggings, ankle boots, a vintage Comme des Garçons hooded jumper and — less glamorously — a pair of Nike running gloves.
‘It’s the touching thing,’ she says breezily. ‘It’s better to wear gloves at the moment with this virus.’ It’s the day before a state of emergency is declared in New York and a hum of anxiety underpins preparations for the ES shoot — as well as a sense that this could be everyone’s last dose of normality for a while. Harry, however, seems calm. ‘I suppose I should panic,’ she sighs. ‘And I’m taking precautions, but I don’t think we know enough yet.’
People are falling over themselves to make sure she’s comfortable. Does she need food? A coffee? ‘Oh no!’ she gasps. ‘I’ll take a water — and a pillow to sit on.’ She is polite and easy to be around, with none of the diva antics you might expect of someone who has sold more than 40 million records worldwide.
Not one to rest on her laurels, last year she published Face It, a rip-roaring