Debbie Harry believes Blondie owe a lot of their success to David Bowie.
Debbie Harry
The 'Call Me' hitmaker has paid tribute to the "visionary" late singer - who died of cancer aged 69 on Sunday (10.01.16) - and his friend Iggy Pop for giving her group their big break in the early 1970s, as well as praising his long and diverse career.
She said in a statement: "Who doesn't love Bowie? A visionary artist, musician, actor, a completely renaissance man who has given us a long list of songs like 'Heroes', 'Rebel Rebel', 'Young Americans', 'Diamond Dogs', 'The Jean Genie', and many, many more, and some memorable film performances like 'The Man Who Fell to Earth', 'Basquiat', 'Labyrinth', 'The Hunger'.
"I can't say enough things about David Bowie to show how much I love him.
"When the 'Low' album was out and Iggy Pop was about to tour, David played keyboards in Iggy's band. They asked Blondie to open for them, and, as they say, the rest is history. Without this visionary and his friend Iggy Pop where would Blondie be today?
"Silly question and one that can't be answered really, but there is no doubt in my mind that Bowie played a big part in our future successes. As for now, love you David Bowie."
The 70-year-old singer also talked about the annual Bowie Ball, which is held at New York's Le Poisson Rouge and hosted by designer Deryck Todd, admitting she expected the next event to be "sad and extremely heartfelt".
She said: "In NYC there is a yearly Bowie Ball when local musicians all perform a Bowie song. It happens every year and this next one will be a sad and extremely heartfelt evening for everyone."
'Poison' rocker Alice Cooper has also paid tribute to his "Rock and Roll theatrical comrade" in a heartfelt statement.
He said: "The loss of David Bowie will be hard to swallow for everyone. He leaves behind a rich history of musical and cultural experimentation and invention that will rarely be seen again, if ever.
"It's hard to know exactly what to say when you hear of someone's passing. I know that I have certainly lost one of my lifetime Rock and Roll theatrical comrades in David Bowie.
"We both started in theatrical Rock N Roll at the same time, and in some cases we challenged each other to go farther and push the envelope.
"He was one of a kind. The man that fell to Earth has gone back to the planet that he came from."
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