Chris Stein

"When I first started playing music, I don't think I ever thought about being in a band and making records at the age I am now," says Chris Stein. "But then, a lot of my original musical heroes were the blues and jazz guys, and they were all in their 50s and 60s. So I guess it makes sense." In the four and a half decades since Blondie graduated from New York's downtown punk community to global stardom, Stein has retained the same restless drive and out-of-the-box instincts that originally motivated him as the seminal combo's co-founder, guitarist and frequent songwriter. Beyond his work with Blondie, who've sold more than 40 million albums worldwide, Stein's resume encompasses a wide array of notable endeavors. In addition to being a key architect of Blondie's sound, and writer or co-writer of such beloved hits as "Heart of Glass," "Rapture," "Dreaming" and "Sunday Girl," he's also left his mark as a record producer, record-label chief and visual artist. In recent years, Stein has reembraced his lifelong passion for photography, turning his knack for capturing resonant imagery into a career that's blossomed into several notable projects, including acclaimed gallery shows, a projected book series and an image-packed website (http://www.rednight.net). Stein's color and black-and-white work encompasses vintage imagery of Blondie and other bands from the heyday of the legendary CBGB scene, as well as a broad array of images captured in Stein's world travels over the years. "I've been dragging cameras around for as long as I can remember, and just shooting anything that interests me," Stein notes. "And now, the digital thing is so seductive that it's really inspired me to pursue it a little more seriously. Right now, I'm trying to focus on the body of stuff I have from the old days, and being a little more aggressive in getting it out there." Stein has been following his creative urges for most of his life. The Brooklyn native, who as a teen was rebellious enough to be thrown out of Midwood High School for having long hair, grew up nurturing dual interests in music and visual media. While attending New York's School of Visual Arts, he became active in what would soon emerge as the punk rock movement. "I was just drawn to the downtown music scene," he recalls. "I saw the New York Dolls early on, and it was so exciting and so new. It just seemed like a no-brainer that I would be sucked into all of that. It was the same with photography. This was at the height of the conceptual art period, and for me the conceptual art scene was sort of dry and unromantic, so I gravitated towards photography." Stein's passion for the new music led him to join the early glam combo the Stilettos, which also included singer Deborah Harry. After the Stillettoes broke up, Stein and Harry continued their partnership, launching Blondie just in time to be in the vanguard of the burgeoning scene, alongside the likes of the Ramones, Talking Heads and Television. Even in such heady company, Blondie's stylish blend of girl-group hooks, contemporary energy and lyrical irony stood out. By 1978, Blondie had graduated from cult acclaim to international fame, with Stein demonstrating an impressive ability to funnel his outré sensibility and far-flung interests into accessible musical form. He also took advantage of the band's commercial clout to champion left-of-center projects that he felt strongly about. For example, he launched own label imprint, Animal Records, which released Stein-produced albums by Iggy Pop and the Gun Club, and produced the soundtrack for the landmark hip-hop film Wild Style. Blondie quietly disbanded in the early '80s, and Stein spent several years sidelined by a serious illness. By the end of the decade, he was fully recovered and back in action musically, contributing to Deborah Harry's solo albums, guesting on recordings by Dee Dee Ramone, William S. Burroughs, and the Jazz Passengers, as well as composing music for several films and TV shows, including Tales from the Darkside, Intimate Stranger and John Waters' Polyester. Meanwhile, Stein's photographic images have been featured in album-cover art by acts as diverse as Robert Fripp and Lydia Lunch. A new book of his photography, Chris Stein / Negative: Me, Blondie, and the Advent of Punk, is being published by Rizzoli International in September 2014 and available now for preorder. In 1999, Blondie returned to active duty as a recording and touring act, releasing a series of acclaimed new albums, most recently Ghosts of Download (out now) and before that, 2011′s Panic of Girls and touring around the world to rapturous receptions from old and new fans alike. Since reactivating Blondie, Stein, Harry and longtime bandmate Clem Burke have continued the band's longstanding tradition of tuneful subversion. "When Blondie started up again, we didn't really have much of a plan, other than deciding that we were gonna move forward and do new music, and not just rest on our laurels," Stein asserts, adding, "Contrary to what a lot of people assumed, there was never really a lot of conceptualizing or planning with Blondie. We've always kind of just done what felt right at the time, and we've continued doing that.