Blondie founder Chris Stein is reporting new health issues but sounds upbeat.
He writes on Twitter: I’m yet again sorry to report that I won’t make it to our scheduled speaking engagements in the UK. This year I’ve been dealing with a prostate cancer diagnosis on top of my regular bullshit heart ailments. As a result I’m more fried than usual. I’m still working on various projects while spending a lot of time in sweatpants at home with my wife Barbara, kids and animals. Luckily this thing was caught early and I have access to great healthcare resources at NewYork-Presbyterian…I’ve done radiation and hormone treatment, PSA levels are under one, and I suspect the latter is why I’m more fatigued. Doctor says I should be ‘back to baseline’ soon enough and that the treatment is going according to plan….I’m thinking of all of you. Thanks so much for supporting xxx”
Stein is 73. He and Debbie Harry founded Blondie in 1974, becoming one of the first successful punk-New Wave bands along with the New York Dolls, Television, and the Ramones. But Blondie was sort of ‘it’– and they began having hits circa 1979 with “Heart of Glass.” They took off like a rocket and never looked back, becoming iconic for their sound and look.
Blondie is playing tonight and tomorrow night in Bogota, Columbia and has dates lined up this spring. Stein doesn’t say if he’s with them or how this affects his touring. But Godspeed– sending best wishes to one of the great geniuses of rock and roll!
