Blondie
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50 free Blondie trivia questions with answers — music quiz, new questions added Oct 2026.
Blondie came out of the mid-1970s New York punk scene and ended up selling more than 40 million records. With Debbie Harry out front and Chris Stein on guitar, the band refused to stick to one sound, moving from punk and girl-group melodies to disco, reggae and hip-hop, and scoring number one hits on both sides of the Atlantic. This quiz follows the whole story. There are questions on the songs everyone knows, such as Heart of Glass and The Tide Is High, on where those songs came from and who first recorded them, and on the albums, videos and film roles that made Harry one of the most recognizable faces in music. You will also meet the bandmates, producers and famous friends who passed through along the way. It is pitched for casual listeners as much as dedicated fans. If you can hum the big singles you will get plenty right, and every explanation adds a story you may not have heard.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Which Blondie single, the first US number one with a hip-hop verse, name-checks Fab 5 Freddy?
Rapture
Rapture carried hip-hop to the top of the Billboard Hot 100, and its video became the first rap video ever broadcast on MTV.
Q 02Which passers-by shouted the catcall at Debbie Harry that gave the New York band Blondie its name?
Truck drivers
Truck drivers yelled "Hey, Blondie" at Harry as they drove past, and by October 1974 the group, first billed as Angel and the Snake, had made the name its own.
Q 03Which Blondie theme for the Richard Gere film American Gigolo was Billboard's number one single of 1980?
Call Me
Call Me spent six straight weeks at number one in America, and Debbie Harry says she wrote its words in just a few hours.
Q 04Chris Stein wrote the Blondie hit 'Sunday Girl' about which runaway pet belonging to Debbie Harry?
A cat
A cat named Sunday Man had recently run away from Harry, which is why Stein's tune for the UK number one sounds so plaintive.
Q 05Which soft drink did Blondie want to name their 1980 album after, until the drink's maker said no?
Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola sounded "very American" to guitarist Chris Stein, but the company turned the idea down and the record needed a new title.
Q 06Which Blondie song did Debbie Harry base on an ex-boyfriend who stalked her after they broke up?
One Way or Another
One Way or Another turned a frightening episode into pop: Harry said the man's relentless pursuit forced her to move out of New Jersey.
Q 07In which country did Blondie score a first hit after the TV show Countdown aired the wrong song by mistake?
Australia
Australia took to the ballad 'In the Flesh' when it was shown in place of the band's punkier A-side, sending it to number two in 1977.
Q 08Which Bee Gees hit has the drum pattern that Blondie's drummer tried to copy on 'Heart of Glass'?
Stayin' Alive
Stayin' Alive gave Clem Burke the groove he was chasing, and he said the German group Kraftwerk inspired the revamped song too.
Q 09Which 1999 comeback single gave Blondie a sixth UK number one, twenty years after 'Heart of Glass'?
Maria
Maria went straight in at number one in February 1999; its writer was thinking back to his Catholic school days and his idea of the perfect girl.
Q 10Which 1978 Blondie album contains 'Heart of Glass' and became the band's biggest seller worldwide?
Parallel Lines
Parallel Lines sold around 20 million copies, yet the band had rejected its now-famous cover photo; their manager chose it anyway.
Q 11Which New York painter played the DJ in a 1981 Blondie video after Grandmaster Flash failed to show?
Basquiat
Basquiat stepped in behind the turntables, and that same year he sold his first painting to Debbie Harry for $200.
Q 12Which producer of Donna Summer's disco hits composed the music for Blondie's theme to a 1980 Richard Gere film?
Giorgio Moroder
Giorgio Moroder handed Debbie Harry an instrumental titled 'Man Machine', and she wrote the words from the viewpoint of the film's lead character.
Q 13Blondie drummer Clem Burke played two 1987 gigs with the Ramones under which borrowed first name?
Elvis
Elvis Ramone was his billing for shows in Providence and Trenton, where he filled the drum stool after Richie Ramone's sudden departure.
Q 21Before forming Blondie, Debbie Harry spent a year as a secretary in the New York office of which broadcaster?
BBC
BBC Radio hired Harry soon after she moved to New York in the late 1960s, before her singing career began; she later waited tables and worked as a Playboy Bunny.
Q 22Blondie's Debbie Harry was adopted and raised in New Jersey after being born in which Florida city?
Miami
Miami was where she was born Angela Trimble; adopted at three months, she grew up as Deborah Harry in Hawthorne, New Jersey.
Q 23Which progressive rock guitarist guests on 'Fade Away and Radiate' from Blondie's 1978 breakthrough album?
Robert Fripp
Robert Fripp, the leader of King Crimson, makes his guest appearance on a record that also holds the hits 'Heart of Glass' and 'Sunday Girl'.
Q 14Which 1960s vocal trio featuring John Holt first recorded 'The Tide Is High', later a Blondie chart-topper?
The Paragons
The Paragons released it on their 1967 album On the Beach; Blondie's cover added horns and strings and went to number one in both the US and the UK.
Q 15Which Blondie album pairs 'The Tide Is High' with a torch song from the Broadway musical Camelot?
Autoamerican
Autoamerican was recorded in Los Angeles, far from the band's New York home, and also takes in acoustic jazz and an avant-garde instrumental.
Q 16Chris Stein has described the Blondie single 'Dreaming' as "pretty much a cop" of which ABBA hit?
Dancing Queen
Dancing Queen was the model, Stein admitted, though he was unsure whether the band started there or simply ended up sounding like it.
Q 17Blondie took the title of the 1999 comeback album No Exit from a play by which French philosopher?
Jean-Paul Sartre
Jean-Paul Sartre's play appealed to Chris Stein for its idea that madness lies in groups rather than individuals, an apt thought for a band getting back together.
Q 18Which designer of the creature in Alien made the cover for KooKoo, the solo debut by Blondie's Debbie Harry?
H. R. Giger
H. R. Giger pictured Harry's face pierced by metal skewers, a look she described as a mix of punk, acupuncture and sci-fi.
Q 19In which 1988 John Waters film did Blondie's Debbie Harry play the scheming mother Velma Von Tussle?
Hairspray
Hairspray could have featured her music as well: Harry says John Waters wanted her to perform for the film, but her record label objected.
Q 20Blondie's Debbie Harry starred opposite James Woods in which 1983 body horror film by David Cronenberg?
Videodrome
Videodrome cast Harry as radio host Nicki Brand, who goes to audition for the sinister broadcast of the title and never returns.
Q 24Which Los Angeles-based power pop trio first recorded 'Hanging on the Telephone' before Blondie's 1978 cover?
The Nerves
The Nerves' guitarist Jack Lee wrote the song, and Blondie's version opens with a ringing phone effect added by their producer.
Q 25Which 1950s rock and roll star's 'I'm Gonna Love You Too' did Blondie cover as a 1978 American single?
Buddy Holly
Buddy Holly's song was the label's pick to launch the album in America, which proved a miscalculation: the single failed to chart.
Q 26Which Johnny Cash classic did Blondie perform in the 1980 Meat Loaf film Roadie?
Ring of Fire
Ring of Fire got the new wave treatment during the band's bit part, and the live recording went onto the film's soundtrack.
Q 27Which singer performed the Bond theme 'For Your Eyes Only' after a Blondie song of that name went unused?
Sheena Easton
Sheena Easton sang the theme co-written by Bill Conti, while Blondie's own 'For Your Eyes Only' ended up on their 1982 album The Hunter.
Q 28Which Scottish singer gave the speech inducting Blondie into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2006?
Shirley Manson
Shirley Manson of Garbage did the honors, at a ceremony where a former guitarist asked on stage to be allowed to play with the band and was refused.
Q 29Which singer was first choice for the American Gigolo theme before Debbie Harry of Blondie took the job?
Stevie Nicks
Stevie Nicks of Fleetwood Mac had to say no because of a newly signed record contract, so the film's composer turned to Harry instead.
Q 30Which Blondie hit, sung partly in French, reworked a 1963 doo-wop song by Randy & the Rainbows?
Denis
Denis dropped the final 'e' of the original's title to address a French boy, and Debbie Harry partly improvised her French verse.