Book cover for Under a Rock: A Memoir by Chris Stein

Under a Rock

A Memoir

2024 Released
304 Pages
7-8 Hours
Paperback Unavailable
Hardback Unavailable
St. Martin's PressISBN 9781250286734

Foreword by Debbie Harry
"A Downtown Memory" by Romy Ashby


Debbie Harry defined iconic band Blondie’s look. Chris Stein—her performing partner, lover, and lifelong friend—was its architect and defined its sound. “Parallel Lines”, their third album, catapulted to #1, sold 20 million copies, and launched singles like “Heart of Glass”, "Hangin' On the Telephone," and “One Way or Another”, providing the beat when Bianca Jagger and Halston danced at Studio 54 and the soundtrack to every 1970’s punk-soundtracked romance.

Chris Stein knows how to tell a story. Under A Rock is his nothing-spared autobiography. It's about the founding of the band, ascending to the heights of pop success, and the hazards of fortune.

Famous names march through these pages—Warhol, Bowie, Jean-Michel Basquiat, and more–but you can get famous names anywhere. What you can’t get anywhere else is a plunge into the moments that made a giant 1980's artistic sensation. Stein takes us there in this revelatory, propulsive, distinctive memoir.

Chris Stein

CHRIS STEIN is the co-founder, songwriter and guitarist of the iconic band Blondie. Chris’ photographs have been featured in galleries and press around the world, and published in Negative: Me, Blondie, and the Advent of Punk (Rizzoli). Beyond his era-defining music with Blondie, he has collaborated with a host of artists over the years, including Andy Warhol, Jean-Michel Basquiat, William Burroughs, Devo, Glenn O’Brien, and Shepard Fairey. He lives in New York City.

More by Chris Stein

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