Blondie will release High Noon, their first album of new music in nine years, on February 26, 2027, through BMG. It is the last Blondie record with co-founding drummer Clem Burke, who died in April 2025, and its first single, "Spectral Eyes," was written by Johnny Marr.
The band announced the album on October 15, 2026, and released "Spectral Eyes" the same day.
High Noon: quick facts
- Release date: Friday, February 26, 2027
- Label: BMG
- Album number: 12th studio album; first new material since Pollinator (2017)
- Lead single: "Spectral Eyes," written by Johnny Marr, out now
- Producer: John Congleton, with additional production and mixing by David Wrench
- Guests: Johnny Marr, Glen Matlock (Sex Pistols), Zach Condon (Beirut), Jess Wolfe and Holly Laessig (Lucius)
- Tracks: 13
- Tour: none announced
Is High Noon Blondie's final album?
It is Clem Burke's final album, not necessarily Blondie's. Some headlines have blurred that.
The sessions, which started in New York City in 2022, became Burke's last recordings with the band he joined in 1975. He died of cancer in April 2025. Blondie have not said High Noon will be their last record, and Debbie Harry and Chris Stein have announced no farewell.
"It's been a long, strange ride, and somehow here we are with another Blondie album," Stein said.
What does High Noon sound like?
"This album is classic Blondie," Harry said, "an amalgamation of all our different influences and eras into something new."
That fits the band's history of jumping genres, from punk to disco to reggae to early hip-hop. Consequence describes "Spectral Eyes" as bright and hooky, built on Marr's clean guitar lines. The album is said to move between punk, rock, dance, pop and Latin rhythms.
Working with Congleton, the band mostly played together in one room, rather than building tracks piece by piece.
Who plays on High Noon?
The guest list leans on old friends and younger admirers:
- Johnny Marr, formerly of The Smiths, wrote "Spectral Eyes" and plays guitar on it. He also appeared on Pollinator.
- Glen Matlock, the original Sex Pistols bassist, wrote "Sleepwalking."
- Zach Condon of Beirut.
- Jess Wolfe and Holly Laessig of Lucius.
Two songs reach back into the band's past. Stein wrote "Heartbreak Kid" with Johnny Thunders of the New York Dolls in mind. "Little Metal Drummer" revisits a song from co-founding keyboardist Jimmy Destri's 1981 solo album, Heart on a Wall, on which Harry and Burke originally appeared.
High Noon tracklist
- Spectral Eyes
- Heartbreak Kid
- Come Back Home
- Tambo Tambo
- Man Who Had No Face
- The End
- Little Metal Drummer
- Sleepwalking
- Whistle Into the Wind
- Antifreeze
- East of Eden
- Bad Underwear
- Ah, Sunflower, Weary of Time
Who was Clem Burke?
Burke was the engine behind Blondie for half a century. He joined in 1975, played on Parallel Lines and the run of hits that followed, and was there for the band's 1999 comeback. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with Blondie in 2006.
High Noon is the last time fans will hear him drum on a Blondie record.
Why Blondie still matter
Blondie came out of the same downtown New York scene as the Ramones and Talking Heads. "Heart of Glass" from 1978's Parallel Lines became a US No. 1 and a rare punk-to-disco crossover; "Call Me" and "Rapture" followed, the last often cited as the first US No. 1 to feature rap.
The band split in 1982, reunited in 1997, and scored a UK No. 1 with "Maria" in 1999. Pollinator, also produced by Congleton, came out in 2017 with guests including Charli XCX, Sia, Joan Jett and Marr.
What to watch
More singles before February, and the short film Rob Roth is making with the band.
Tour dates. None have been announced.
Who plays drums live without Burke, if the band does tour.
Published Sunday, October 18, 2026. Album details and quotes are from Blondie's announcement as reported by Consequence, Ultimate Classic Rock and Best Classic Bands.
