On this day in 1981, Blondie made music history with their hit song “Rapture.”
The genre-bending track from punk-rock band soared to the top of the BillboardHot 100 on March 28, 1981, where it remained for two consecutive weeks. It was the first No. 1 single in the U.S. to feature rap vocals.
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“Rapture” was released in January 1981 as the second and final single from Blondie’s fifth studio album Autoamerican, which came out in November 1980. Written by band members Debbie Harry and Chris Stein, it became a groundbreaking track, combining a number of genres like new wave, hip-hop, disco and rap.
The song was also accompanied by a now-iconic music video, which was filmed in the East Village in Manhattan in just one take. Directed by Keith MacMillan, the video featured cameos from graffiti artists Lee Quiñones and Jean-Michel Basquiat, as well as Bronx-based hip-hop artist Fab 5 Freddy (Fred Brathwaite.)
“One of the things that strikes me about ‘Rapture’ is that it really was the first in many ways,” Harry told the New York Post in 2021. “It’s funny because at the beginning, I didn’t like [the video] so much—I was probably thinking in a more grandiose kind of style, to get the true atmosphere of the Lower East Side where the train yards are and create something truly wild … But now, I like it.”
Just one day before it officially became a No. 1 hit, “Rapture” was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), meaning it sold more than 500,000 copies.
“Rapture” was one of Blondie’s four career No. 1 hits on the Hot 100, along with 1980’s “Call Me,” which had a 6-week reign, plus 1981’s “The Tide Is High” and 1979’s “Heart of Glass.”
Related: 1977 Timeless Classic Became a No. 1 Hit 49 Years Ago Today
