“Well, I just wasn’t worried about being famous,” she says about her longevity. Still, she speaks with humility when peppered with questions, as if channeling an athlete asked about smashing a game-winning homerun rather than asked about smashing disused beer cans. One fan buys her a vodka cranberry, others line up for selfies. Dressed in a gold-sequined top with a silver tiara, she removes her sunglasses in a flourish as she poses for the crowd - and a bank of cameras filming for her YouTube channel, “The Clermont Chronicles.”īlondie is soaking in the attention. Word had spread that she’d arrived, and her fans tensed with applause that would evaporate each time a wayward bartender or confused hotel guest stepped out.įinally, after an appropriate amount of dramatic buildup, Blondie shows up about an hour after her party started. Organizers joked they weren’t exactly sure how fashionably late she would arrive.Īs the thud-thud-thud of the DJ’s playlist filled the air, a small crowd gathered around a gold-colored elevator to wait for Blondie. Her friends carefully arranged bouquets of purple-and-silver balloons along with a cake adorned with shards of Pabst Blue Ribbon beer cans, the calling cards of another smashed beer. Her anniversary brought dozens of those fans to the hotel’s rooftop bar. RELATED: Lady Gaga talks Clermont Lounge (and Blondie) on 'Tonight Show'īeyond her bosom-bending abilities, Blondie’s witty poetry and platinum wig have helped build a loyal following - and a place on many lists of Atlanta’s must-see, if quirky, attractions.
Her personal life and advocacy for gay rights is the topic of a 2014 film, "AKA Blondie," by local director Jon Watts. Since then she's danced for such celebrities as Kid Rock and Marilyn Manson (she says her favorite was the late TV host Anthony Bourdain), was immortalized in a comic book and featured in a coffee-table tome. She started dancing at the Clermont Lounge roughly four decades ago, and never left. Born Anita Ray Strange in Ohio, Blondie started dancing when she was 19 in Indiana before alighting for the warmer weather of the South.
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