One of the most significant bands of the popular music era, Blondie, has announced a special date for this summer when they will play Thetford Forest, as part of The Forestry Commission's 2007 Forest Tour.

One of the most significant bands of the popular music era, Blondie, has announced a special date for this summer when they will play Thetford Forest, as part of The Forestry Commission's 2007 Forest Tour.

The legendary group is the third act to be confirmed to play an open air gig at High Lodge, in Santon Downham, near Thetford, and will be performing on Saturday July 14.

The band emerged from New York's celebrated late 1970s new wave punk scene by defying easy categorisation and scored major hits with reggae, rock/disco and hip-hop songs.

Their groundbreaking material brought them a stash of top 10 singles like Denis (Denee), Dreaming, Rapture and No 1's like Heart Of Glass, Sunday Girl, Atomic, Call Me and The Tide Is High.

Fronted by Deborah Harry, arguably the greatest female pop icon of all time, albums like Plastic Letters, Parallel Lines and Eat to the Beat became a statutory part of a record collection for a whole generation.

More recently they topped the charts again with Maria, becoming one of the few bands to score No 1 hits over 3 decades.

Tickets for their Thetford Forest gig, priced £29.50 (subject to booking fee), go on sale at 9.00am on Friday . Call 01842 814612 or visit www.forestry.gov.uk/music or www.seetickets.com

Commenting on the booking for High Lodge, recreation manager Peter Rawlinson said: “With such a catalogue of hits, we are delighted Blondie have confirmed to be part of a very strong Forest Tour line-up for 2007.”