Clem Burke, the drummer whose backbeats powered Blondie to huge chart success across several decades, has died aged 70.

Burke’s bandmates Debbie Harry and Chris Stein said he had died after “a private battle with cancer”, in a tribute posted to Instagram.

They added: “Clem was not just a drummer; he was the heartbeat of Blondie. His talent, energy and passion for music were unmatched, and his contributions to our sound and success are immeasurable … His vibrant spirit, infectious enthusiasm and rock solid work ethic touched everyone who had the privilege of knowing him.”

Burke was one of only three band members, alongside Harry and Stein, to play on every one of Blondie’s 11 studio albums. Together the group defined the American new wave sound of the 1970s and 1980s, scoring six UK No 1 hits and four in the US, including Heart of Glass and The Tide Is High.

Alongside his work with Blondie, Burke played in supergroups such as the International Swingers, Slinky Vagabond and Magic Christian, and guested with artists as varied as Ramones, Eurythmics, Bob Dylan and Nancy Sinatra.

Born and raised in Bayonne, New Jersey, Burke tinkered with local covers groups and a drum corps before moving to New York, auditioning for Blondie in 1975 to replace the band’s original drummer, Billy O’Connor. “My quest was to find my David Bowie, my Jim Morrison or my Mick Jagger to front a band,” he said in 2022. “I was emphatic about that. I needed to work with people that I felt had that sort of charisma and creativity.”

He had previously auditioned for Patti Smith, for the band that would end up recording her debut album Horses. “She asked me who my favourite drummer was … I said John Bonham, and I think that might’ve been the wrong answer,” he remembered.

Blondie released their debut single, X-Offender, in 1976 but success took a little time to arrive, with Stein and Harry later crediting Burke as the motivating force in the band, convincing Harry not to quit. “He really wanted to get out of New Jersey,” she said.

Their first chart success came overseas, in Australia then the UK, with songs such as Denis and Hanging on the Telephone, but the group swept to global fame in 1979, including in their native US, with Heart of Glass. It was powered by a drum machine but Burke was sanguine about this development: “It was threatening, I suppose, at first, but I’ve never really found myself in the situation where a drum machine was going to take over,” he later said.

Like the whole band, Burke drew on the cosmopolitanism of late-70s New York, playing high-tempo punkish rhythms or sensual, swaggering disco with equal charisma. “We all had a common aesthetic, whether it be the New York Dolls, or the Velvet Underground, or the Shangri-Las,” he said. Hits continued with Call Me – introduced by a tumbling yet precise Burke drum fill – as well as Atomic, a masterclass in cymbal impact, and The Tide is High, the band’s foray into reggae. The three singles were back-to-back No 1s in the UK.

The group’s success tailed off with their 1982 album, The Hunter, and they split later that year. Burke took high-profile sessions with the likes of Bob Dylan, Pete Townshend (“a real gentleman … a dream come true”, Burke said) and Joan Jett. He also worked with the former Sex Pistols guitarist Steve Jones in the supergroup Chequered Past and later joined another Pistols-related supergroup, the International Swingers, with Glen Matlock.

He played live with Ramones – “not a happy place to be” – and formed various other supergroups and rock’n’roll outfits including the Empty Hearts. His connection with Iggy Pop began when Blondie toured with him in the late 1970s – Burke later toured in his backing band, and in recent years Burke performed Pop’s Lust For Life album on tour with Matlock and Katie Puckrik. He even appeared with a Blondie tribute act, Bootleg Blondie, while his career with the band itself continued.

Blondie reformed for gigs in 1997, and triumphantly returned to the studio: the 1999 album No Exit reached No 3 in the UK and contained another No 1 single, Maria. They continued touring and released four more studio albums.

Among those paying tribute to Burke was another of his creative partners, Nancy Sinatra, who wrote: “My heart is shattered. Clem became an icon as a member of Blondie, but he was also a important part of my band, the KAB. I was blessed to call him my friend. If I ever needed him, he was there.”

Gerald Casale of Devo said: “His unmatched style and New York City ‘cool’ set the performance standard for decades.”