Pretenders
The Pretenders are a British-American rock band formed in March 1978. The original band consisted of founder and main songwriter Chrissie Hynde (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), James Honeyman-Scott (lead guitar, keyboards), Pete Farndon (bass guitar) and Martin Chambers (drums).
Hynde was born September 7, 1951 in Akron, Ohio, United States, the daughter of a part-time secretary and a Yellow Pages manager and grew up in nearby Cuyahoga Falls.
Hynde became interested in hippie counterculture, Eastern mysticism, and vegetarianism. While attending Kent State University’s Art School for three years, she joined Sat. Sun. Mat., a band which included Mark Mothersbaugh, later of Devo. Hynde was also caught up in the Kent State massacre on May 4, 1970, in which the boyfriend of one of her friends was among the four victims.
In May 1973, Hynde moved to London. With her art background, she got a job in an architectural firm but left after eight months. It was then that she met rock journalist Nick Kent and landed a position at the New Musical Express (NME). Afterwards Hynde got a job at Malcolm McLaren and Vivienne Westwood’s clothing store, Sex.
At one point she tried to convince Steve Jones and then Johnny Rotten of the Sex Pistols, (who were managed by McLaren) to marry her to get her a work permit. Hynde’s version of this episode has it that Rotten “offered to go to a registry office with me and do the unmentionable” but when he subsequently withdrew, Sid Vicious volunteered to take his place.
In late 1976, Hynde responded to an advertisement in Melody Maker for band members and attended an audition for the band that would become 999. Jon Moss (who would later be in Culture Club) and Tony James of Generation X also auditioned. Later, Hynde tried to start a group with Mick Jones from the Clash .
In 1978, Hynde made a demo tape and gave it to Dave Hill, owner of the label Real Records. Hill stepped in to manage her career advising Hynde to take her time and get a band together. In the spring of 1978, Hynde met bass guitarist Pete Farndon and they selected a band consisting of James Honeyman-Scott and Martin Chambers.
The name the Pretenders was inspired by the Sam Cooke version of the Platters’ 1955 R&B hit song “The Great Pretender”.
They recorded a demo tape which included The Kinks cover, “Stop Your Sobbing”. Hynde’s friend Nick Lowe, produced the single “Stop Your Sobbing”/”The Wait” and The Pretenders performed their first gig at a club in Paris. The single was released in January 1979 and hit No.33 in the UK. A second single “Kid” followed to similar success in July 1979. In November 1979, the Pretenders released their first signature single “Brass in Pocket” in the UK, which hit UK number 1 on January 19, 1980, the same date as their eponymous first album.
In 1982, Hynde and Ray Davies planned to marry but “the guy in the registry office took one look at us and suggested we come back another time”. In 1983, Hynde had a daughter, Natalie, with Davies. She married Jim Kerr, lead singer of Simple Minds, in 1984. Together they had a daughter, Yasmin, in 1985 and divorced in 1990.
Due to Farndon’s escalating drug abuse, he was fired from the band after a meeting between Hynde, Honeyman-Scott, and Chambers on 14 June 1982. Two days later, on 16 June 1982, Honeyman-Scott died of heart failure as a result of cocaine intolerance. While in the midst of forming a new band, Farndon was found dead by his wife on 14 April 1983. After taking heroin and passing out, he had drowned in his bathtub.
Hynde then set up a more permanent lineup for the band, keeping Chambers and adding Robbie McIntosh on guitar and Malcolm Foster on bass. “Middle of the Road” was this line-up’s first single, released in the US in November 1983. In July 1985, the band played at Live Aid.
The Pretenders hit songs include “Kid” (1979), “Brass in Pocket” (1979), “Talk of the Town” (1980), “Message of Love” (1981), “My City Was Gone” (1982), “Back on the Chain Gang” (1982), “Middle of the Road” (1983), “2000 Miles” (1983), “Don’t Get Me Wrong” (1986), “My Baby” (1986) and “I’ll Stand by You” (1994).
Hynde’s most popular non-Pretenders collaboration with another artist, chartwise, was her 1985 collaboration with UB40 on a cover of Sonny and Cher‘s “I Got You Babe”. The track topped the UK singles chart and went Top 30 on the Billboard chart.
Hynde sang a duet with INXS on their album Full Moon, Dirty Hearts in 1993 and recorded a duet with Frank Sinatra on Sinatra’s 1994 album Duets II. They performed the song “Luck Be a Lady”. Also, in 1995, Hynde sang a cover of “Love Can Build a Bridge” with Cher and Neneh Cherry which featured Eric Clapton on guitar.
On 10 April 1999, Hynde led the memorial concert “Here, There and Everywhere – A Concert for Linda” for her late close friend Linda McCartney at the Royal Albert Hall, London, organised by Hynde and Carla Lane. Pretenders were the backing band for all artists.
On 3 September 2022, The Pretenders performed at the Taylor Hawkins Tribute Concert at Wembley Stadium with Dave Grohl on bass. They performed “Precious”, “Tattooed Love Boys” and “Brass in Pocket”.
