Musical Artist - The Pretenders

The Pretenders is a British-American band originally founded in 1978 by Chrissie Hynde, James Honeyman-Scott, Pete Farndon, and Martin Chambers. Honeyman-Scott died in 1982 and Farndon passed away in 1983, and since then the band has had a fluctuating roster of members, with Chrissie Hynde being the sole constant. To a certain extent, the Pretenders really are just Chrissie Hynde and a backing band.

In its early years, the band benefitted from Chrissie Hynde's apparent love of the Kinks, scoring a modest hit with a cover of the Kinks song Stop Your Sobbing. This boost was soon rendered mostly irrelevant (although it resulted in a relationship between Hynde and the Kinks' Ray Davies) when the band hit the top of the U.K. charts with Brass in Pocket, after which Hynde's songwriting and distinctive voice took over and the band turned out a string of hits through the 1980s including Back on the Chain Gang, Middle of the Road, Message of Love, and My Baby. The band remained together in one form or another touring and recording until 2012, when it was temporarily dissolved. Hynde reformed the band in 2016, and they set about touring once again.

The band has a website named the Pretenders. They can also be found on Facebook and Twitter.

Musical Monday Selections:

05/07/18: Brass in Pocket

Musical Monday     Musical Artists - P     Musical Artists A-Z     Home