The Pretenders

The Pretenders are an English rock band originally comprised of songwriter Chrissie Hynde, James Honeyman-Scott, Pete Farndon and Martin Chambers. The band has experienced drug-related deaths of the members, and numerous subsequent personnel changes have taken place over the years, with Hynde as the sole continual member.

Hynde was involved with early versions of The Clash and The Damned and played in short-lived bands such as Masters of the Backside and The Moors Murderers. The Pretenders formed in 1978 after Dave Hill at Anchor Records heard some demos of Hynde's music. Hynde then formed a band composed of Pete Farndon on bass, James Honeyman-Scott on guitar, and Gerry Mcilduff on drums.

The band's first single, a cover of The Kinks song "Stop Your Sobbing", was released in January 1979 and gained critical attention. It was followed in June with "Kid," and then in November the band got to #1 in the UK with "Brass in Pocket," which was also successful in the US, reaching #14 on the Billboard Hot 100.

The debut album, Pretenders, was released during January 1980, and was a success in both the United Kingdom and the United States, both critically and commercially. During March 1981, the EP Extended Play was released, containing the UK and US success "Message of Love" and "Talk of the Town" and a live version of "Precious," recorded in Central Park.

The second full-length album, Pretenders II, was released during August 1981. Pretenders II included the Extended Play singles, the MTV video success, "Day After Day," and popular album-radio tracks "The Adultress," "Birds of Paradise," "Bad Boys Get Spanked" and "The English Roses".

During July 1982, just weeks after Honeyman-Scott's death, a caretaker team of Hynde, Chambers, Rockpile guitarist Billy Bremner and Big Country bassist Tony Butler was assembled to record the single "Back on the Chain Gang". The song was released in October, becoming their biggest success in the US, staying at #5 for three consecutive weeks. The single's B-side, "My City Was Gone" is now the theme music for The Rush Limbaugh Show.

Hynde then changed the lineup, keeping Chambers and adding professional musicians Robbie McIntosh on guitar and Malcolm Foster on bass. The band's first album with this lineup, Learning to Crawl, was released during January 1984. "Middle of the Road" was this line-up's first single, released in the US in November 1983 and reached the Top 20 there. The US B-side, "2000 Miles", was released as a single in the UK. The album included a cover version of The Persuaders' "Thin Line Between Love and Hate", which featured Paul Carrack on keyboards. The 1985 Live Aid concert proved to be the last gig for this line-up.

Get Close was released in 1986 which included the Top 10 singles "Don't Get Me Wrong" and "Hymn to Her" a #8 success in the UK. Two new songs, "If There Was a Man" and "Where Has Everybody Gone?" were released on the soundtrack of the Bond film The Living Daylights.

There was a hiatus in musical activity for Hynde until 1990, when Hynde hired session players and released Packed! Hynde was the only person pictured anywhere on the album, and was the only official member of the band. In Canada, the lead single "Never Do That" was a Top 40 success, peaking at #26 but it fared less well elsewhere. By 1993, Hynde had teamed with ex-Katydids guitarist Adam Seymour to form a new version of the Pretenders. Several recordings occurred during 1993, including a cover version of the Jimi Hendrix's "Bold As Love" for the tribute album Stone Free, and a cover of 10cc's "I'm Not In Love" for the film, Indecent Proposal.

When Last of the Independents was released in 1994, it had reasonable overall commercial success, being rated gold in the US. Lead single "Night In My Veins" was a minor success in the US, a mid-chart success in the UK, and a top 10 success in Canada. The second single was the album's centrepiece ballad "I'll Stand by You" and was a top 10 success in the US and UK, and top 20 in Canada.

During 1997, the Pretenders supplied two tracks for the soundtrack of the Ridley Scott film G. I. Jane: "Goodbye" and "The Homecoming". Viva el Amor was released during 1999, as was their collaboration with Tom Jones on the album Reload. A Greatest Hits compilation was released in 2000 and during 2002, Loose Screw was released by Artemis Records with only modest commercial success.

In March 2005, the Pretenders were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Only Hynde and Chambers attended the ceremony. During her acceptance speech, Hynde named and thanked all the replacement members of the group.&nbsp After their Hall of Fame induction, the Pretenders continued touring as a four-part team. In 2005, Rhino Records released the four disc and DVD box set Pirate Radio 1979-2005 which spanned the group's entire career. Two disc remastered versions of the first two albums also came out that year with bonus tracks. During 2007, Rhino remastered both Learning To Crawl and Get Close once again with bonus tracks.

The Pretenders' album Break Up the Concrete was released in October 2008. It was the band's first Top 40 album in the US in twenty two years. Tracks include "Boots of Chinese Plastic", "Don't Cut Your Hair", "Love's a Mystery", "The Last Ride" and "Almost Perfect".

On February 5, 2011, Hynde and the Pretenders performed live on CMT's "Crossroads" with Faith Hill and her band, including songs from both catalogs.

Music Videos

 * 2000 Miles
 * Back on the Chain Gang
 * Brass in Pocket (I'm Special)
 * Day After Day
 * Don't Get Me Wrong
 * Goodbye
 * I Go To Sleep
 * I'll Stand By You
 * I'm Not In Love
 * Kid
 * Know Who Your Friends Are
 * Loving You Is All I Know
 * Message of Love
 * Middle of the Road
 * Night In My Veins
 * Sense of Purpose
 * Show Me
 * Stop Your Sobbing
 * Talk of the Town
 * Tatooed Love Boys
 * Thin Line Between Love and Hate