Chrissie Hynde is an American rock singer-songwriter, guitarist and the founder and leader of The Pretenders, a band she helps establish in the late 1970s and remains the only constant member of. Born Christine Ellen Hynde in Akron, Ohio, she grows up in the city and graduates from Firestone High School before studying at Kent State University’s Art School for three years. While at Kent State, she is on campus during the Kent State shootings.

Early life and move to London

Hynde is the daughter of a part-time secretary and a telephone company worker. As a teenager she is drawn to music, frequenting gigs in Cleveland and becoming interested in counterculture, psychotropic drugs, eastern mysticism and vegetarianism. She works a range of jobs to support herself before moving from Ohio to London in 1973. There she works in an architectural firm for eight months, then meets music journalist Nick Kent and takes a writing job at NME. She later works at Malcolm McLaren and Vivienne Westwood’s SEX shop, where she is dismissed after an altercation with a customer.

Formation of The Pretenders

After attempts to form bands in France and later in London, Hynde joins and is then dropped from several early punk groups, including Masters of the Backside, which becomes The Damned. A demo tape reaches Real Records owner Dave Hill, who begins managing her and clears her rehearsal-room rent in Covent Garden. In 1978 she meets bassist Pete Farndon through a mutual friend, and the pair begin rehearsing together. They are joined by James Honeyman-Scott and Martin Chambers, and the group takes the name The Pretenders, inspired by The Platters’ song “The Great Pretender”.

The band records a demo including “Precious”, “The Wait” and a version of the Kinks’ “Stop Your Sobbing”, then gives it to Nick Lowe, who produces their first single. “Stop Your Sobbing/The Wait” is released in 1979 and reaches the UK Top 30. The Pretenders’ first album follows, and “Brass in Pocket” becomes a chart hit in the UK and the US. Over time, the line-up changes because of deaths and internal conflicts, but Hynde remains the central figure. Martin Chambers later returns to the band.

Style and influence

Hynde plays a Fender Telecaster and becomes known as an early successful female bandleader in punk and new wave. Her image, musical approach and direct interview style help make her influential for later generations of women musicians. She also gives Sid Vicious his trademark lock necklace.

Collaborations and other work

Beyond The Pretenders, Hynde records with a wide range of artists. Her duet with UB40 on “I Got You Babe” and her collaboration with Cheap Trick on “Walk Away” both achieve popular success. She appears on INXS’s Full Moon, Dirty Hearts, sings on Moodswings’ “State of Independence Part II” from Moodfood, and records a duet with Frank Sinatra on “Luck Be a Lady” for Duets II. She also works with Sheryl Crow on “If It Makes You Happy” at a concert in Central Park, collaborates with Incubus on “Neither Of Us Can See” for the Stealth soundtrack, and records “Cry (If You Don’t Mind)” with Jarabe de Palo. In 2005 she duets with Ringo Starr on “Don’t Hang Up”, and she supplies vocals for Tube & Berger’s dance track “Straight Ahead”, which gives her a US number one on the Billboard charts.

Hynde also appears in acting work, including an appearance on the US television comedy Friends, and provides the voice for the clouded leopard in Rugrats Go Wild, where she sings with Bruce Willis. She is mentioned in Terence Trent D’Arby’s “Penelope Please”.

Personal life and activism

Hynde has a daughter, Natalie Ray, with Ray Davies of The Kinks, and later enters a long-term relationship with him. She marries musician Jim Kerr of Simple Minds in 1984 and has a daughter, Yasmin, with him in 1985; they divorce in 1990. In 1997 she marries artist Lucho Brieva, and they live in London until separating in 2002. She is also known as an animal rights activist and supports PETA.

Later activities

In 2004 Hynde spends time in São Paulo, Brazil, playing with Moreno Veloso on an informal tour that continues until December of that year. She buys a flat in the Copan Building in downtown São Paulo. Her recorded work also includes releases on Hynde House of Hits Music.