Background and career
Christine Ellen Hynde (born September 7, 1951) is an American-British singer, songwriter, and musician. She is a founding member of the rock band the Pretenders and is the band's lead vocalist, guitarist, and primary songwriter. Hynde is the band's only original member and is the only continuous member of the Pretenders, having appeared on every studio album released by the band. Hynde formed the Pretenders in Hereford, England, in 1978, with Pete Farndon, James Honeyman-Scott, and Martin Chambers. She has also recorded a number of songs with other musicians, including Frank Sinatra, Cher, and UB40. Hynde recorded her first solo album, Stockholm, in 2014. She was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2005 as a member of the Pretenders.
Hynde was born in Akron, Ohio, United States, the daughter of a part-time secretary and a Yellow Pages manager, and grew up in nearby Cuyahoga Falls. She graduated from Firestone High School in Akron but stated: "I was never too interested in high school. I mean, I never went to a dance, I never went out on a date, I never went steady. It became pretty awful for me. Except, of course, I could go see bands, and that was the kick. I used to go to Cleveland just to see any band. So I was in love a lot of the time, but mostly with guys in bands that I had never met. For me, knowing that Brian Jones was out there, and later that Iggy Pop was out there, made it kind of hard for me to get too interested in the guys that were around me. I had, uh, bigger things in mind."
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 she left after eight months. She met rock journalist Nick Kent and landed a position at the music magazine NME (New Musical Express), writing what she subsequently described as "half-baked philosophical drivel and nonsensical tirades". Afterwards Hynde got a job at Malcolm McLaren and Vivienne Westwood's clothing store, Sex. Hynde attempted to start a band in France, before her return to Cleveland in 1975, and joined a rhythm and blues group, Jack Rabbit. After living in Tucson, she returned to France in 1975 at the invitation of Michael Fradji Memmi, bass player of the Frenchies (fr), which she joined as the singer. She returned to London in 1976 in the midst of the early punk movement. 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. Upon arrival at the registry office the following morning, they found it "closed for an extended holiday" and were unable to attend the following day due to Vicious making a court appearance. 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. After the lack of success with the band, Malcolm McLaren placed her as a guitarist in Masters of the Backside but she was asked to leave the group just as it became the Damned. After a brief spell in the band Johnny Moped, Mick Jones invited Hynde to join his band on their initial tour of Britain. Hynde recollected of that period,
It was great, but my heart was breaking. I wanted to be in a band so bad. And to go to all the gigs, to see it so close up, to be living in it and not to have a band was devastating to me. When I left, I said, "Thanks a lot for lettin' me come along," and I went back and went weeping on the Underground throughout London. All the people I knew in town, they were all in bands. And there I was, like the real loser, you know? Really the loser. Hynde also spent a short time with punk band the Moors Murderers in 1978. Named after a pair of child-killers, the band consisted of future Visage front man Steve Strange on vocals, Vince Ely on drums, with Mark Ryan (a.k.a. the Kid), and Hynde on guitar. The band's name alone was enough to start controversy, and she soon distanced herself from the group. As noted in NME, Hynde said: "I'm not in the group, I only rehearsed with them." She stated: "Steve Strange and Soo Catwoman had the idea for the group, and asked me to help them out on guitar, which I did, even though I was getting my own group together and still am."
In 1978, Hynde made a demo tape and gave it to Dave Hill, owner of the Real Records label. Hill stepped in to manage her career, and began by paying off the back rent owed on her rehearsal room in Covent Garden, London. Hill also advised 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 (guitar, vocals, keyboards) and Martin Chambers (drums, vocals, percussion). 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 (including "Precious", "The Wait," and a Kinks cover, "Stop Your Sobbing"), handed it to Hynde's friend Nick Lowe, produced a single ("Stop Your Sobbing"/"The Wait"), and 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. Both went on to similar chart success worldwide.
The band released an EP album, Extended Play, on March 30, 1981; they released Pretenders II later in the summer. "Talk of the Town" and "Message of Love" were on both. The Pretenders lineup changed repeatedly over the next decade. Honeyman-Scott died of a drug overdose on June 16, 1982, just days after Farndon had been fired from the band. Farndon also died of a drug overdose the following year. After re-forming with a caretaker lineup (Martin Chambers, Billy Bremner, Tony Butler, and Jeremy Allom) for their next single, "Back on the Chain Gang", the band settled down with Robbie McIntosh (guitar) and Malcolm Foster (bass) during the recording of their next album, the worldwide hit Learning to Crawl. Chambers left the band in the mid-1980s before the Get Close album was released in 1986. The album included the hits "Don't Get Me Wrong" and "My Baby." Amidst the ever-changing lineup, Hynde endured as the sole original Pretender until Chambers' return in the mid-1990s. Hynde was the only stable member of the band during this period. In 1994, the band had another hit, the ballad "I'll Stand by You." Hynde continued with the Pretenders into the new century, both in new recording as well as multiple tours worldwide. New Pretenders albums emerged in 2002 (Loose Screw), 2008 (Break Up the Concrete,) and 2016 (Alone). Hynde was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2005 as a member of the Pretenders. The ceremony was held at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in Manhattan, New York City. In 2016, the band collaborated with Dan Auerbach of the Black Keys on the album Alone. This album was released as a Pretenders' album, though Hynde was the only original member to appear on it. The new band also played a concert for the BBC at the Maida Vale studio. In 2016, Hynde and the Pretenders opened for Stevie Nicks. In July 2020, the Pretenders released their 11th studio album Hate for Sale. The album was well received critically and obtained a score of 78 on the critical aggregator Metacritic. On March 9, 2022, Hynde performed a rendition of the Pretenders song "I'll Stand By You" at Night for Ukraine, a fundraising benefit held at the Roundhouse in north London. Funds raised were donated to the Disasters Emergency Committee appeal, to provide aid to people fleeing Ukraine following the Russian invasion. The event was organized by Fabien Riggall in collaboration with the Ukrainian pop duo Bloom Twins. On June 24, 2023, Hynde and the band played the Glastonbury Festival with guest artist Johnny Marr. Dave Grohl also guested on drums for one song.
