Women’s History Month: Chrissie Hynde

Photo by Michael Ochs/Getty Images

This week we continue to celebrate Women’s History Month by featuring one of the most prominent women in rock ‘n’ roll history...Chrissie Hynde of The Pretenders. As a frontwoman for the iconic band, Hynde was yet another female musician who proved women could do as much for rock ‘n’ roll as any man ever could.

Chrissie Hynde was born in Akron, Ohio on September 7th, 1951 and grew very fond of rock ‘n’ roll during her youth. In 1973, she moved to London to check out the new punk scene that was developing. Eventually, she tried to form a band in France but it fell through so she joined The Frenchies as their lead singer. By 1976, she moved back to London to dive deeper into the punk wave.

In London, Hynde kept barley missing her break and she hopped around bands from 999 to Masters of the Backside to The Moors Murderers who all failed to take off. However, everything turned around when she met bassist Pete Farndon and the two formed the band The Pretenders with a few other musicians. A the start of 1979, they released their single Stop Your Sobbing which became a hit that set off their fame as they began touring the world. When they released their debut album Pretenders on January 7th, 1980 the band officially became a rock ‘n’ roll staple.

By merging rock, punk, and pop Hynde proved that women belonged in every genre and there was no territory they shouldn’t explore. She serves as an inspiration to women in music, along with any woman trying to accomplish a goal.

Watch Chrissie Hynde perform Brass In Pocket with The Pretenders live in 1979 here: