The Pretenders are a British-American rock band from Hereford. Formed in 1978, the group originally consisted of vocalist and rhythm guitarist Chrissie Hynde, lead guitarist and keyboardist James Honeyman-Scott, bassist Pete Farndon, and drummer Martin Chambers. The band's current lineup includes Hynde and Chambers alongside bassist Nick Wilkinson (since 2005), lead guitarist James Walbourne, pedal steel guitarist Eric Heywood (both since 2008) and keyboardist Carwyn Ellis (since 2017).
The Pretenders were formed in the spring of 1978 by Chrissie Hynde, James Honeyman-Scott, Pete Farndon and Martin Chambers. [1] After the release of Pretenders in 1980 and Pretenders II in 1981, Farndon was fired from the band on 14 June 1982 due to increasing problems with drug abuse, which had led to Honeyman-Scott claiming he would leave if the bassist was not dismissed. [2] Only two days later, however, Honeyman-Scott died as a result of heart failure brought on by a cocaine overdose. Farndon himself would die by drowning in his bathtub after overdosing on heroin a year later. [3] On 20 July, Hynde and Chambers began recording the single "Back on the Chain Gang", written in tribute to Honeyman-Scott, with session musicians Billy Bremner (lead guitar), Robbie McIntosh (rhythm guitar) and Tony Butler (bass). [4] The single was released in October, [5] and later featured on the 1984 album Learning to Crawl . [6]
In February 1983, the Pretenders returned with McIntosh and bassist Malcolm Foster. [7] Learning to Crawl was released in 1984, after which the band remained largely inactive for a year (save for an appearance at Live Aid) as Hynde married Simple Minds frontman Jim Kerr and gave birth to daughter Yasmin. [8] The group returned in early 1986 to record Get Close , but shortly after sessions began Chambers was fired by Hynde due to a deterioration in his drumming ability, which also led to Foster leaving. [9] Chambers and Foster were replaced by Blair Cunningham and T. M. Stevens, respectively, who completed the album's recording and remained for its 1987 tour (keyboardist Bernie Worrell also joined at the same time). [10] Shortly after beginning the tour, however, Hynde dismissed Stevens and Worrell and brought back Rupert Black (who had toured since Learning to Crawl) and Foster, who remained for the rest of the year. [11] Johnny Marr replaced McIntosh in late 1987, [12] before the band went on hiatus. [10]
Hynde returned in 1990 with Packed! , which was credited to the Pretenders only to fulfil a contractual obligation – Hynde was the only credited band member on the album, although Cunningham performed drums on all eleven tracks. [13] In 1993 the band contributed a Jimi Hendrix cover of Bold As Love for the Hendrix tribute album Stone Free. A new full lineup of the band was formed in 1993 when Hynde enlisted guitarist Adam Seymour and, later, bassist Andy Hobson and returning drummer Chambers for Last of the Independents , released in 1994. [10] Zeben Jameson was added as touring keyboardist, and this lineup of the Pretenders remained constant for more than ten years. [14] Hobson was replaced by Nick Wilkinson in 2005, [15] and in 2008 Seymour was replaced by James Walbourne and pedal steel guitarist Eric Heywood, both of whom first featured on Break Up the Concrete . [16]
| Image | Name | Years active | Instruments | Release contributions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chrissie Hynde | 1978–present |
| all The Pretenders releases | |
| Martin Chambers |
|
| all the Pretenders releases except Packed! (1990), Break Up the Concrete (2008), Alone (2016), and Relentless (2023) | |
| Nick Wilkinson | 2005–present |
| all releases from Break Up the Concrete (2008) onwards, except Relentless (2023) | |
| Eric Heywood | 2008–present |
| ||
| James Walbourne |
| all releases from Break Up the Concrete (2008) onwards | ||
| Carwyn Ellis | 2022–present (touring 2012, 2017–2021) |
| Relentless (2023) |
| Image | Name | Years active | Instruments | Release contributions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| James Honeyman-Scott | 1978–1982 (until his death) |
|
| |
| Pete Farndon | 1978–1982 (died 1983) |
| ||
| Robbie McIntosh | 1983–1987 |
|
| |
| Malcolm Foster |
|
|
| |
| Blair Cunningham | 1986–1993 |
|
| |
| T. M. Stevens | 1986–1987 (died 2024) | bass | Get Close (1986) | |
| Johnny Marr | 1987 | lead guitar | "The Windows of the World" (1988) | |
| Adam Seymour | 1993–2008 |
| all the Pretenders releases from Last of the Independents (1994) to Loose in L.A. (2003) | |
| Andy Hobson | 1993–2005 |
|
| Image | Name | Years active | Instruments | Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chris Thomas | 1983 | keyboards | After producing the band's debut album, Thomas played keyboards at both 1983 Pretenders shows. [17] | |
| Rupert Black |
| Black took over from Thomas after the release of Learning to Crawl from 1984, remaining until 1986. [18] | ||
| Bernie Worrell | 1987 (died 2016) | Worrell performed on Get Close and became a part of the Pretenders touring lineup for subsequent shows. [10] | ||
| Zeben Jameson | 1994–2006 |
| Jameson was the Pretenders' touring keyboardist from their reformation in 1994 to his departure in 2006. [14] |
| Image | Name | Years active | Instruments | Release contributions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Geoff Bryant |
| French horn |
| |
| Henry Lowther | trumpet | |||
| Jim Wilson | ||||
| Chris Mercer | saxophone | |||
| Fred Berk | 1978–1979 | bass guitar | Pretenders (1979) | |
| Gerry Mackelduff | drums | |||
| Nigel Pegrum | ||||
| Billy Bremner |
|
|
| |
| Tony Butler | 1982–1983 | bass guitar | Learning to Crawl (1984) | |
| Paul Carrack |
| |||
| Andrew Bodnar |
| |||
| John McKenzie |
|
| ||
| Chucho Merchán | 1986 | bass | Get Close (1986) | |
| Bruce Thomas | ||||
| Malcolm Foster | ||||
| Carlos Alomar | percussion | |||
| Bruce Brody | organ | |||
| Mel Gaynor | drums | |||
| Simon Phillips | ||||
| Steve Jordan |
| |||
| Tommy Mandel | synthesizer | |||
| Patrick Seymour | ||||
| Paul Wickens |
| |||
| L. Shankar | violin | |||
| Tchad Blake | 1990 | guitar | Packed! (1990) | |
| David Rhodes | ||||
| Mitchell Froom | keyboards | |||
| Dominic Miller |
| |||
| Will MacGregor |
| |||
| Tony "Gad" Robinson | ||||
| Duane Delano Verh | bass guitar | |||
| Tim Finn | backing vocals | |||
| Mark Hart | ||||
| Teo Miller | ||||
| Adey Wilson | ||||
| Tom Kelly |
|
|
| |
| Ian Stanley | 1994 |
| Last of the Independents (1994) | |
| J.F.T. Hood |
| |||
| Jim Copley | drums | |||
| Andy Rourke | bass guitar | |||
| David Paton | ||||
| London Gospel Choir | choir | |||
| David Lord | string arrangement | |||
| Jeff Beck | 1999 | guitar | ¡Viva El Amor! (1999) | |
| David Johansen | vocals | |||
| Andy Duncan |
| |||
| Stephen Hague |
| |||
| Chuck Norman |
| |||
| Lindsay Edwards | keyboards | |||
| Preston Heyman | percussion | |||
| Jules Shear | backing vocals | |||
| John Metcalfe |
| |||
| Louisa Fuller | violin | |||
| Richard Koster | violin | |||
| Ivan McCready | cello | |||
| Kevin Bacon | 2001–2002 | bass | Loose Screw (2002) | |
| Jonathan Quarmby | keyboards | |||
| Colin Elliot | percussion | |||
| Mark "Wiff" Smith | ||||
| Priscilla Jones | backing vocals | |||
| Mark Sheridan | ||||
| The Duke Quartet |
| |||
| Kick Horns | brass | |||
| Jim Keltner | 2008 |
| Break Up the Concrete (2008) | |
| Dan Auerbach | 2016 |
| Alone (2016) | |
| Duane Eddy | guitar | |||
| Kenny Vaughan | ||||
| Russ Pahl | pedal steel | |||
| Dave Roe | upright bass | |||
| Leon Michels | keyboards | |||
| Richard Swift |
|
| Period | Members | Releases |
|---|---|---|
| Spring 1978 – June 1982 |
|
|
| June 1982 – February 1983 |
|
|
| February 1983 – summer 1986 |
|
|
| Summer 1986 – early 1987 |
|
|
| Early – fall 1987 |
| none |
| Late 1987 |
| |
| Late 1987 – late 1993 |
|
|
| Late 1993 – early 2005 |
|
|
| Early 2005 – early 2008 |
| none |
| Early 2008 – present |
|
|
The Pretenders are a British-American rock band formed in March 1978. The original band consisted of founder and main songwriter Chrissie Hynde, James Honeyman-Scott, Pete Farndon and Martin Chambers. Following the deaths of Honeyman-Scott in 1982 and Farndon in 1983, the band experienced numerous personnel changes; Hynde has been the band's only consistent member.
Pretenders is the debut studio album by British-American band The Pretenders, released in January 1980. A combination of rock and roll, punk and new wave music, this album made the band famous. The album features the singles "Stop Your Sobbing", "Kid" and "Brass in Pocket".
Christine Ellen Hynde is an American-British musician. She is a founding member and the lead vocalist, guitarist, and primary songwriter of the rock band The Pretenders, and one of the band's two remaining original members alongside drummer Martin Chambers. She is the only continuous member of the band, appearing on every studio album.
Pretenders II is the second studio album by British rock band the Pretenders, issued on Sire Records in August 1981. It incorporates two songs that had been released as singles in the UK and placed on an EP in the US. It peaked at #7 on the UK Albums Chart and #10 on the Billboard 200, and has been certified a gold record for sales by the RIAA. It is the final album by the original line-up, as the following year bassist Pete Farndon was dismissed and guitarist James Honeyman-Scott died in the same week. Farndon died in 1983, and a new line-up would make the band's next album, Learning to Crawl.
James Honeyman-Scott was an English rock guitarist, songwriter and founding member of the band the Pretenders.
Martin Dale Chambers is an English musician, best known as a founding member and drummer of the rock band the Pretenders. In addition to playing the drums with the group, Chambers sings backing vocals and plays percussion. He was part of the original band line-up, which also included Chrissie Hynde (vocals/guitar), James Honeyman-Scott (guitar/vocals/keyboards) and Pete Farndon. Hynde and Chambers are the only two surviving original members, and he has served two separate tenures with the group.
Concerts for the People of Kampuchea is a double album credited to Various Artists and released in March 1981. It contains live performances by Wings, the Who, Queen, Elvis Costello, Pretenders, the Clash, the Specials and other artists from the Concerts for the People of Kampuchea, held at London's Hammersmith Odeon in December 1979 to raise money for the victims of war-torn Cambodia. The event was organised by Paul McCartney and Kurt Waldheim.
Peter Granville Farndon was an English bassist and founding member of the rock band the Pretenders. In addition to playing bass with the group, Farndon sang backup vocals and co-wrote two of the group's songs, before a drug problem resulted in his dismissal from the group in 1982 and his death a year later.
Learning to Crawl is the third studio album by British-American rock band the Pretenders. It was released on 13 January 1984 by Sire Records after a hiatus during which band members James Honeyman-Scott and Pete Farndon died of drug overdoses. The album's title of "Learning to Crawl" was given in honour of Chrissie Hynde's then-infant daughter, Natalie Rae Hynde. She was learning to crawl at the time that Hynde was trying to determine a title for the album.
Get Close is the fourth studio album by rock band the Pretenders, released on 20 October 1986 in the United Kingdom by Real Records and on 4 November 1986 in the United States by Sire Records. The album contains the band's two highest-charting Mainstream Rock Tracks entries, "Don't Get Me Wrong" and "My Baby", both of which reached number one.
Last of the Independents is the sixth studio album by English-American rock group the Pretenders, released in 1994. For this album, the band is officially credited as being Chrissie Hynde, Adam Seymour (guitar), Andy Hobson (bass) and Martin Chambers (drums). However, this line-up only plays together on one track ; the rest of the album is performed by Hynde and Seymour in conjunction with a rotating series of musicians on bass and drums. These musicians include Hobson and Chambers, as well as bassists Andy Rourke, Tom Kelly and David Paton, and drummers Jimmy Copley and J.F.T. Hood. A few other session musicians also appear, including Ian Stanley, and one-time Pretenders guitarist Robbie McIntosh, who plays alongside Hynde and Seymour on "I'm a Mother". The album marked the official return of Chambers, who had been fired by Hynde eight years prior.
Extended Play is a 1981 EP released by new wave band The Pretenders. "Message of Love" and "Talk of the Town" featured on this EP were also included on their second album Pretenders II released later the same year. "Porcelain" and "Cuban Slide", outtakes from their Pretenders debut album, were included on disc two of the 2006 and 2021 remastered editions of their debut album and on the Pirate Radio box set. The live version of "Precious" on this EP, recorded at their New York Central Park performance on 30 August 1980, was finally released on CD on November 5, 2021. The booklet for disc one of the Pretenders debut album from the 2015 UK Edsel/Rhino Records box set 1979–1999 incorrectly states "Precious" is from that Central Park performance. Instead, the box set version is from their Boston performance of 23 March 1980; it is also included on disc two of the 2006 remastered edition of Pretenders.
"Brass in Pocket", also known as "Brass in Pocket (I'm Special)", is a song by English–American rock band the Pretenders, released in 1979 as the third single from their self-titled debut album. It was written by Chrissie Hynde and James Honeyman-Scott, and produced by Chris Thomas. Originating as a guitar lick written by Honeyman-Scott, the song's lyrics were explained by Hynde to be about the cockiness that one needs to effectively perform. The song's title derives from a phrase she overheard after a show.
"Back on the Chain Gang" is a song written by American-British musician Chrissie Hynde, originally recorded by her band the Pretenders and released as a single by Sire Records in September 1982. The song was included on The King of Comedy soundtrack album in March 1983 and was later included on the Pretenders' third album, Learning to Crawl, in January 1984.
For over 40 years the discography of The Pretenders, a London, England-based rock band, reflects worldwide charting of 12 studio albums, four compilation albums, one extended play (EP), four live albums, six video albums and 55 singles.
"Kid" is a song written by Chrissie Hynde that was released on the Pretenders 1979 debut album Pretenders. Hynde wrote the song about a fictional boy discovering that his mother is a prostitute. The song's melodicism was attributed by guitarist James Honeyman-Scott to Hynde's growing interest in pop music. Honeyman-Scott wrote the song's solo, which he had designed over a couple of days.
"Precious" is a song written by Chrissie Hynde and performed by her band the Pretenders. First released on the band's self-titled debut album in late 1979, the song features punk-inspired music and aggressive lyrics.
"Message of Love" is a song written by Chrissie Hynde and performed by the Pretenders. Released first as a single and then on the Pretenders' 1981 EP Extended Play, it was later re-released on the band's 1981 album Pretenders II.
Malcolm Foster is a British musician known best for being the bass player for the Pretenders between 1982 and 1987, and a session player for Simple Minds between 1989 and 1995.
Hate for Sale is the eleventh studio album by English-American rock band the Pretenders. It was released on July 17, 2020 by BMG Rights Management. It has received positive reception from critics.
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