Pretenders
The towering talent of Chrissie Hynde.
By Tom Doyle.
Top brass: Pretenders in 1979 (from left) Pete Farndon, Chrissie Hynde, James Honeyman-Scott and Martin Chambers.
Fin Costello/Getty, Getty
CHRISSIE HYNDE has always gone her own way and, as a result, stood apart. Not for her a guitar, but a baritone ukulele when learning to play as a 14-year-old in her bedroom in Akron, Ohio. Still, the chances of actual success in a group seemed a remote possibility. “Like saying, ‘Wow, wouldn’t it be great to play baseball?’” she told MOJO in 2014.