The Pretenders

Pretenders are an English-American rock band formed in Hereford, England in March 1978. The original band consisted of initiator and main songwriter Chrissie Hynde (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), James Honeyman-Scott (lead guitar, backing vocals, keyboards), Pete Farndon (bass guitar, backing vocals), and Martin Chambers (drums, backing vocals, percussion). The band has experienced drug ^{drug abuse} -related deaths of the members, and numerous subsequent personnel changes have taken place over the years, with Hynde as the sole continual member.

 
Early years

Hynde, originally from Akron ^{Akron, Ohio} , Ohio, attended the Kent State University at the time of the Kent State shootings during 1970. She moved to London during 1973, working at the weekly music paper, NME, Pretenders formed during 1978 after Dave Hill at Anchors Records heard some demos ^{Demo (music)} Hynde had recorded, and suggested she form a regular band to record for his new label, Real Records.


Original band (1978–1982)

The band's first single, a cover of The Kinks song "Stop Your Sobbing", produced by Nick Lowe, was released in January 1979 and gained critical attention.


After their Hall of Fame induction, the Pretenders continued touring as a four-part team (Hynde, Seymour, Hobson and Chambers). During 2005, bassist Hobson left and was replaced by Nick Wilkinson, marking the band's first line-up change in thirteen years. That same year, Rhino Records released the four disc and DVD box set Pirate Radio 1979-2005 which spanned the group's entire career. Two disc remastered versions of the first two albums also came out that year with bonus tracks. During 2007, Rhino remastered both Learning To Crawl and Get Close once again with bonus tracks. Not long after, guitarist Seymour left and was replaced by James Walbourne.

The Pretenders' album Break up the Concrete was released through Shangri-La Music on 7 October 2008. It was the band's first Top 40 album in the US in twenty two years. Tracks include "Boots of Chinese Plastic", "Don't Cut Your Hair", "Love's a Mystery", "The Last Ride" and "Almost Perfect". With Hynde was the guitarist James Walbourne, pedal steel player Eric Heywood, bassist Nick Wilkinson and drummer Jim Keltner (on the album only). Chambers returned to the drums on tour with the band. Several one-off shows were performed during the closing months of 2008, including a couple of Christmas charity shows. The 'Break Up The Concrete Tour' began in mid-January and covered most of the United States, with shows until the end of March. It then continued in Europe, with gigs in Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark, Germany, Netherlands, France, Spain, Belgium, and the UK during the months of June and July, before returning for a new tour in Canada and the US during August and September 2009. A show from the tour, filmed at Shepherd's Bush Empire in London on 15 July 2009, was released on CD with bonus DVD / Blu-ray on 9 February 2010, titled Pretenders: Live in London. Another tour was announced in May, a double headlining tour in New Zealand and Australia with Blondie ^{Blondie (band)} for a few winerey shows.
Studio albums

*1980: Pretenders ^{Pretenders (album)}
*1981: Pretenders II
*1983: Learning to Crawl
*1986: Get Close
*1990: Packed!
*1994: Last of the Independents
*1999: Viva el Amor
*2002: Loose Screw
*2008: Break Up the Concrete