The Pretenders

Raised in Akron, Ohio, Chrissie Hynde attended art school at Kent State University during the 1970 shooting massacre in which the National Guard killed four students. She moved over to England three years later and met NME journalist Nick Kent, who encouraged her to write for the music paper and landed a job in Malcolm McLaren and Vivien Westwood's shop SEX which would become the birth place of the British punk movement. After brief spells in a number of punk acts, Hynde formed The Pretenders in 1978 with bassist Pete Farndon and found success when third single Brass In Pocket and debut album The Pretenders (1980) both became huge Number 1 hits in the UK. Their smart, new wave, pop sound and Hynde's lush vocals produced the hits Back On The Chain Gang and 2000 Miles; but tragedy struck when Farndon and guitarist James Honeyman-Scott died of drug overdoses within a year of one another. The band continued with a new line-up and third album Learning To Crawl (1984) reached Number 5 in the US and singles Don't Get Me Wrong and I'll Stand By You became classic Pretenders hits. Hynde went on to become one of rock's most important female figures and a vocal supporter of the animal rights charity PETA.