Chrissie Hynde
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Chrissie Hynde is an American rock musician, best known as the leader of the band The Pretenders. She is a singer, songwriter, and guitarist, and the only member of the band to remain constant.
Born on September 7, 1951 in Akron, Ohio, she attended Kent State University and was a student there during the time of the Kent State shootings.
Hynde moved to London in 1973 and made a name for herself as a rock journalist before forming The Pretenders with English musicians James Honeyman-Scott, Pete Farndon, and Martin Chambers. The Pretenders lineup would change over the years as a result of tragedies and interpersonal conflicts; through these changes Hynde's leadership of the band solidified. Her guitar of choice is a white Fender Telecaster.
As a rare female bandleader and style-setter in the early days of punk and new wave, Hynde has been highly influential. Her brash style in her appearance, outspokenness in interviews and songwriting, and punk sensibility earned her the respect of other musicians and critics, and the admiration of many young women who were inspired to follow her. Chrissie Hynde recorded a song with UB40 (a cover version of "I Got You Babe"), with Cheap Trick ("Walk Away"), as well as recording with The Pretenders.
Chrissie Hynde had a daughter Natalie Ray in 1983 with Ray Davies of The Kinks (a cover version of the Davies song "Stop Your Sobbing" had been an early hit for the Pretenders, and Hynde met Davies several years later, a meeting which bloomed into a long-term relationship). She then married to musician Jim Kerr of the band Simple Minds in 1984, and had a daughter Yasmin with him in 1985. They divorced in 1989. She married artist Lucho Brieva in 1997 and resided with him in London until they separated in 2002.
Chrissie Hynde has been in the news in recent years as a high-profile animal rights activist.
External links
- Unofficial web site (http://www.chrissiehynde.com/)
- Cleveland Plain Dealer timeline (http://www.cleveland.com/homegrown/index.ssf?/homegrown/more/chrissie/vital.html)sl:Chrissie Hynde