Chrissie Hynde
Chrissie Hynde is the singer, guitarist and songwriter behind the Pretenders, making rock records, solo albums and paintings from her London base.
At 100 nudges, fangea sends Chrissie’s team an official invite.
🔒 Star boosts open once Chrissie claims this page.
Latest
Chrissie’s happenings, collected from public sources, plus her backstory and Starbook, where fans write.
Known for
- Pretenders1980 · Lead vocals, guitar and songwriting
- Learning to Crawl1984 · Lead vocals, guitar and songwriting
- Last of the Independents1994 · Lead vocals, guitar and songwriting
- Reckless: My Life as a Pretender2015 · Memoir author
- Valve Bone Woe2019 · Solo vocalist
- Duets Special2025 · Vocalist with guest singers
Overview
- Born
- 7 September 1951 · Akron, Ohio
- Based in
- London
- Known for
- Singer, guitarist and songwriter in the Pretenders
- Breakout
- Brass in Pocket and the Pretenders’ 1980 debut album
- Also creates
- Solo albums, paintings and memoirs
Mini bio
How it started.
Growing up in Ohio, Chrissie fell for rock music before moving to London in 1973. She wrote for NME and found her way into the city’s punk scene, determined to put together a band of her own.
Finding the band.
In 1978 she formed the Pretenders with James Honeyman-Scott, Pete Farndon and Martin Chambers. Stop Your Sobbing and Kid introduced them to listeners; Brass in Pocket became their first UK number one, followed by the chart-topping debut album in 1980.
Songs fans stay with.
Her catalogue includes Back on the Chain Gang, 2000 Miles, Don’t Get Me Wrong and I’ll Stand by You. On the latter she wrote with Billy Steinberg and Tom Kelly, a collaboration she has credited with teaching her how to write with other songwriters.
Beyond the band.
Her solo recordings include Stockholm, Valve Bone Woe and Standing in the Doorway, followed by Duets Special in 2025. She also wrote the memoir Reckless and exhibits her paintings, including the On Canvas show in Edinburgh in 2026.
Creditschronological, newest first
Music
- 2026Home To UsFeatured vocalist on Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr’s song
- 2025Duets SpecialLead and duet vocalist
- 2021Standing in the Doorway: Chrissie Hynde Sings Bob DylanVocalist
- 2019Valve Bone WoeVocalist
- 2014StockholmSolo singer and songwriter
- 1994I’ll Stand by YouCo-writer with Billy Steinberg and Tom Kelly; Pretenders vocalist
- 1980PretendersLead vocals, guitar and songwriting
Books
- 2015Reckless: My Life as a PretenderAuthor
Film
- 2026PretendersDocumentary subject and interviewee
Awards
Quotes
I never thought about doing a Duets album before.Chrissie Hynde, Parlophone/Rhino album announcement
Introducing Duets Special in 2025, she traced the idea to a 2023 phone conversation with Rufus Wainwright’s husband, Jörn.
Trivia
- Before the Pretenders, she wrote for NME in London.
- She says the op-art side of the Duets Special artwork was based on a stone circle.
- Her paintings have appeared on a solo album sleeve and in Vivienne Westwood’s Spring-Summer 2021 collection.
Find Chrissie
Follow her music, paintings and letters to fans.
Are you Chrissie Hynde?
Fans built this page. Claim it to connect with them and unlock Star boosts, or request a takedown if you’d rather it not exist.