• Rock
• Pop
• Singer - songwriter

Pretenders were formed in 1978 with singer & songwriter Chrissie Hynde on vocals, Pete Farndon on bass, James Honeyman-Scott on guitar and Martin Chambers on drums.

They released two LP’s, Pretenders – which charted at #1 in the UK and #9 in the States - and Pretenders II, and one EP, Extended Play. The band enjoyed worldwide chart success with singles including Stop Your Sobbing, Kid, Brass In Pocket, Talk of The Town and I Go To Sleep. The band was constantly on the road and enjoyed heavy MTV rotation.

In 1982 they were dealt a difficult year: a parting of ways with Pete Farndon being swiftly followed by the death of James Honeyman-Scott. Pete’s death came a year later.

Subsequently the band’s line-up remained fluid and the band went on to release the albums Learning to Crawl, Get Close and Packed! between 1984 and 1990.

After a 4-year hiatus came the band’s next release Last of the Independents, followed in 1995 by Isle of View, a live acoustic album recorded over two nights in London with the Duke String Quartet.

1999 saw the release of Viva El Amor, the last album to be released on longtime label Warner Records, and their next album Loose Screw was released on Artemis Records in 2002.

Neil Young inducted the Pretenders into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2005, and their next release, Break Up The Concrete, came in 2008.

On 5 February 2011, Hynde and the Pretenders performed live on CMT Crossroads CMT Crossroads with Faith Hill and her band, including songs from both catalogs.

In September 2012, the Pretenders re-grouped (Hynde, Chambers, Heywood, Walbourne, Wilkinson) as part of the entertainment line-up for the 2012 Singapore Grand Prix.[13] The Pretenders did not play live between 2012 and 2016. Hynde issued her first solo album Stockholm in 2014.

On September 6, 2016 Stevie Nicks announced that the Pretenders would tour with her on a 27 city tour for the last three months of 2016.[1] The live band consisted of Hynde, Chambers, Heywood, Walbourne, Wilkinson, as before.[14]

The Pretenders released their most recent album, Alone, on October 21, 2016.

The band have toured the world and performed in front of over 4 million people. Pretenders continue to play together.

As well as the official website, you may like to visit http://www.pretendersarchives.com/, which has a wealth of material for the curious & dedicated fans of Chrissie Hynde & her band.