Chrissie Hynde of the Pretenders Slams the Rock Hall
Mar 22, 2023 13:26:59 GMT -5
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Post by JerseyGirl on Mar 22, 2023 13:26:59 GMT -5
Chrissie Hynde Slams Rock Hall
by Best Classic Bands Staff
Chrissie Hynde has slammed the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, describing it as having “nothing to do with rock ‘n’ roll.” The classic rock legend’s blast appeared on her Facebook page today (March 17, 2023), a few days after the anniversary of the Pretenders’ 20015 induction. “If anyone wants my position in the… Hall of Fame they are welcome to it,” she wrote. “I don’t even wanna be associated with it. It’s just more establishment backslapping. I got in a band so I didn’t have to be part of all that.”
Hynde’s salvo followed an editorial penned by Courtney Love that appeared in The Guardian earlier that day. In the piece, headlined, “Why are women so marginalized by the rock & roll hall of fame?,” Love noted that just 8.48% of the inductees are women. “It took the Rock Hall 30-plus years to induct Nina Simone and Carole King. Linda Ronstadt released her debut in 1969 and became the first woman to headline stadiums, yet she was inducted alongside Nirvana in 2014. Most egregiously, Tina Turner was inducted as a solo artist three decades after making the grade alongside her abuser, Ike.
“The Rock Hall recognized Pearl Jam about four seconds after they became eligible – and yet Chaka Khan, eligible since 2003, languishes with seven nominations,” she wrote. Tongue firmly planted in cheek, she added, “All is not lost, though – the Rock Hall is doing a special program for Women’s History Month on her stagewear.”
Hynde was an American from Akron, Ohio who was living in London in the 1970s. By day, she had a job at the British weekly music paper, New Musical Express. By night, she was performing with a variety of rock bands.
In 1978, at 26 years old, Hynde met the individuals who would become Pretenders: drummer Martin Chambers, guitarist James Honeyman-Scott and bassist Pete Farndon.
Their 1980 self-titled debut featuring their cover of The Kinks’ “Stop Your Sobbing,” “Mystery Achievement” and the hit, “Brass in Pocket,” was a smash, entering the British album charts at #1 and reaching the U.S. top ten. It wasn’t obvious, though, that this English-American band would become a classic rock force.
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