Chrissie Hynde
Paul McCartney, Taylor Hawkins’ Son Shane Help Foo Fighters Close London Tribute Concert
After hours of emceeing and playing various instruments for other acts, Dave Grohl closed out the Taylor Hawkins tribute in London with the surviving members of Foo Fighters and surprise guest Paul McCartney. Though no one can replace Hawkins behind the kit, the Foos were joined by a number of drummers during their set, including Josh Freese on “Times Like These” and “All My Life,” Travis Barker on “The Pretender” and “Monkey Wrench,” Rufus Taylor on “These Days and “Best of You,” 12-year-old phenom Nandi Bushell on “Learn To Fly” and Hawkins’ 16-year-old son Shane, who was absolutely thunderous on “My Hero.” “Pulling this whole thing together over the last three months, we met some really amazing people — people I’ve never met before,” Dave Grohl said after “Best of You.” “One of them, I ...
The 100 Greatest Rock Stars Since That Was A Thing
Three of the 100 are in this picture! The Rolling Stones, in 1964, from left to right: Bill Wyman, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Charlie Watts and Brian Jones. The problem with lists like this is they are invariably bullshit. So our prime objective was to make sure we didn’t do a bullshit list. I’m not saying we did a scientific one either. Because that isn’t possible — actually, it is, if you wanted some compilation of who sold the most records/concert tickets/has the most fans/got the most death threats, etc., and someone could come up with a bunch of very empirical metrics and create a “heat index” or something, and could deliver an actual scientific ranking! But we, um, didn’t do that. In fact we didn’t even, technically, do the “we...
Chrissie Hynde to Release Bob Dylan Covers Album
Pretenders frontwoman Chrissie Hynde will release Standing In The Doorway: Chrissie Hynde Sings Bob Dylan on May 21, which happens to be a few days before Bob Dylan turns 80. The nine-song covers set will include interpretations of such Dylan songs as “You’re a Big Girl Now,” “Love Minus Zero / No Limit,” “Don’t Fall Apart on Me Tonight,” and “Every Grain of Sand.” The tracks were recorded last year during lockdown by Hynde and her Pretenders bandmate James Walbourne. The album, believe it or not, almost exclusively was created via text message (modern technology!), with Walbourne recording an initial musical idea on his cell phone before shooting it over to Hynde so she could add her vocals. “A few weeks into lockdown last year, James sent me the new Dylan track, ‘Murder Most Fo...
Chrissie Hynde Talks 40 Years of Pretenders and Punk Rock
“I’m having the time of my life,” Pretenders’ frontwoman Chrissie Hynde quipped when asked how she’s holding up. It’s a strange sensation releasing an album during a pandemic and not being able to tour. However, music has remained a grounding force for her and her bandmates, as evidenced by the band’s latest (and 11th overall) album Hate for Sale, which came out last week. For Hynde, the album is a work that was years in the making and a long-overdue opportunity to finally capture the band’s live chemistry on a record. Despite technically being the first album in four years under the Pretenders banner, it’s the first to fully feature the band’s current touring lineup since 2008: Hynde, guitarist James Walbourne, bassist Nick Wilkinson, and founding drummer Martin Chambers. “We’ve alwa...
The Pretenders’ Chrissie Hynde Covers Bob Dylan’s ‘Standing in the Doorway’
While they’ve been in quarantine, Chrissie Hynde and James Walbourne of The Pretenders have been putting together their own series of songs called “Dylan Lockdown Series.” And their latest collaborative cover is Bob Dylan’s “Standing in the Doorway,” off 1997’s Time Out of Mind. Sticking to a similar arrangement to the original, piano, organ and electric guitar with light drums provides a soft pillow for Hynde’s vocals to lie on. Meanwhile, the video showcases a lot of outdoor space — something many people are wishing for right now — giving the song a place to breathe. “Thanks one more to Tchad Blake on mixing duties and the whole Blake family for the video,” she posted on Instagram to announce the new recording. The Pretenders have been gearing up for the release of their new album, Hate ...
