The artist Chrissie Hynde called “the pride of our generation”
Chrissie Hynde’s love for music took her around the world long before she even became famous. Born and raised as a bored kid in Ohio, she’d trek to Cleveland to see Iggy Pop play before eventually escaping to London to join the thriving punk scene and start her band, The Pretenders. Decades later, she’s friends with the idols she once looked up to. But there is one artist that remains on another level.
Hynde’s story is one with an impressive cast. After moving to London in 1973, she fell into the Sex Pistols’ crowd, becoming close friends with the band as well as Vivienne Westwood and manager Malcolm McLaren. Buzzing around the same social circle as The Clash and Generation X, she landed herself in the punk scene but never truly felt like she belonged there.
She was always a rocker, inspired by more classic rock and roll or blues. She wanted to make music, not chaos, unlike her punk peers. During the 1970s, as she tried to get started in music, her constant rejection by the punk bands surrounding her was devastating, writing, “It was great, but my heart was breaking. I wanted to be in a band so bad.”
Hynde simply wanted to be a musician, following a clear calling to the art form in the grandest sense. She worked her way into the industry step by step. It’s a story that harks back to one of her favourite songs, reminiscent of Dylan singing, “May you build a ladder to the stars / And climb on every rung.”
‘Forever Young’ stands out as one of Hynde’s top tracks of all time. “It’s got such a beautiful lyric,” she said of the track, “I just love it.” In fact, she goes so far as to declare, “The song is genius.”
Her adoration for Dylan is no secret. While she might be associated with heavier acts and a punkier sensibility, her musical education harks back to the hippie counterculture, where Dylan stood as a God-like figure back in the late 1960s. Just as so many artists have paid their respects to the musical legend over the years, Hynde is another loyal fan and follower.
In 2021, she made that evident when she released Standing In The Doorway, an entire album dedicated to Dylan covers. Her take on tracks like ‘Every Grain Of Sand’ and ‘Blind Willie McTell’ were rich with a clear love for the songs as she dedicated them to her idol for his 80th birthday.
“He’s the pride of our generation,” the Pretenders singer once declared Dylan. It’s no light praise considering the company she’s kept in music and the icons she’s brushed shoulders with. Holding him up as the highest gold standard, Hynde truly considered him the best.
