Chrissie Hynde on Kate Bush, the singer who has a “perfect voice”
When it comes to offering guidance to women and young girls aspiring to pick up a guitar and create a band in the rock and roll scene, one figure stands out: Chrissie Hynde, the unwavering frontwoman of The Pretenders. With a resume spanning multiple bands – more than you could squeeze into a punk gig lineup – Hynde knows a thing or two about fellow luminaries.
A key figure in the late-1970s punk movement that captivated the globe, Hynde has remained a prominent figure in rock and roll since. From establishing her name with The Pretenders to collaborating with renowned artists like Frank Sinatra and Cher, among others, her journey started with significant disappointment in the early days.
However, around the same time that The Pretenders were gaining prominence, the iconic musical experimentalist Kate Bush was also on the scene. Bush, who experienced a surge in popularity following her hit ‘Wuthering Heights’ in 1978, had appeared as an unconventional trailblazer, which, for someone like Hynde, was nothing but gold dust.
At the same time, The Pretenders were gearing up to release their debut album in 1980 with hit singles ‘Brass in Pocket’, ‘Stop Your Sobbing’, and ‘Kid’. Widely considered one of the best debut albums of all time, the record marked the inception of the 1980s as a decade not to be reckoned with. The Pretenders signalled a new musical era, marked by refreshing originality fused with recognisable influences in acts like The Velvet Underground and The Beatles.
In 2016, Hynde discussed her appreciation for Bush following a show she had attended in 2014. “Fantastic, amazing,” she told Interview Magazine, following a question about what she thought. Bush hadn’t done anything huge in the public eye for around three decades, and so this show, in particular, was pretty special.
“I saw two of the shows. Absolutely breathtaking,” she continued. “She has the perfect voice – her voice made people cry. And her presence, it was all there. She could have been doing it for the last 30 years every night. You wouldn’t have known the difference. But, in fact, she hadn’t been on stage, because she doesn’t like it.”
Bush did 22 shows, all of which were sold out. Given Hynde’s experience as a largely influential figure in the industry, one thing in particular made the experience memorable: its intimacy. “She played at Eventim Apollo, Hammersmith,” Hynde recalled. “It’s a big theatre, but it’s not an arena or anything. She didn’t want to do that because that’s not intimate enough. I think that’s where rock music especially really lost it, when it started getting too big. The audience wants to see you. Once you’re looking at screens, you just feel like a c*nt.”
