A Siren of Truth: The musician Chrissie Hynde calls “a real singer”
Chrissie Hynde remains one of those physically and spiritually talented figures whose magnetism always made her destined to follow in the footsteps of greats. Long before she occupied the spotlight, she was surrounded by musical icons many only dreamed of being close to, only to carve out her slice of success and have others follow her the same way.
Hynde’s early days were categorised by the blazing anti-establishment rallies of the punk movement, as she found camaraderie in bands like Sex Pistols, The Clash, and Generation X. Although these scenes exposed her to what life in the business might look like, she found her true calling when transitioning into more rock-leaning spaces, guided by the desire to make music, not war.
Aside from Hynde’s obvious suitability to the genre as a whole, her voice became a principal guiding light for other women in the genre wanting to make their way within a band. Hynde had that gorgeous rock-style voice, but she also possessed a specific kind of vocal control that meant she delivered both when belting out more classic rock hits and the slower-paced heartfelt ballads.
She also thrived when occupying the middle ground. ‘I’ll Stand by You’ shows off her obvious vocal prowess but songs like ‘Don’t Get Me Wrong‘ demonstrated the fact that she could hold emotion in her voice like no other. Hynde doesn’t just have an exceptionally heady voice, her various tones add extra weight to the lyrics, guiding melodies by narrative and feeling rather than the words alone.
If you ask Hynde, however, it’s likely that she’ll point to a handful of other singers before thinking of herself as someone with as much brilliance as her contemporaries. For instance, it’s a fact that Joni Mitchell is one of the greatest singers to have ever lived, but for Hynde, she’s completely untouchable. The atmosphere in 1995 at Mitchell’s concert in New York seemed to be completely filled by the awe-inspired passion of fellow musicians, but no one seemed as geared up as Hynde herself.
In fact, watching the master at work almost caused her to enter a fight with another fellow musician, Carly Simon, who seemed irked at Hynde’s sudden outburst towards the legend on stage. After shouting “We love you, Joni!” and “Joni, you rock!”, Hynde allegedly almost started a physical altercation with Simon, who urged her to stop shouting and putting on a show from the sidelines.
In response, Hynde threateningly hissed, “That,” referring to Mitchell, “is a real singer.” According to Hynde, it’s likely that she became a little too riled up, but she couldn’t help herself—yelling about how “brilliant” Mitchell performed was nothing short of deserved. “I was yelling, ‘Go for it, bitch!’ She’s only human—everyone needs to be told they’re loved,” the singer told Vanity Fair.
