The artist Chrissie Hynde called “the pride” of her generation
Sometimes, it feels as though Chrissie Hynde has seen it all. She was there when the Sex Pistols ignited the punk flame in the UK. She’s worked with legends like Frank Sinatra, Cher and hoards more. Her band, The Pretenders, are one of the most beloved rock troupes about and have toured with peers and legends like The Rolling Stones and Stevie Nicks, they even played at Live Aid. So when Hynde talks about music and its various icons, her opinion is one to note, having seen so much history first-hand. Through it all, there has always been one artist who stood out as a leading light for her incredible generation.
Incredible feels like too weak of a word. In Hynde’s class of musicians, her generation is overflowing with history-shaping names. Within the worlds of rock, punk and beyond, many would argue that there is no era quite as powerful as the 1970s and ‘80s when Hynde was first getting started in music and The Pretenders were formed. To plenty of music fans, it’s a period that’s often looked back on with wonderment and a kind of jealousy. People desperately wish they were around then to see these artists back in their heyday.
Hynde wasn’t just there but was working amongst them, reaching the same dizzy heights of legendary status that her peers climbed up to, too. But out of all of them, there is one that seems to sit on a rung even higher than the rest, existing as a kind of idol to the idols.
“He’s the pride of our generation,” Hynde once said of Bob Dylan, crowning him as the ultimate leader of the pack. To her, Dylan races ahead as the epitome of an artist, as an example to follow and as the brightest star in a busy sky full of them.
In particular, she thinks his track ‘Forever Young’ shows it best as she said, “It’s got such a beautiful lyric. I just love it.” Continuing her high praise, she added, “The song is genius.”
Martha Wainwright once said, “All roads led to Bob Dylan.” She explained, “He is the artist that all artists are led to.”
It seems to be true. It’s tough to find a musician who considers Dylan a major inspiration, as his influence spanned far beyond the folk genre where he first made his name. It would be hard to find someone who wouldn’t, at the very least, put respect on his name as a true game-changer.
But for Hynde, she’s always been in the camp of pure and devoted followers. In 2021, she took her love for him even further when she released Standing in the Doorway, a full LP of Dylan covers. Perhaps that album was some attempt to thank the artist that she considers to be the ultimate gift of her generation or some way to honour the “genius” songs that have shaped so many of her own amongst thousands of other artists.
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