Darkness, defiance and Chrissie Hynde: the two days that changed The Pretenders
Music brings with it an abundance of joy to those who both make it and listen to it. The number of people who have met, connected at gigs and made the pursuit of music part of their lives is astronomical and a testament to the positive nature of music. It would be ideal if that were where commentary on the industry ended, but unfortunately, there are overriding troubles that follow sound like a shadow. Many musicians and music lovers have fallen victim to them.
“I am guilty,” professed Chrissie Hynde. Her band, The Pretenders, are all too familiar with the downsides that can come when working in music. “It’s not a big word if you are guilty. It’s big if you feel guilty and you’re not guilty. But if you really are guilty, then you should put your hand up and say, ‘Guilty as charged.’”
She is referencing her and their continued drug use that would eventually lead to the disbandment of The Pretenders. Drugs are one of those lingering factors that constantly sit in the background of the musical world, even to this day. While some songs are attested to drugs, the general impact that they have is negative, and they run ragged throughout the music industry, making those who use them dependent and stopping them from being able to function.
In The Pretenders, they were always there, constantly being used by the band without any member speaking out to stop them from being such a massive contributing factor to their day-to-day lives. “I didn’t discourage the drug-taking,” said Hynde, “And I was part of it. So, you know, not that I was their mother, and we went on the road, and it was very hardcore.”
There are a number of reasons that people revert to drugs. It often starts as a quick high, a one-off thrill, but with the pressures that come with touring, paired with the long hours and persistent travelling, drugs become a means to cope with the continued perils of life on the road. That’s what happened with The Pretenders and tends to occur with a lot of other groups. The drugs steadily move out from the shadows and become an overriding burden. They lead to the crashing of musical outfits, as The Pretenders found out when all it took was two days to change the band forever.
Pete Farndon was the outfit’s bassist. He persistently used heroin, and he and Hynde eventually had problems within the band that couldn’t be solved. “I was having problems with Pete,” she admits. As such, Hynde kicked Farndon out of the group, leading to a hole in The Pretenders that needed to be filled. However, before it could be, the guitarist, James Honeyman-Scott, died from heart failure, which was attributed to a cocaine overdose. In tribute to Honeyman-Scott, Hynde wrote the song ‘Back On The Chain Gang’, a touching number for her bandmate and friend.
All of this happened over two days, as continued drug use led to friction within the band and health problems that ended up ripping The Pretenders apart in a matter of moments. On top of that, despite leaving the group, Farndon never kicked his drug habit and sadly also passed away in April 1983 from a heroin overdose. Subsequently, Hynde and drummer Martin Chambers are now the only two surviving members.
They still make music and perform, but Hynde is left somewhat haunted by what happened to Farndon and Honeyman-Scott. Their story is one far too common in music but no less tragic. She even admitted that though The Pretenders are still going, it doesn’t feel as authentic. “I’ve had to replace people. It’s now kind of like a Pretenders tribute band named The Pretenders,” she said.
Darkness and defiance both run ragged throughout the music industry. Despite the positive connotations that surround a musician and a fan’s connection with certain songs, it is hard to escape the shadow that drugs cast. The Pretenders are one example of many, and this sad story reads all too familiar.
