Chrissie Hynde: ” I’m More Relaxed Now, If You Can Believe It”
Chrissie Hynde of The Pretenders has answered questions from musicians, politicians, writers and fans in today’s issue of The Observer.
The Q&A took place ahead of the release of The Pretenders’ highly anticipated new studio album Relentless.
The album is due for release on 15 September 2023 via Parlophone and available to pre-order here on baby pink vinyl, black and CD.
Buy Pretenders vinyl and merch at the Dig! store.
When asked if there was a musician she’d love to collaborate with, Hynde answered, “Well, Iggy Pop offered me a song once. And we didn’t pull that off. And I always regretted that, because Iggy was always my number one when I was growing up. And then he wrote this song and he sent it to me. It was handwritten and everything. I don’t know what I did to turn him off the idea, but then I never heard from him. And he ended up doing the song with Kate Pierson [of the B-52’s]. The song was called Candy.”
A reader later asked Hynde where she gets her strength and determination from. “If there is any, it probably comes from the fact that I always had a job since I was 16,” Hynde answered. “Because then I had no choice. I did waitressing and modelling in art colleges and making picture frames and cleaning hotels and houses. And I prefer doing this. So a lot of strength and determination comes from having no choice. I find it interesting when I hear people say, you know, why is Paul McCartney still playing? Why is Bob Dylan on the road? It’s because it was what we chose to do. We like it.”
Hynde later reflected on the aging process, “I don’t mind getting older. I do mind getting uglier. Come on, there’s only one thing we know of that is definitely going to happen to us. That’s all the information we have in this life. You know, a lot of my friends didn’t get old. I’m not a worrier, by nature – and there are so many great things about getting older. For example, I don’t think there’s very many things that I know now that I didn’t know when I was 16 – but there’s a big difference between knowing something and realising it. Realising something takes 50 years. I’m more relaxed now, if you can believe it. This is the real mellow version of me. Ageing is like being a pothead again. Though that’s not to say there are not things that wind me up daily.”
Buy Pretenders vinyl and merch at the Dig! store.