Pretenders

The first album. Left to right: Pete, Chrissie, Martin and James.

Pretenders is a British-American New Wave band formed in 1978, and whose most famous lineup is made up of vocalist Chrissie Hynde, James Honeyman-Scott on guitar, Pete Farndon on bass and Martin Chambers on drums. Their first Self-Titled Album, from 1979, is often considered one of the foundation bricks of Alternative Rock as we know it.

Despite losing their guitarist and bassist at the peak of their success, the remaining living members went on with the band and released some more albums, got more singles on the charts... While at the same time changing members like one would clothes.

They were inducted (the original formation only) to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2005.

Discography of studio albums:

• Pretenders (1980)
• Pretenders II (1981)
• Learning to Crawl (1983)
• Get Close (1986)
• Packed! (1990)
• Last of the Independents (1994)
• Viva el Amor (1999)
• Loose Screw (2002)
• Break Up the Concrete (2008)

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Pretenders provides examples of the following tropes:

• Author Existence Failure: James Honeyman-Scott died in 1982 of cardiac arrest stemming from his use of cocaine. Averted with Pete Farndon, who died the next year, he had already been kicked out before Honeyman-Scott's death.
• Breakaway Pop Hit: "I'll Stand By You".
• Epic Rocking: "Private Life". "Up the Neck" also gets extended past the 6-minute mark in live shows.
• Epic Riff: "The Wait", for one.
• Face of the Band: Chrissie Hynde.
  • I Am the Band: She was the only official member in Packed!.
• Fingerless Gloves: Chrissie wears them on the cover of the first album.
• Foot Focus: Chrissie is barefoot on the cover of Loose Screw.
• Granola Girl: Chrissie is vegetarian (she even owns a vegan restaurant in Akron, OH) and supports animal rights.
• Grief Song: "Back on the Chain Gang", about fallen member James Honeyman Scott
• Precision F-Strike: "Precious" is a famous example.
• Revolving Door Band: Between Learning to Crawl (the first album after JHS and Pete Farndon's deaths) and Last of the Independents, no two studio albums had the same lineup. Their record of holding a lineup is three albums, between Last... (1994) and Loose Screw (2002), with guitarist Adam Seymour and drummer Andy Hobson joining the other two original members.
  • The Pete Best: Many, as a result of this trope. Among them, Johnny Marr and Andy Rourke.
• Self-Titled Album: The first one.
• Shiny Midnight Black: Chrissie's hair color.