

Two days later, on 16 June 1982, Honeyman-Scott died of heart failure as a result of cocaine intolerance. ĭue to escalating drug abuse, Farndon was fired from the band after a meeting between Hynde, Honeyman-Scott, and Chambers on 14 June 1982. Andy Kaufman was the guest host of the program on that night. The band performed "The Adultress", "Message of Love" and "Louie, Louie" (not the Kingsmen song). On 18 September 1981, Pretenders were the musical guest on the US late night sketch comedy show Fridays. Pretenders II included the songs from the US EP Extended Play, the MTV video success "Day After Day", and popular album-radio tracks "The Adultress", "Birds of Paradise", "Bad Boys Get Spanked", and "The English Roses". The second full-length album, Pretenders II, was released during August 1981. Produced by Chris Thomas, it is regarded as one of the best debut albums of all time, and has been named one of the best albums of all time by VH1 (no. Their self-titled debut album was released in January 1980 and was a success in the United Kingdom and the United States both critically and commercially. The Pretenders (original line-up), Dominion Theatre, London, December 1981 In January 1980, the band reached No. 1 in the UK with "Brass in Pocket", which was also successful in the US, reaching No. 14 on the Billboard Hot 100. The band's first single, a cover of the Kinks song " Stop Your Sobbing" (produced by Nick Lowe and recorded at the July Regents Park sessions) was released in January 1979 and gained critical attention. Hynde named the band "Pretenders" after the Platters song " The Great Pretender", which was the favourite song of one of her former boyfriends. Shortly thereafter, Gerry Mcilduff was replaced on drums by Martin Chambers. This band, then without a name, recorded five tracks at Regents Park Studio in July 1978, including a cover of The Kinks' song "Stop Your Sobbing".

Hynde then formed a band composed of Pete Farndon on bass, James Honeyman-Scott on guitar, and Gerry Mcilduff on drums. Although it was rough, he felt he had seen and heard enough "star potential" to suggest that Hynde form a more permanent band to record for his new label, Real Records. Hill was impressed and arranged a day at Studio 51 to record another demo. He arranged a rehearsal studio in Denmark Street, London, where a three-piece band consisting of Hynde, Mal Hart on bass (he had played with Hynde and Steve Strange in the Moors Murderers), and Phil Taylor of Motörhead on drums played a selection of Hynde's original songs. Pretenders formed in 1978 after Dave Hill at Anchor Records heard some demos of Hynde's music.

She was involved with early versions of the Sex Pistols, the Clash, and the Damned and played in short-lived bands such as Masters of the Backside (1976) and the Moors Murderers (1978 lineup). Hynde, originally from Akron, Ohio, moved to London in 1973, working at the weekly music paper NME and at Malcolm McLaren and Vivienne Westwood's clothes store. Pretenders were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2005. Following the deaths of Honeyman-Scott in 1982 and Farndon in 1983, the band experienced numerous personnel changes Hynde has been the band's only consistent member. The original band consisted of founder and main songwriter Chrissie Hynde (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), James Honeyman-Scott (lead guitar, backing vocals, keyboards), Pete Farndon (bass guitar, backing vocals) and Martin Chambers (drums, backing vocals, percussion). Pretenders are an English-American rock band formed in March 1978.
