Pretenders frontwoman Chrissie Hynde and lead guitarist James Walbourne recently chatted with Guitar World about the band’s upcoming concert album, Pretenders Live – Kick ’Em Where It Hurts. During the interview, the conversation turned to how important late original Pretenders guitarist James Honeyman-Scott’s playing was to the band’s overall sound.
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This led to Hynde talking in self-effacing terms about her own guitar skills, which prompted an annoyed response from Walbourne.
“I’m not a great musician, I know that,” Chrissie declared.
Walbourne quickly broke in, “[T]hat’s quite a load of bollocks, because you are a great musician and you say that too often. You do yourself down—because Chrissie’s guitar playing holds the band together and it’s fantastic. It’s the rhythm playing, it’s unique in a great way.”
Hynde on the Only Time James Honeyman-Scott Ever Got Angry at Her
The exchange brought back a memory Hynde had of the one time she ever recalled Scott getting angry with her.
“[W]e did a show somewhere, I don’t know where it was and, for some reason, I kind of stopped playing [guitar] and got more handheld [with the vocal mic],” Chrissie remembered. “I had never done that before. I really enjoyed that show and I thought, ‘This is f—ing great.’ I remember really being pleased and I never felt like that after shows. I always felt that I wasn’t really very good.”
She continued, “So when we came off, I thought Jimmy was going to go, ‘Nice one,’ and he looks at me and he goes, ‘Don’t you ever f—ing do that again.’ I don’t think I’d ever seen him really angry at me before. It was the only time I remember him really p—ed off at me.”
Reacting to the story, Walbourne said to Hynde, “Well, that goes to show how important your parts are.”
Chrissie responded, “Yeah. I didn’t get it at all.”
More About Honeyman-Scott’s Importance to The Pretenders
Honeyman-Scott played on The Pretenders’ first two studio albums before his tragic death from an accidental drug overdose at age 25 in June 1982.
Despite Honeyman-Scott’s brief tenure with the group, Hynde told Guitar World that his playing style set the template for all other guitarists who have worked with the band to follow.
“[I]t has to be someone that can carry the whole thing, that has a kind of unique sound because The Pretenders’ sound started with James Honeyman-Scott,” Chrissie maintained. “The guitar players I’ve had subsequently have all been big Jimmy Scott fans, so they have really taken a lot from his sound. That has given it a continuity, which I haven’t gone for on purpose, but anyone who’s going to entertain the idea of playing with me is going to be a James Honeyman-Scott fan, so they already like that kind of sound.”
Walbourne, who joined The Pretenders in 2008, has not only developed into a worthy successor to Honey-Scott, but he’s also become Hynde’s main songwriting partner. The duo co-wrote all of the songs on the band’s last two studio albums—Hate for Sale (2020) and Relentless (2023).
About the Kick ’Em Where It Hurts Album
Pretenders Live – Kick ’Em Where It Hurts will be released on June 13. The 17-track collection was recorded during the band’s 2024 tour of theaters.
The album features renditions of seven songs from Relentless and Hate for Sale, plus several other deep cuts. It also includes versions of such popular older Pretenders tunes as “Talk of the Town,” “Back on the Chain Gang,” and “Middle of the Road.”
Kick ’Em Where It Hurts will be available as a limited-edition two-LP set packaged in a gatefold sleeve and pressed on black heavyweight vinyl. The LP can be pre-ordered now at The Pretenders’ online store. The album also will be released via digital formats, which can be pre-ordered and pre-saved now.
About The Pretenders’ 2025 Tour Plans
The Pretenders will begin their 2025 tour schedule with a pair of U.S. concerts. The first take place Thursday, May 1, in Las Vegas. Th second is a May 3 performance at the BeachLife Festival in Redondo Beach, California.
The band will then launch an eight-date tour of Latin America. The outing begins May 7 in Mexico City and runs through a May 24 concert in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
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