Chrissie Hynde Says She 'Fell In Love' With Guns N' Roses On Tour

The Pretenders' Chrissie Hynde admits that keeping up with what's current in music has not been a huge priority since her touring and recording career began in the late-1970s.

In a wide-ranging interview with Q104.3 New York's Out of the Box with Jonathan Clarke, Hynde explained that her lifestyle as a touring musician has meant that most of her new friends are ones she's made on the road. Most of the musicians she loves are ones she was a fan of before her own career took off, or ones she's worked with along the way.

Coming out of the COVID pandemic, Hynde said she resolved to do more of what she wants to do as an artist — at the time, that meant a return to intimate venues with the Pretenders.

So while an offer to tour stadiums with Guns N' Roses wasn't an automatic yes, Hynde accepted when she realized that the GNR tour would supplement the sometimes challenging finances of a run.

But the GNR tour worked on multiple levels, and Hynde had the time of her life hanging with America's Most Dangerous Band.

"I went out with Guns N' Roses and after the first day, I just fell in love with them," she recalled. "I mean, they're just fantastic — the crew, the band, everyone's really cool. ... And they're so lovely in the band, they play great... I've sat at the side of the stage watching them, and I've seen grown men in tears. They love them."

Hynde added that she had a similar experience in the mid-2000s touring with ZZ Top.

"With ZZ Top, I hadn't paid that much attention ... because when they were on MTV, I was already on the road," Hynde says. "Then we did a tour with ZZ Top, and I said, 'I better go check these guys out.' And I went out to the sound desk, smoked a joint and I went out every single night on that tour and watched them. I was just blown away. I mean, first of all, what a great band, and Billy Gibbons is such a great singer."

She noted that she might have gotten the wrong impression of the band, based on their over-the-top presence on MTV in the '80s.

... I think I was waylaid by MTV, where I saw the girls and the hot rods, and I just didn't pay much attention, because the format of how we got music changed. Once it was on MTV, I lost interest because the visuals distract me... I'm a radio person. Radio, to me, is where it's at, or certainly where I'm coming from."

For more information on the Pretenders' new album, Relentless, and to see where they're playing on tour, go here.