In case you heard differently, we would like to make one thing clear: Chrissie Hynde rocks. She was the fearless leader and creative force behind the Pretenders, holding her own in the midst of a lot of scary British punk rockers.

Hynde was born in Ohio and attended college there, but she emigrated to England in 1973. While there, she hobnobbed with future idols like Sid Vicious and members of the Clash and the Damned. After a few years of working as a music reporter (and at other odd jobs), Hynde recruited her boyfriend and a few other musician friends for the Pretenders line up. The 1979 single “Stop Your Sobbing” earned them critical praise, as did “Kids” and “Brass In Pocket,” all released that same year. Their self-titled album debuted a year later and climbed the charts in England and the U.S. The Pretenders, brave little troopers that they are, performed all the songs from that album at a Toronto festival in 1980.

The group’s success owed much to front woman Hynde, who was a genuine rocker and wasn’t afraid to show it. She was also a talented musician and songwriter and her cool onstage persona drew in boys and girls alike. While professionally solid, the band was plagued by personal problems. Bassist Pete Farndon (Chrissie’s erstwhile boyfriend) got his walking papers because of drug problems and mere days after that, guitarist James Honeyman-Scott died of a heroin overdose. Farndon suffered the same fate two years later.

Despite the tragic setbacks, the Pretenders soldiered on with new members and released the immensely popular single, “Back on the Chain Gang,” in 1983. Learning to Crawl followed in 1984 and the album garnered much critical acclaim. After finishing a duet of Sonny & Cher’s “I Got You Babe” with reggae band UB40, Hynde took some time off from the Pretenders and concentrated on raising her kids and working for animal rights causes. The band went back to the studio for 1994’s Last of the Independents, which featured the hit single “I’ll Stand By You.” An acoustic album titled Isle of View followed in 1995, again earning accolades from the critics.

The Pretenders debut album is considered one of the most influential records, according to Rolling Stone magazine and many discerning music lovers all over the world.