The Pretenders

There are plenty of youngsters who dream of life as a rock star. The bright lights, the jet-set lifestyle, the adoring fans, and the money - it's easy to see where the appeal lies.

Dangers

But behind the sold-out stadiums, the hit records and the fame lurk plenty of dangers. Just look at The Pretenders.
Formed in England back in the late 1970s by American Chrissie Hynde and two British friends, the group was soon hitting the charts in both the UK and the US.

The hard-rocking Hynde's edgy image helped the band stand out from the crowd as they criss-crossed the globe playing festivals and television shows.

But within five years, The Pretenders appeared to be in tatters. One member, guitarist James Honeyman-Scott, had died from a cocaine overdose. Another, bass player Pete Farndon, had succumbed to heroin.

Lowest lows

The band had reached incredible highs. Now they were plumbing the lowest lows in rock and roll's characteristically tragic fashion.

No one would have questioned Hynde if she had decided to pack it all in and return to a more mundane - and much safer - kind of life.

But Hynde kept the show on the road and, despite all turmoil - or perhaps because of it - the band still managed to release some well-received songs, such as Back on the Chain Gang, which remains one of the highlights of their back catalogue.
More than a decade later, they were still able to score well in the charts with songs such as the ballad I'll Stand By You, another long-term favourite.

Fast forward another 10 years, and the band were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame - although just two of the four original members were alive to see it.

Modest

Despite all these achievements, Hynde has remained incredibly modest about her band's position in the pantheon of musical greats. She insists she only got into rock music as an escape from working as a waitress, and is always dismissive of the regular suggestions that The Pretenders have influenced later rock groups and artists - even Neil Young has cited them as an inspiration.

In an interview late last year to the Courier Mail in the US, for example, Hynde said: "I don't think of myself as my position in rock history. When I die, I don't care if anyone remembers me at all. I see rock music as a transitory point in human history and I don't have any illusions about my position in it."
What a refreshing change from all those pretentious stars who think the world - including world politics - revolves around them.

Show stopper

The Pretenders' career is taking a Middle Eastern turn for the first time. The band is jetting in next month to play at Dubai's Irish Village. Up to 4,000 people are expected to be there to watch Hynde and company rock through the ages.

The medium-sized Al Garhoud venue is in keeping with Hynde's policy of not playing to huge arenas or football stadiums.

"I figure that if I can't see everyone in the audience, they can't see me. I don't like how rock has turned into a sport, that it's played in sports arenas," she said in a US interview.

If Hynde's previous performances on stage are anything to go by, the fans are in for a show that will be memorable for far more than just the music.

In the past the outspoken Hynde, now 55, has launched into angry on-stage defences of the environment and animal rights, causes that she has campaigned on regularly for the best part of 20 years. She even once took audience members to task for eating meat.

You have been warned!

The event

The Pretenders play Irish Village on Tuesday, February 9.

The show is all-standing and tickets, which are priced at Dh165, are already on sale online at www.boxofficeme.
com.

From Saturday, January 20, they will go on sale at record stores and other outlets across the UAE.