Chrissie Hynde Of The Pretenders Calls Out Rock N Roll Hall Of Fame

Chrissie Hynde of American rock band, the Pretenders, calls out the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for its lack of female representation within this long-time accolade of the genre. In a Guardian Op-Ed piece written by 90s rock icon, Courtney Love, giving insight to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s “sexist gatekeeping”. Hynde has shown public support and agreement in the questioning of whether this pedestalized achievement actually deserves its place as a valid measure of rock musicians’ iconhood or just another measure to uphold the glass ceiling between male and female rock acts. These claims can also be echoed in statements of female musicians such as Alanis Morisette who expressed discomfort with the “sexist production environment” of last year’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Only attending her own 2005 induction, Hynde’s dislike for the Hall of Fame is no new phenomenon. In a recent Facebook post, Hynde shares an honest message regarding her current feelings towards the ceremony saying, “It’s just more establishment backslapping” as well as, “It’s absolutely nothing to do with rock ‘n’ roll and anyone who thinks it is is a fool”. Also stating the only reason for her 2005 attendance was to make her parents happy, the original Facebook message reading, “I’d upset them enough by then, so it was one of those things that would bail me out from years of disappointing them”.

The criticisms against the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is a conversation long held between rock musicians, the discourse of the true validity this ceremony may or may not hold has divided the community for years. Todd Rundgren alleged the Hall of Fame a “scam”, revealing in a 2021 interview that he will no longer be attending. Acts such as the Greenwood Brothers and Thom Yorke not being in attendance for Radiohead’s induction, and even the co-founder Jann Wenner has had his own criticisms against the Hall of Fame. 

Although many acts still find themselves indifferent to the role the Rock and Roll of Fame plays in today’s current musical climate, it is clear that these issues have proven to be the clear elephant in the room that has gone long unaddressed.