Chrissie Hynde

Chrissie Hynde, the lead singer (and the heart and soul) of The Pretenders.

The Ohio native who formed the U.S.-U.K. band in the mid-1970s continues to perform both with the group and as a solo artist, and has recently penned a memoir.

Return to Akron

Chrissie Hynde of The Pretenders (with CBS News' Tracy Smith) back in her hometown of Akron, Ohio, where she supports its music scene.

"I think money, as anyone would agree, has corrupted the arts and has destroyed what I loved about bands and music," Hynde said. "It was never made for stadiums. It was always a little underground thing, which is what we're trying to bring back here in Akron. Keep it small. Keep it local. And just keep it cool. Not everyone has to know about it. You don't have to be a household name. I mean, I'm really sorry that I am one, if I am one."

Akron

Christine Ellen Hynde was born in Akron, Ohio, in 1951, the daughter of a secretary and a phone company worker. She was, as she writes in her new memoir, "Reckless: My Life As a Pretender" (Doubleday), a nonconformist before she knew what a nonconformist was.

As a teen, Hynde was a self-described rebel - a bored middle-class kid whose only real interests were music and drugs.

Akron

Her father's musical tastes didn't exactly gibe with Chrissie's.

"My dad was of the school of, if he heard Bob Dylan, he'd be, you know, 'Chrissie, he can't even sing!'" she told CBS News' Tracy Smith. "So it really caused a rift with me, and we were all going in different directions."

She was, she told Smith, addicted to "going out and seeing bands and getting high." She eventually fell in with a group of outlaw bikers and wound up beaten and raped. "Yeah, of course. I mean, if you go and hang out with outlaws and criminals, then that's just part of it."

"Pretenders"

Chrissie Hynde moved to London in 1973, at the dawn of the punk era. After five years of trying to get a band together (and working at Vivienne Westwood and Malcolm McLaren's fashion store), Hynde struck lightning, finding three kindred spirits (guitarist/keyboardist James Honeyman-Scott, bass player Pete Farndon, and drummer Martin Chambers) with whom she formed The Pretenders.

Their first single was released in 1979, a cover of The Kinks' "Stop Your Sobbing." Their eponymous album, released in December 1979, hit Number 1 on the U.K. charts, featuring the songs "Brass in Pocket," "Precious," "Kid," and "The Wait."

"Talk of the Town"

"The Pretenders' single, "Talk of the Town," was later released on their second album, "Pretenders II" (1982).

"Pretenders II"

"Pretenders II" (1982) featured the songs "Day After Day," "Bad Boys Get Spanked," "The Adultress," and Ray Davies' "I Go to Sleep."

Following the release of "Pretenders II," two of the band's founding members - James Honeyman-Scott and Pete Farndon - would be dead of drug overdoses.

"Learning to Crawl"

Following a hiatus (and a temporary roster recording the single, "Back on the Chain Gang") Hynde and Chambers were joined by guitarist Robbie McIntosh and bassist Malcolm Foster in 1983. Their first album together, "Learning to Crawl," was released in 1984. Tracks included "Back on the Chain Gang," "Middle of the Road," "My City Was Gone" and "Show Me."

The band's next album (much of which was recorded with session players) produced yet another change in the band's lineup, as Martin Chambers was fired. "Get Close" (1986), containing the hit singles, "Don't Get Me Wrong" and "My Baby," would feature Hynde and McIntosh, bass player T.M. Stevens, and drummer Blair Cunningham.

Live Aid

Chrissie Hynde, lead singer of The Pretenders, performs on stage at the JFK Stadium in Philadelphia, Pa., July 13, 1985, during the Live Aid concert. (AP Photo)

The Pretenders

By the mid-1990s, Robbie Mctinosh had quit the band, and Martin Chambers was back. New to The Pretenders were Adam Seymour (left, guitar) and Andy Hobson (right, bass guitar).

"Last of the Independents"

"Last of the Independents" (1994) featured the tracks "I'll Stand By You," "977," "Night in My Veins," and Bob Dylan's "Forever Young."

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

Chrissie Hynde of The Pretenders performs at the Concert for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on Saturday, Sept. 2, 1995, in Cleveland Stadium.

"Viva el Amor"

"Viva el Amor" (1999), The Pretenders' seventh studio album, kept the same roster (Chambers, Hobson, Hynde and Seymour). Singles included "Human" and "Popstar."

The foursome would collaborate on the 2003 album, "Loose Screw" (2003).

By the time The Pretenders released their final album as a group, "Break Up the Concrete" (2008), Hobson was replaced by bass player Nick Wilkinson, James Walbourne was in on guitar, and Jim Keltner was on drums, with Eric Heywood on pedal steel guitar.

Chrissie Hynde would be the only member of the original band to have survived (although Martin Chambers would again rejoin the group for a 2012 concert in Singapore).

London

Singer Chrissie Hynde, lead singer of the Pretenders, during rehearsals at John Henry's Studio in north London, Thursday, Jan. 22, 2009.

The Great Pretender

Chrissie Hynde in 2011.

"Stockholm"

In June 2014 Chrissie Hynde released her first solo album, "Stockholm," which Rolling Stone called "delicate and sexy." Tracks include "Dark Sunglasses," "You or No One," and "Down the Wrong Way."

London

Chrissie Hynde poses for photographs at a north London recording studio, Tuesday, June 10, 2014, following the release of her first solo venture, "Stockholm," six years after the last Pretenders album.

"Reckless"

For more info:

"Reckless: My Life as a Pretender" by Chrissie Hynde (Doubleday); Also available in eBook format