Chrissie Hynde On The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame: 'It's Just More Establishment Backslapping'

The Pretenders’ Chrissie Hynde has made her position known regarding the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, labelling it “just more establishment backslapping” on Facebook.

Her post arrives after music journalist and author Jessica Hopper did the math on the number of women inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame earlier this week. 

Hopper shared the statistics on Twitter while quoting an article stating that the Rock Hall was celebrating "women who rock" for Women's History Month. 

She wrote, “Do they tho? 719 inductees to the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame, only 61 are women. That's 8.48%. C'mon @rockhall, it's FUCKING GRIM BRO when yr doing worse than women-artists-on-country radio numbers (10%) and women headliners at major music festivals (13%).”

Hopper was quote-tweeted by Courtney Love, who added, “@jesshopp DOES THE MATH! 37 years in existence & women make up 8.48% of inductees out of 719... @NinaSimoneMusic & Carole King 30 years.”

Courtney Love has since penned an op-ed for The Guardian, which was published overnight. Hynde’s Facebook post followed just a few hours later.

“When the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame started in 1983, you would have thought they might want to begin with Sister Rosetta, with those first chords that chimed the songbook we were now all singing from,” Love wrote. 

“The initial inductees were Chuck Berry, James Brown, Ray Charles, Little Richard, Sam Cooke, Fats Domino, The Everly Brothers, Buddy Holly, Jerry Lee Lewis and Elvis Presley; not a woman in sight. Sister Rosetta didn’t get in until the Rock Hall was publicly shamed into adding her in 2018… Today, just 8.48% of the inductees are women.”

She noted that this year’s Rock Hall nominations include more women than any other year in the institution’s history: “Kate Bush, Cyndi Lauper, Missy Elliott; two women in era-defining bands: Meg White of The White Stripes and Gillian Gilbert of New Order; and a woman who subverted the boys club: Sheryl Crow.”

Chrissie Hynde has shared her views, calling the Rock Hall “total bollocks”.

“If anyone wants my position in the rock ‘n’ roll Hall of Fame they are welcome to it. I don’t even wanna be associated with it. It’s just more establishment backslapping. I got in a band so I didn’t have to be part of all that,” she said.

Hynde recalls living in Rio when she received the call about being inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame and admitted that she’d have to attend. “My heart sank because I knew I’d have to go back for it as it would be too much of a kick in the teeth to my parents if I didn’t. I’d upset them enough by then, so it was one of those things that would bail me out from years of disappointing them.”

She added, “Other than Neil Young’s participation in the induction process, the whole thing was, and is, total bollocks.

“It’s absolutely nothing to do with rock ‘n’ roll and anyone who thinks it is is a fool.”