The legendary rock band the Pretenders was going through a time of rebuilding and reflection in 1982 when a song that would become one of their biggest hits ever, "Back on the Chain Gang," was created.
In early 1982, the band fired their longtime bassist Pete Farndon over his drug problem, and only two days later, the Pretenders' guitarist, James Honeyman-Scott, died of a drug overdose. He was only 25 years old. In the aftermath of this tragedy, only lead singer Chrissie Hynde and drummer Martin Chambers were left in the band, forcing them to recruit new members as they went on.
One of the next songs they worked on was "Back on the Chain Gang," written by Hynde as a tribute to Honeyman-Scott. The moving track told the story of loss and grief, with lyrics reading, "Well, I'll die as I stand here today/ Knowing that deep in my heart/ They'll fall to ruin one day/ For making us part."
In a 1984 interview with Rolling Stone, Hynde talked about the band's choice to keep on going after the loss. She said, "What else were we going to do? Stay at home and be miserable, or go into the studio and do what we dig and be miserable?"
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In the end, it paid off, and thanks to the success of "Back on the Chain Gang," the Pretenders shot to new heights. The song became the group's highest-charting U.S. song ever, reaching No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100, an especially impressive accomplishment for such a meaningful song.
Directly addressing the loss of Honeyman-Scott and Farndon, the latter of whom died of an overdose in 1983, Hynde told the publication, "You lose someone who’s a very real part of your life, and it’s like losing a part of yourself. But everyone goes through that. No point in making too much of a deal out of something that is everyone’s fate."
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