Chrissie Hynde Calls Sexism in the Music Industry a ‘Myth’
It's a widely held belief that for a variety of reasons, women have it harder than men in the music industry — but Pretenders founder Chrissie Hynde isn't buying it.
Speaking with People (via Yahoo! Music)to promote the paperback release of her memoir, Hynde rejected her interviewer's mention of the idea that the industry "has always been a man's world," calling it "another myth that they try to perpetuate" and presenting her point of view of music as a fairly egalitarian arena.
"I tell ya right now, if a woman walked in here and looked like Pamela Anderson and played like Jimi Hendrix, there's not a band in the world that wouldn't be falling to her feet and saying, 'Will you be in my band?' Men like it when women can play guitar," argued Hynde. "Prince had all women in his band. Jeff Beck likes working with women. These were the greatest guitar players alive."
While Prince and Beck might be two noteworthy exceptions to the gender rule on the charts, Hynde insists it isn't because of sexism. "All any guy in any band wants to do is sound as good as he can," she pointed out. "And if anyone can make that happen, he wants that to happen. They're not restricted of anything — sexual orientation, race, creed, none of that. None of that means anything. 'If you make me sound good, please be in my band.' And that's for sure."
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