Rock on: Pretenders Chrissie Hynde picks up the paintbrush

Another rock star has taken a brush to canvas. Chrissie Hynde, the frontwoman of The Pretenders, is following in the footsteps of other musicians such as Bob Dylan and Ronnie Wood, creating paintings of family and friends along with a few abstracts. Hynde discussed her art in a 2016 BBC documentary which showed her pottering around her west London flat, painting under the beady eye of (a reproduction) Mona Lisa. But Hynde told The Guardian that her elevation into the art world might rattle some. “I mean, who the fuck am I? There’s so many people who’ve been doing this all their lives and they can’t get a gallery…and then muggins walks in, dabbles for a couple of years and the next thing, here’s a big fuck-off box set of her paintings!” she said. Hynde’s art gets mass exposure this month with a selection of works going on show at London’s After Nyne Gallery (7-13 November). Meanwhile, almost 200 of her works feature in a new publication Adding to the Blue (Genesis Publications) due for release 22 November.