Chrissie Hynde 'may never tour again'
The Pretenders star Chrissie Hynde has declared she "may never tour again" because she hates seeing so many phones in the audience at her gigs.
Chrissie Hynde "may never tour again".
The Pretenders star has admitted she is considering retiring from the road and she blames the use of mobile phones at gigs for her decision - insisting she hates seeing so many devices being held in the air while she's on stage.
She told The Times newspaper: "Phones at concerts are one of the reasons why I may never tour again. I can’t handle it. Something about the energy in the place is disrupted."
Chrissie, 74, also revealed the use of phones ruined a recent visit to a Vincent van Gogh art exhibition in London.
She said: "The Starry Night by Van Gogh [is my favourite painting]. He’s my hero. I went to see his recent exhibition at the National Gallery.
"But everyone had a phone out, and I couldn’t see anything. Why have they not banned phones in galleries? I don’t want to see an exhibition any more".
Chrissie went on to reveal one of her greatest pleasures in life is going to the cinema by herself - because she can walk out at any time if she doesn't like the film.
She explained: "Going to the cinema alone [is my guilty pleasure] because if I want to walk out, I don’t offend anyone. If I’m with someone who likes [the film] and I don’t, then I don’t want to discuss it with them."
Chrissie's admission about her future on the road comes after she admitted she's grown tired of seeing the same faces on the front row at her shows - insisting regular gig-goers should move aside and let others have a chance to stand by the stage.
The Brass in Pocket hitmaker caused a stir in October 2024 when she asked supporters to "give local fans a chance" to be on the front row at their concerts and she recently explained her stance by saying she started to feel like she had a “screw loose” seeing the same faces in the audience night after night, no matter where in the world she was performing.
She told MOJO magazine: “See, the thing is, of course you want the same people to come because it means they’re digging the show.
"And I understand why people follow a band.If you’re not in a band, the second-best thing is to follow a band around.
"One hundred per cent do I understand that. But if it’s the same people in the front row all around the world, it takes some of the spontaneity out of it for the artist.
"Because, y’know, Hey, we’re in Warsaw. I’ve never been to Warsaw. Oh, it’s you again. And it’s like that every night. You start feeling like you’ve got a screw loose.
"Like, if we’re playing in Warsaw, and we’ve never been there, if there’s some local fans who want to be in the front, let them up front. You’ve already been to 500 shows."
Asked about the backlash, she laughed: "Ah, go f*** yourselves. Come on. Only a moron could disagree with that."
