Rock Legend Chrissie Hynde Coming to Wells Fargo Center for the Arts, 12/4

Today Wells Fargo Center for the Arts announced that leader of the new wave rock group The Pretenders, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame artist Chrissie Hynde will perform a one-night-only concert at the Ruth Finley Person Theater (50 Mark West Springs Road) in Santa Rosa on Thursday, December 4, 2014 at 8:00 pm coinciding with the release of her critically and commercially hailed new album Stockholm, which debuted in the U.S. Top 40 upon its June release from Will Travel/Caroline Records. Hynde will be performing critically acclaimed songs from her new album such as the single "Dark Sunglasses," as well as hits from her years with The Pretenders. Tickets for the show go on sale on September 12, 2014 at noon and may be purchased for $59 and $49 online at wellsfargocenterarts.org, by phone at 707.546.3600, and in person at 50 Mark West Springs Road in Santa Rosa.

From her very first album where she almost threw away the killer line "I'll never be like a man in a man's world" at the fade-out to 'Lovers of Today', Chrissie Hynde displayed a voice that can convey sadness, joy and regret better than almost anyone putting her near the top of the premier league of rock vocalists. And now 25 million records sold and 30-plus years into her tenure as the founder and leader of The Pretenders, Chrissie Hynde releases Stockholm, the first ever album under her own name. This milestone was heralded by Chrissie's debut appearances on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and The Colbert Report with her performance of "Dark Sunglasses," the album's "cutting, springy first single" (Rolling Stone) that charted in the AAA Top 20.

Stockholm has the vibe of an energized debut by a vital artist, one who gives voice to the disaffected while celebrating the undeniable power of a classic love song, a night on the dance floor, and honest authentic rock n roll. Hynde sums up her new direction with her view: "So much of rock n roll has become what I would call Glory Rock, with family values. It's the irreverence in rock that was always the turn-on. I disagree with people who say you shouldn't take yourself too seriously."

And apparently, in the six years since the last Pretenders album, Chrissie Hynde has been doing just that, albeit in new and varied company: After the last Pretenders album, 2008's Break Up the Concrete, Chrissie collaborated with Welsh singer J.P. Jones on the 2010 album Fidelity.

Stockholm was recorded at Ingrid Studios in Stockholm with co-writer, guitarist and producer Bjorn Yttling (Peter, Bjorn and John) and features contributions from Neil Young, John McEnroe and Joakim Ahlund of the Caesars. The songs - 11 in total, including the lead-off single "Dark Sunglasses" and album opener, "You or No One," mix strong pop hooks with emotional and incisive lyrics. As Chrissie herself describes it, "I wanted to make a power pop album you could dance to - Abba meets John Lennon."

Stockholm is an impressive addition to the Rock & Roll Hall of Famer's staggering legacy, a fresh debut, but most importantly a record Chrissie feels confident will pass the most important test of all--not the judgments of peers, producers, critics or A&R types, but whether or not it passes the muster of the checkout girl at her local outpost of the UK drugstore chain, Boots. She explains: "When I make a record, I figure there's no point in giving it to someone else who also makes records. They can't listen without dissecting, without looking for what's missing, what they would add, what they would change... It's pointless. But if the girl from Boots the chemist likes your record, that's what really matters. If it connects with her, then I've done my job."

Tickets for the performance at Wells Fargo Center for the Arts go on sale September 12, 2014 at noon and may be purchased for $59 and $49 online at wellsfargocenterarts.org, by phone at 707.546.3600, and in person at 50 Mark West Springs Road in Santa Rosa.