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This band is called 'Pretenders', not 'The Pretenders'. Every album cover has simply 'Pretenders' as the band name. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Ianbrettcooper (talk • contribs) 21:27, 3 February 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Clearly not true. The band's own website is ThePretenders.com. They have an album out called The Pretenders iTunes Originals. 71.236.185.15 (talk) —Preceding undated comment added 23:10, 9 February 2010 (UTC).[reply]

Depends on the album, whatever name the album has is most likely the name they will tour with. The original band was "Pretenders", but they kinda changed it around after pete and jimmy died. But now it seems to be "Pretenders". The fans know this, they just put the "The" in there cause it would ocnfuse the rest of the people. 66.241.184.218 (talk) 05:48, 23 July 2010 (UTC)[reply]

There's certainly some ambiguity here. For instance "Learning To Crawl" clearly has The Pretenders, in giant letters, in fact. But it does seem that simply "Pretenders" is the original and preferred name. HandsOfBlue (talk) 14:36, 19 February 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Looking through their discography, it would appear that only the first two albums after the demise of the original line-up prefixed Pretenders with The. To my mind they are the Pretenders rather than The Pretenders, however, if Ms Hynde isn't too fussed, neither am I. Gwladys24 (talk) 19:06, 23 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Further to the reference to itunes, above, I notice that the artwork for the two albums I referenced in my previous comment, Learning to Crawl & Get Close, has been amended to remove the prefix from the cover so that they both now just read as Pretenders. This seems consistent with the artwork for the 2007 remasters. Gwladys24 (talk) 21:29, 23 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

I agree that it should be Pretenders, considering most albums omit the article. The Mo-Ja'al (talk) 23:11, 29 August 2020 (UTC)[reply]

(the) Pet Shop Boys are listed/referred to as Pet Shop Boys on here so the same kind of naming format should apply to this band esp. if most albums are credited to Pretenders rather than The Pretenders (I wouldn't go off what the website is called as somebody else may have got to pretenders.com before them) — Preceding unsigned comment added by 81.152.238.174 (talk) 16:19, 15 December 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Both MusicBrainz and AllMusic agree that the band name is "Pretenders". MusicBrainz shows "Pretenders, The" as an alias. Fred Gandt · talk · contribs 23:57, 16 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]

I would say that it is officially written as Pretenders, but said as The Pretenders. Wolf O'Donnel (talk) 01:01, 13 March 2021 (UTC)[reply]

I agree that 'Pretenders" is correct. The text is updated accordingly Billsmith60 (talk) 19:41, 18 October 2022 (UTC)[reply]

It seems like someone changed the title to The Pretenders again. They’ve released an album in 2023 as Pretenders, confirming again the correct, current name. Noattention (talk) 21:56, 15 March 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Should it be renamed to "Pretenders" again? Currently, the title and the text do not match since the text calls the band "Pretender". Lmuse (talk) 10:14, 15 April 2025 (UTC)[reply]

If it does, it should be the primary topic for sure, because the only other articles that exclude “The” are a bad movie and an obscure TV show. If we do keep “The” here, then Pretenders should redirect here and the existing dab page should be moved to Pretenders (disambiguation). —pythoncoder (talk | contribs) 21:45, 14 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]

I recall back in late '80s when I saw them at Oakland Coliseum with U2, the band was billed as "The Pretenders UK", which was a result of a conflict with another band. That would be a good addition to this article if someone can find the sources. —howcheng {chat} 16:28, 11 August 2017 (UTC)[reply]

• @Howcheng: This show? 71.178.130.130 (talk) 04:06, 2 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]

The category Female-fronted musical groups is up for deletion at Wikipedia:Categories_for_discussion/Log/2024_August_6#Category:Female-fronted_musical_groups, and this music group article has listed it as a category. If you have an opinion either way please join the discussion. Thanks. Fyunck(click) (talk) 06:43, 7 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]

There have been repeated reverts on this point, so this needs to be resolved using Wikipedia’s established criteria and precedent.

The Pretenders are not an American band.

They were formed in Hereford, England, in 1978, emerged from the UK punk/new wave scene, and the original lineup consisted of three British members plus Chrissie Hynde, who was American-born but UK-based at the time. 

The band’s operations, early recordings, management, and cultural context were British.

The only American element is Hynde’s birth nationality. Wikipedia does not determine band nationality based on the birthplace or nationality of a single member, even a frontwoman.

This is supported by Wikipedia precedent.

For example, Foreigner is listed simply as an American band, despite being founded by Mick Jones (British) and having British members, because it was formed in the U.S., based in the U.S., and operated primarily within the American music industry. Mick Jones’s nationality alone does not make Foreigner “British-American.”

The Pretenders were formed and based in the UK, with a majority British lineup and UK cultural context. Unlike Fleetwood Mac, they did not later become a structurally or operationally binational band (no U.S. relocation, no American-based core lineup).

Comparable cases: Crowded House – Australian band despite a New Zealand frontman AC/DC – Australian band despite international members and U.S. success

Unless reliable sources explicitly define The Pretenders as a binational project beyond Chrissie Hynde’s birthplace, labeling them “British-American” overstates the facts.

The most accurate and policy-consistent description is British rock band, with Hynde noted as American-born in the lead or member section. Further changes without new sourcing risk edit warring and should be avoided. ~2025-43461-89 (talk) 13:03, 28 December 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Foreigner, who originated in New York City, are designated in wikipedia as a "British-American" band. Similarly, it is completely appropriate, given Americsn Chrissie Hynde's dominant role & stature in the band, to designate the Pretenders as a British-American band. ~2026-90250-2 (talk) 15:29, 20 February 2026 (UTC)[reply]