Chrissie Hynde Recruit Brandon Flowers, Dave Gahan, Debbie Harry for Duets Album

Chrissie Hynde is taking a break from Pretenders duty to team up with an impressive slate of vocalists – including Lucinda Williams, Dave Gahan, Brandon Flowers, Debbie Harry, and Shirley Manson – for her fourth solo LP, Duets Special.

“I never thought about doing a duets album before,” Hynde says in a statement. “I think the idea came about in 2023. I was talking to Jörn, Rufus Wainwright’s husband, on the phone. I think we were recommending novels to each other, and for some reason, I said Hey, maybe Rufus and I should do something, and quickly scribbled out 10 songs off the top of my head. So Jörn asked Rufus, who was up for it, and that’s how it started. A spontaneous and what I thought would be a fun thing.”

Duets Special arrives October 7, and you can can hear “Always On My Mind” featuring Rufus Wainwright right now.

The album also features Hynde locking voices with Cat Power (“First of the Gang to Die”), Julian Lennon (“It’s Only Love”), k.d. lang (“Mr & Mrs. Jones”), Alan Sparhawk (“Country Line”), and the late Mark Lanegan (“Can’t Help Falling In Love”).

The Pretenders took a short break after the pandemic, but they returned in 2023 with the new LP Relentless, and a world tour. The shows were a mixture of festival dates, headline gigs at theaters, and stadiums where they opened up for the Foo Fighters and Guns N’ Roses.

Their last proper show took place May 24, 2025, at the C6 Festival in São Paulo, Brazil. The following month, she told fans that the outdoors gigs were often quite punishing due to record-high temperatures. “I trust you’re all surviving the heat waves,” she wrote. “I’m remembering the last couple years when we supported Guns N’ Roses, and then the Foo Fighters in stadiums (to pay for the clubs which I prefer playing). It was so hot I had to strap ice packs around my waist. And I realised then that outdoor events are going to come to an end. It’s too hot.”

Duets Special Track List