Editing The Pretenders (section)

===Original band (1978–1982)===
The band's first single, a cover of [[the Kinks]] song "[[Stop Your Sobbing]]" (produced by [[Nick Lowe]] and recorded at the July Regents Park sessions) was released in January 1979 and gained critical attention.<ref name="The Great Rock Discography"/> It was followed by "[[Kid (Pretenders song)|Kid]]" in June 1979. In January 1980, the band reached No.&nbsp;1 in the UK with "[[Brass in Pocket]]", which was also successful in the US, reaching No.&nbsp;14 on the [[Billboard Hot 100|''Billboard'' Hot 100]].<ref name="The Great Rock Discography"/>

[[File:Pretenders Dec 81.JPG|thumb|left|The Pretenders (original line-up), Dominion Theatre, London, December 1981]]
Their [[Pretenders (album)|self-titled debut album]] was released in January 1980 and was a success in the United Kingdom and the United States both critically and commercially.<ref name="The Great Rock Discography" /> Produced by [[Chris Thomas (record producer)|Chris Thomas]], it is regarded as one of the best debut albums of all time,<ref>{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/100-best-debut-albums-of-all-time-143608/|title=100 Best Debut Albums of All Time|date=22 March 2013|magazine=Rolling Stone|access-date=17 July 2019}}</ref> and has been named one of the best albums of all time by [[VH1]] (no. 52)<ref>{{cite book|url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/100_Greatest_Albums/JbFCQbLZNGkC?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=pretenders|title=Google Books Search Within Book: 100 Greatest Albums By VH1|access-date=9 May 2025}}</ref> and ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' (no. 155).<ref>{{cite magazine| url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/500-greatest-albums-of-all-time-156826/the-pretenders-pretenders-159934/|year=2012| title=500 Greatest Albums of All Time Rolling Stone's definitive list of the 500 greatest albums of all time| magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]| access-date= 18 September 2019}}</ref>

The second full-length album, ''[[Pretenders II]]'', was released during August 1981. ''Pretenders II'' included the songs from the US EP ''[[Extended Play (Pretenders EP)|Extended Play]]'', the [[MTV]] video success "Day After Day", and popular [[album oriented rock|album-radio]] tracks "The Adultress", "Birds of Paradise", "Bad Boys Get Spanked", and "The English Roses".<ref name="The Great Rock Discography"/>

On 18 September 1981, the Pretenders were the musical guest on the US late night sketch comedy show [[Fridays (TV series)|''Fridays'']]. The band performed "The Adultress", "[[Message of Love]]" and "Louie, Louie" (not [[the Kingsmen]] song). [[Andy Kaufman]] was the guest host of the program on that night.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/music/features/chrissie-hynde-tig-notaro-interview-the-pretenders-memoir-aging-regret-exclusive-6693016/|title=Superfan Tig Notaro Interviews Chrissie Hynde About Her 'F--- Off' Attitude, Aging and Regret: Exclusive|magazine=Billboard|access-date=3 February 2022}}</ref>

Due to Farndon's escalating drug abuse, he was fired from the band after a meeting between Hynde, Honeyman-Scott, and Chambers on 14 June 1982. Two days later, on 16 June 1982, Honeyman-Scott died of heart failure as a result of cocaine intolerance. While in the midst of forming a new band, Farndon was found dead by his wife on 14 April 1983. After taking heroin and passing out, he had drowned in his bathtub.<ref name="The Great Rock Discography"/>