| Artist: | The Pretenders |
| Studio: | 12 |
| Live: | 6 |
| Compilation: | 4 |
| Video: | 6 |
| Ep: | 1 |
| Singles: | 55 |
For over 40 years the discography of The Pretenders, a London, England-based rock band, reflects worldwide charting of 12 studio albums, four compilation albums, one extended play (EP), four live albums, six video albums and 55 singles.
Vocalist/guitarist Chrissie Hynde, guitarist/keyboardist James Honeyman-Scott, bassist Pete Farndon and drummer Martin Chambers formed The Pretenders in 1978. Their chart-topping debut album, Pretenders, is widely regarded as one of the finest debut albums of all time.[1] The Pretenders' hit songs include "Brass in Pocket" (1979), "Talk of the Town" (1980), "Message of Love" (1981), "Back on the Chain Gang" (1982), "Middle of the Road" (1983), "2000 Miles" (1984), "Don't Get Me Wrong" (1986), "My Baby" (1986), and "I'll Stand by You" (1994).
| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | Certifications (sales thresholds) | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK [2] | AUS [3] | CAN | GER [4] | NLD [5] | NOR [6] | NZ [7] | SWE [8] | SWI [9] | US [10] | |||||||||||
| Pretenders | 1 | 6 | 5 | — | 14 | 24 | 2 | 2 | — | 9 | ||||||||||
| Pretenders II |
| 7 | 18 | 9 | — | 16 | — | 1 | 20 | — | 10 |
| ||||||||
| Learning to Crawl |
| 11 | 18 | 4 | 38 | 11 | 18 | 19 | 3 | 30 | 5 |
| ||||||||
| Get Close |
| 6 | 12 | 9 | 33 | 22 | 18 | 13 | 6 | 22 | 25 |
| ||||||||
| Packed! |
| 19 | 55 | 23 | 48 | 43 | 15 | 31 | 7 | — | 48 |
| ||||||||
| Last of the Independents |
| 8 | 22 | 25 | 42 | 50 | 16 | 14 | 6 | 26 | 41 |
| ||||||||
| ¡Viva El Amor! |
| 32 | — | — | 73 | — | — | — | 36 | — | 158 | |||||||||
| Loose Screw | 55 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 179 | ||||||||||
| Break Up the Concrete |
| 35 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 58 | — | 32 |
| ||||||||
| Alone |
| 40 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 150 | |||||||||
| Hate for Sale |
| 29 | — | — | 21 | — | — | — | — | 11 | — | |||||||||
| Relentless |
| 25 | — | — | 43 | — | — | — | — | 15 | — | |||||||||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | Certifications | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK | AUS | BEL [17] | US | ||||
| Live at the Santa Monica Civic |
| — | — | — | — | ||
| Superstar Concert Series |
| — | — | — | — | ||
| The Isle of View |
| 23 | 98 | 46 | 100 |
| |
| Loose in L.A. |
| — | — | — | — | ||
| Live in London |
| — | — | — | — | ||
| Live in New York City |
| — | — | — | — | ||
| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | Certifications | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK | AUS | NZ | SPA [18] | SWE | US | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The Singles |
| 6 | 19 | 11 | 48 | 50 | 69 |
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Greatest Hits |
| 21 | 99 | — | — | 23 | — | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Pirate Radio |
| — | — | — | — | — | — | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| The Best of Pretenders |
| 35 | — | — | 56 | 58 | — |
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Year | Title | Peak chart positions | Certifications | Album | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK | AUS | CAN | NLD | NZ | SWE | US | US Alt | US Main | US Adult | ||||||
| 1979 | "Stop Your Sobbing" | 34 | — | — | — | 25 | — | 65 | — | — | — | Pretenders | |||
| "Kid" | 33 | 90 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||||
| "Brass in Pocket" | 1 | 2 | 5 | 11 | 2 | 1 | 14 | — | — | — |
| ||||
| 1980 | "Precious" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| "Talk of the Town" | 8 | 55 | — | 24 | — | — | — | — | — | — | Pretenders II (initially single-only releases) | ||||
| 1981 | "Message of Love" | 11 | 15 | — | 33 | — | — | — | — | 5 | — | ||||
| "Day After Day" | 45 | 102 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Pretenders II | ||||
| "The Adultress" (airplay) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 12 | — | |||||
| "I Go to Sleep" | 7 | — | — | 9 | 28 | — | — | — | — | — | |||||
| "Louie Louie" | — | — | — | — | — | — | 110 | — | — | — | |||||
| 1982 | "Back on the Chain Gang" b/w "My City Was Gone" | 17 | 11 | 5 | 31 | 14 | — | 5 | — | 4 11 | — | Learning to Crawl | |||
| 1983 | "2000 Miles" | 15 | 30 | — | 13 | 36 | — | — | — | — | — |
| |||
| "Middle of the Road" | 81 | 52 | 12 | — | — | — | 19 | — | 2 | — | |||||
| 1984 | "Time the Avenger" (airplay) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 6 | — | ||||
| "Show Me" | — | — | — | — | — | — | 28 | — | 8 | — | |||||
| "Thumbelina" (airplay) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 57 | — | |||||
| "Thin Line Between Love and Hate" | 49 | — | — | 32 | — | — | 83 | — | — | — | |||||
| 1986 | "Don't Get Me Wrong" | 10 | 8 | 14 | 25 | 11 | — | 10 | — | 1 | 28 |
| Get Close | ||
| "Hymn to Her" | 8 | 7 | — | 38 | 46 | 15 | — | — | — | — | |||||
| 1987 | "My Baby" | 84 | 56 | — | — | 50 | — | 64 | — | 1 | — | ||||
| "Room Full of Mirrors" (promo) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 28 | — | |||||
| "Where Has Everybody Gone?" (promo) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 26 | — | The Living Daylights (soundtrack) | ||||
| "If There Was a Man" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||||
| "Kid" (Remix) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | The Singles | ||||
| 1988 | "Windows of the World" | — | 117 | — | — | — | — | — | 21 | — | — | 1969 (soundtrack) | |||
| 1990 | "Never Do That" | 81 | 107 | 26 | — | — | — | — | 4 | 5 | — | Packed | |||
| "Hold a Candle to This" (promo) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 18 | — | — | |||||
| "Sense of Purpose" | — | 129 | 72 | — | — | — | — | 23 | — | — | |||||
| 1994 | "I'm Not in Love" | — | — | 74 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Indecent Proposal (soundtrack) | |||
| "I'll Stand by You" | 10 | 8 | 12 | 29 | 20 | 21 | 16 | 21 | — | 21 |
| Last of the Independents | |||
| "Night in My Veins" | 25 | — | 9 | — | — | — | 71 | 2 | 13 | — | |||||
| "977" | 66 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||||
| "Money Talk" (promo) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||||
| 1995 | "Kid '95" (live) | 73 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | The Isle of View | |||
| "2000 Miles" (live) | 168 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||||
| 1997 | Fever Pitch The E.P.: "Goin' Back" | 65 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Fever Pitch (soundtrack) | |||
| 1999 | "Loving You Is All I Know" (promo) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 22 | The Other Sister (soundtrack) | |||
| "Human" | 33 | — | — | — | 17 | — | — | — | — | 30 | ¡Viva El Amor | ||||
| "Popstar" | 97 | 59 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||||
| 2003 | "You Know Who Your Friends Are" | 84 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Loose Screw | |||
| "Time" (Junior Vasquez Remixes) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||||
| "Saving Grace" | 174 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||||
| "The Losing" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||||
| 2008 | "Boots of Chinese Plastic" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 6 | Break Up the Concrete | |||
| "Love's a Mystery" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 8 | |||||
| "Break Up the Concrete" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||||
| 2016 | "Holy Commotion" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 5 | Alone | |||
| 2017 | "Let's Get Lost" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| "Gotta Wait" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||||
| 2020 | "The Buzz"[20] | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 21 | Hate for Sale | |||
| "You Can't Hurt a Fool"[21] | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||||
| "Hate for Sale"[22] | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||||
| "Didn't Want to Be This Lonely"[23] | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 27 | |||||
| 2023 | "Let the Sun Come In"[24] | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Relentless | |||
| "I Think About You Daily"[25] | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||||
| "A Love" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart. | |||||||||||||||
| Year | Song | Album | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | "Talk of the Town" | Times Square soundtrack | |
| 1981 | "The Wait", "Tattooed Love Boys", "Precious" | Concert for Kampuchea soundtrack | |
| 1982 | "Back on the Chain Gang" | The King of Comedy soundtrack | |
| 1982 | "In the Sticks" | Attack of the Killer B's compilation album | |
| 1984 | "Money" (live) (Beatles cover) | Revenge of the Killer B's compilation album | |
| 1984 | "Show Me" (live) | Greenpeace compilation album | |
| 1986 | "Don't Get Me Wrong" | Peter's Friends soundtrack | |
| 1987 | "If There Was a Man", "Where Has Everybody Gone" | The Living Daylights soundtrack | |
| 1988 | "Windows of the World", "1969" (Bacharach/Osterberg covers) | 1969 soundtrack | |
| 1991 | "Born for a Purpose" (Alimantado cover) | Tame Yourself compilation | |
| 1993 | "Bold as Love" (Hendrix cover) | ||
| 1994 | "Forever Young" (Dylan cover) | With Honors soundtrack | |
| 1995 | "Everyday Is Like Sunday" (Morrissey cover) | Boys on the Side soundtrack | |
| 1995 | "Forever Young" (Dylan cover) | soundtrack | |
| 1997 | "Goodbye" (Earle cover), "The Homecoming" | G.I. Jane soundtrack | |
| 1999 | "I Wish You Love" (cover) | Eye of the Beholder soundtrack | |
| 1999 | "Message of Love" and various tracks as backing band | Here, There and Everywhere: A Concert for Linda memorial concert | |
| 1999 | "Loving You Is All I Know" (Diane Warren cover) | The Other Sister soundtrack | |
| 2002 | "Get Out of London" (Interferon cover) | The Wild Thornberrys soundtrack | |
| 2002 | "Bless You" (Lennon cover) | Uncut Presents: Instant Karma 2002; a Tribute to John Lennon[26] | |
| 2005 | "Stop Your Sobbing", "Back on the Chain Gang", "Middle of the Road" | Live Aid Anniversary Box Set. "Time the Avenger" and "Message of Love" also performed but not included. |
. Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 . Australian Chart Book . 1993 . 0-646-11917-6 . Illustrated . St. Ives, N.S.W. . 238 . David Kent (historian). N.B. The Kent Report chart was licensed by ARIA between mid-1983 and 19 June 1988.
