Happy 60th, Chrissie Hynde!

PETA wishes a very happy 60th birthday to rock legend Chrissie Hynde, who, when she isn’t using her beautiful voice to sing platinum hits, uses it to stop cruelty to animals. From opening her vegan restaurant, VegiTerranean, to having her hit song “I’ll Stand by You” featured in a heartbreaking public service announcement, the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer has spent decades advocating for animals. Chrissie’s actions for animals are too numerous to list, but here are our six favorites:  

1. Chrissie was arrested in New York when she, along with PETA President Ingrid E. Newkirk, “deconstructed” leather clothes, taking them apart to show the hides that were stolen from animals, in the flagship Gap Inc. store in Times Square to protest the company’s policy of buying leather from India, where cows are tortured on the way to and during slaughter. The Gap subsequently stopped buying Indian leather.  
2. Chrissie was so disgusted that McDonald’s suppliers scald birds to death for McNuggets that she appeared on a McCruelty billboard with the phrase “I’m Hatin’ It” and led protests at McDonald’s restaurants in Salt Lake City and Philadelphia.
3. During a Pretenders tour stop in Australia, Chrissie used the opportunity to unveil a new PETA ad at the Sydney Opera House showing the bloodied backside of a mulesed sheep.
4. While protesting horse-drawn carriages in New York City, Chrissie told reporters, “I got hitched to Jim Kerr in a horse-drawn carriage in New York. The marriage didn’t last and I hope the carriages meet the same fate.”
5. When The Pretenders’ summer tour organizer made the mistake of scheduling a concert at the Minnesota Zoo, which routinely sells animals from its petting zoo to be slaughtered, Chrissie told the zoo to call off the killing. The zoo retaliated by canceling the show. But the singer didn’t care—no brass in her pocket is worth animals’ suffering.
6. Chrissie has even made plans to keep helping animals after she passes away. Included in her will is the directive that PETA should make an ad with her image and the caption “Dead Meat Should Be Buried, Not Eaten. Take It From Chrissie Hynde.”

We know that animals would agree with us, Chrissie—you rock!

Written by Michelle Sherrow