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The Pretenders’ Chrissie Hynde has expressed a disdain for what she described as concert-goers’ uncontrollable urge to photograph and record shows on their phones.
“It’s like a weird compulsion that people can’t control,” Hynde said of the habit in a new social media post. Following that perspective, she made a more illustrative comparison, saying “It reminds me of monkeys wanking in full view of the people standing around their enclosures. And frankly they deserved to be wanked at because monkeys should not be in an enclosure in the first place. However, an artist on a stage?”
Hynde recalled a conversation she had about fans recording concerts on their phones with Emmy Lou Harris, noting the topic comes up every time she meets an artist. “It’s become like an unpleasant fug hanging over the head of all artists,” Hynde wrote. “You can plaster a venue with signs requesting “NO CAMERAS” but people don’t respect it. It’s as if people feel entitled, even though the artist clearly has asked them not to do it.”
She brought up that Bob Dylan has a no phones policy at his shows, with Hynde wondering aloud, “You would think an artist of his stature could make a simple request and the audience would respect it. No chance. People will sneak in a camera or a phone.”
Concert goers don’t get it, Hynes continued, positing that “No one seems to understand why artists don’t like it,” before she made another illuminating comparison. “If you’ve ever had a mosquito buzzing around your head when you’re trying to sleep, you will get a vague idea of what it’s like to have people filming your show or taking photos while you’re on stage.”
She has the same problem with people on their phones at museums, recalling a time she was at a Van Gogh exhibit and “morons” were holding their phones up in front of masterpieces so no one could see them. That made her want to cry, she wrote.
“If Jesus Christ were to walk into a room the first thing everyone would do would be to pull out their phone,” she said.
However, Hynde did concede that some performers want the attention phones bring as The Pretenders’ frontwoman clarified, “Bear in mind I’m not talking about pop artists who encourage this practice because they want to be on social media.”
Billie Eilish is one of those pop artists, as she recently defended phones at concerts, a subject that has been heating up. Sabrina Carpenter seemed open to banning phones but worried she would face fan backlash, while Bring Me the Horizon frontman Oli Sykes suffered a literal lash when a concert goer threw a phone at his head, giving him a mild concussion.
Hi All!
XCH pic.twitter.com/KnI3f2rpks
— Chrissie Hynde (@ChrissieHynde) June 2, 2026
English (US) · 