Chrissie Hynde, Known for Rants, Praises Taylor Swift's "Cleveland!"

Chrissie Hynde is famously not easy to impress and has even been accused of being grumpy . The Pretenders icon is often going on rants — rants about composers , concertgoers , the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame , and more. However, she likes Taylor Swift's polarizing new song "Cleveland!"

Following the release of The Life Of A Showgirl: The Encore , Swift has the #1 album and #1 song this week (ending Ella Langley's record-breaking reign ). The Life Of A Showgirl now has more top 10 hits than any album in history. Despite these achievements, "Cleveland!" has been the target of much criticism because, well, it's a terrible song. But Chrissie Hynde doesn't think so. On Friday (Oct. 2), she shared an update with fans, saying, "I was thrilled to hear Taylor Swift's new song, Cleveland."

"Now there's a girl who stays on the cutting edge…. in fact, she might be the only person in history who has actually written a song about Cleveland," she continued, obviously incorrectly (there are probably a lot of good examples of songs about Cleveland, but most recently Squirrel Flower released her Say A Prayer To The Gods Of Getting Going single " Cleveland " in August). "Although come to think of it, I did commemorate Cleveland on my first album in the song, Precious. Perhaps Taylor is trying to get a leg up in her career by emulating yours truly…… although I strongly suspect it has more to do with her new hunk of a husband, a Cleveland native."

"Either way, hats off to Taylor for commemorating Akron's main competition…. Cleveland Ohio," she added. She has written positively about Swift before on her blog , and has also talked about meeting Swift . Read her full update below.

> Hi all! I don't know where you are at the moment, but here in the U.K. it's a lovely time of year. The leaves are turning and it's cooled off after the insane heat waves all across Europe.. Not much musically to report on my end, although I did go to Gothenburg a couple weeks ago to sing with The Bjorn Yttling Jazz combo. You'll remember I did that Stockholm album with Bjorn about 10 years ago. It's always good to hang out with those Swedes. And Bjorn's Jazz album, Yttling Jazz, is great. Glad to sing with them any time. I also went to Toronto recently to the film festival to showcase the Pretenders documentary. Martin Chambers came with me and it's always fun to hang with Mart. And I do have a soft spot for Toronto going way back even before the days of Tim Horton, (when Toronto was relatively skyscraper free). I got the Taxi boat to the Toronto Islands. Had a good wander about with my manager, Ian Grenfell, remembering the days when most of Toronto looked like the islands. Well, things change. Oh yeah….I was thrilled to hear Taylor Swift's new song, Cleveland. Now there's a girl who stays on the cutting edge…. in fact, she might be the only person in history who has actually written a song about Cleveland. Although come to think of it, I did commemorate Cleveland on my first album in the song, Precious. Perhaps Taylor is trying to get a leg up in her career by emulating yours truly…… although I strongly suspect it has more to do with her new hunk of a husband, a Cleveland native. Either way, hats off to Taylor for commemorating Akron's main competition…. Cleveland Ohio. I certainly have myriad recollections of adventures in Cleveland.. it's a hell of a town. Don't be safe… XCH

_Originally reported by [Stereogum](https://stereogum.com/2513640/chrissie-hynde-actually-likes-something-taylor-swifts-cleveland/news/)._