PRETENDERS - CHRISSIE HYNDE: CONFIDENCE TRICKSTER

PRETENDERS mainstay CHRISSIE HYNDE disguised her stage fright with bravado so well, all her fans thought she was unshakably confident.

The 2000 MILES singer, who turns 52 this year (03), forced herself to get over her stage fright issues early on in the band's career, because she didn't want it to hold her back in any way.

Chrissie recalls, "I was so terrified when I started. Terrible stage fright. But that left early on.

"It doesn't matter if you have no stage confidence. All you have to do is get up there and pretend you have it. The whole thing's a bluff.

"Because everyone else, most people, are so riddled with their own insecurities that if they see someone appearing even somewhat confident they think, 'Oh my God, they have such confidence and I'm so little and insignificant.'"