Джеймс Хонеман-Скотт: Жизнь и трагическая гибель гитариста The Pretenders

English guitarist and songwriter (1956–1982)

James Honeyman Scott (4 November 1956 – 16 June 1982) was an English rock guitarist, songwriter and founding member of the band the Pretenders. With the band, Honeyman Scott established a reputation, in the words of AllMusic, as "one of the most original and versatile guitarists of the early '80s new wave movement." In addition to his role as lead guitarist, Honeyman Scott co wrote a number of songs for the band, sang back up vocals and played keyboards on a few tracks. The song "Back on the Chain Gang" was written as a tribute to him by Chrissie Hynde.

Honeyman Scott, along with Pretenders bandmates Pete Farndon (bass guitar, vocals) and Martin Chambers (drums, vocals, percussion), came from Hereford. Before joining the Pretenders, Honeyman Scott played in several bands, including a precursor to The Enid with Robert John Godfrey, the Hawks (Kelv Wilson, bass guitar & vocals; Dave Plowman, guitar; Stan Speke, drums), The Hot Band, and The Cheeks. During his tenure with the Pretenders, Dave Edmunds and Billy Bremner from Rockpile were influential, as well as Nils Lofgren and Chris Spedding.

During the mid 1970s, Honeyman Scott met future Pretenders bandmate Pete Farndon while the bassist was playing with Cold River Lady in Hereford (Melody Maker, 1979). In 1978, Farndon recruited Honeyman Scott for a series of Pretenders rehearsals and recording sessions, and he officially joined the group that summer (New Musical Express, 1980). Chrissie Hynde recalled, "As soon as I heard Jimmy Scott, I knew I was getting close. Jimmy and I turned out to have a genuine musical affinity". Hynde later summarized his influence on her playing by saying that Jimmy Scott was her "musical right hand" and that "He really was the Pretenders sound. I don't sound like that. When I met him, I was this not very melodic punky angry guitar player and singer and Jimmy was the melodic one. He brought out all the melody in me." (Uncut, 1999). Chambers later said, "Despite everything the original band accomplished in only two albums, Jimmy and Chrissie were just starting to figure out what they were capable of as a creative team." (Rhino Entertainment Company, 2006). In May and June 1982, Honeyman Scott was first in Los Angeles and then in Austin, Texas, for a short visit with his wife Peggy Sue Fender whom he had married in April 1981. While in Austin, he became involved in his first co production effort for an album by Stephen Doster that was never released. During the sessions with Stephen Doster in Austin, Honeyman Scott was called back to London for a band meeting on 14 June with Chrissie Hynde and Martin Chambers that resulted in the dismissal of Pete Farndon from the Pretenders, due to Farndon's increasing substance dependence.

Two days after the dismissal of Pete Farndon, Honeyman Scott was found dead in a girlfriend's apartment of heart failure caused by cocaine intolerance. He was 25 years old at the time of his death. He was buried in the churchyard at St Peter's Church, Lyde, Herefordshire.

Although Honeyman Scott died young, he influenced other well known guitarists such as Johnny Marr, who said that "most of all, the jingle jangle came from James Honeyman Scott of the Pretenders. He was the last important influence on my playing before I went out on my own. The first time I played 'Kid' with the Pretenders, I couldn't believe it. I've used that solo to warm up with every day for years." Honeyman Scott is also credited with discovering Violent Femmes, who opened for the Pretenders at the Oriental Theatre in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, while the band was on tour. Honeyman Scott's death profoundly affected the Pretenders' subsequent direction and longevity. Hynde later said, "One of the things that kept the band alive, ironically, was the death of Jimmy Scott. I felt I couldn't let the music die when he died. We'd worked too hard to get it where it was I had to finish what we'd started". At the group meeting on 14 June 1982, Honeyman Scott suggested bringing Robbie McIntosh into the group in some capacity. After Honeyman Scott's death, McIntosh became the group's lead guitarist for several years. In 2005, Honeyman Scott was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame alongside Hynde, Farndon and Chambers as a member of the Pretenders.