Chrissie Hynde of The Pretenders might just be my personal favorite of all of the women I’m showcasing this week. Madonna (yes...THAT Madonna) summed up Chrissie perfectly with the following short anecdote:

“I saw her play in Central Park [in August 1980, performing with the Pretenders]. She was amazing: the only woman I’d seen in performance where I thought, yeah, she’s got balls, she’s awesome! ... It gave me courage, inspiration, to see a woman with that kind of confidence in a man’s world.” - Madonna

I only had the pleasure of seeing her with The Pretenders in concert one time...but her combination of musical/vocal talent and “I don’t give a f---” attitude made it a performance I’ll never forget. My wife refers to Chrissie as her “spirit animal.”