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Cover of Last of the Independents by The Pretenders — Cover: Last of the Independents

Song · The Pretenders

“I'll Stand By You” by The Pretenders

From the album Last of the Independents (1994)

“I'll Stand By You” by The Pretenders appears on 17 radio countdowns from 8 stations between 1994 and 2025. It was first released in 1994 on the album Last of the Independents. Its best result is #78 on the 91X Top 91 Songs of 1994. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #257 alternative song of 1994 and #2,446 alternative song of all time.

17countdowns

8stations

#78best position

0#1 finishes

0top 10 finishes

1994–2025years charted

Watch

Girls Aloud - I'll Stand By You (Official Music Video)

Video from YouTube (GirlsAloudVEVO). Pressing play loads YouTube's player. Watch on YouTube

"I'll Stand by You" is the big, open-hearted ballad at the center of Last of the Independents, the Pretenders' sixth album, from 1994, and it catches Chrissie Hynde at her most unguarded. She wrote it with the songwriting team of Tom Kelly and Billy Steinberg, and Ian Stanley produced it. The song is a vow to someone lost in their own darkness: whatever comes, the singer isn't going anywhere.

Hynde, who plays guitar alongside Adam Seymour, sings it plainly and warmly, and the drums from Jimmy Copley and J.F.T. Hood build it into a slow, stately swell. It went top 20 in Britain, America, Canada and Australia, among other places, and Zanna's video cast Hynde as a caretaker nursing a sick man in a hut.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.

RockLists rankings

Alternative & Modern Rock

Indie & Adult Alternative

All Rock Formats

Year-end countdowns

Year	#	Station	Countdown	of
1994	78	91X San Diego, CA / Tijuana	91X Top 91 Songs of 1994	91

All-time and decade countdowns

Year	#	Station	Countdown	of
1999	1298	CD101	CD101 Top 2000 Songs of All-Time (December 1999)	2000
2000	1298	CD101	CD101 Top 2001 Songs of All-Time (December 2000)	2001
2001	1305	CD101	CD101 Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (December 2001)	2002
2001	161	Virgin Radio	Virgin Radio Top 500 Songs of All-Time (December 2001)	500
2002	1304	CD101	CD101 Top 2003 Songs of All-Time (December 2002)	2003
2003	1289	CD101	CD101 Top 2004 Songs of All-Time (December 2003)	2004
2004	1289	CD101	CD101 Top 2005 Songs of All-Time (December 2004)	2005
2004	474	Virgin Radio	Virgin Radio Top 500 Songs of All-Time (December 2004)	500
2005	1289	CD101	CD101 Top 2006 Songs of All-Time (December 2005)	1994
2005	480	Virgin Radio	Virgin Radio Top 500 Songs of All-Time (December 2005)	500
2006	438	Virgin Radio	Virgin Radio Top 500 Songs of All-Time (December 2006)	500
2020	1055	WXPN	WXPN 2020 Greatest Songs of All Time	2020
2021	908	90.9 The Bridge	90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the '90s	908
2022	880	WYEP	WYEP Countdown to Fall 2022	603
2023	708	The Current	The Current's 893 Essential Songs of the '90s	893
2025	339	WFPK	WFPK Top 500 Songs of the '90s	500

Also listed as: I'll Stand by You.

Charting alongside it in 1994

Best songs of 1994 →

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