Jackson Browne’s 1976 album The Pretender was nearly interrupted by the suicide of his first wife, model and actress Phyllis Major, shortly before its completion. The article argues that, although most of the record was not written directly about the loss, the tragedy gives its reflections on disillusionment, adulthood and consumerism a more sombre emotional context.

Browne and Major married in 1975 and had a son, Ethan, but were married for only four months before Major died on 25 March 1976, following reported previous attempts. Browne paused work on the album and later said her death had come as a surprise; only “Sleep’s Dark And Silent Gate” was written afterwards, while the remaining songs addressed broader questions about whether conventional adult life fulfils its promises.