The Who have announced they will be touring North America one last time, with a 15-date 'The Song Is Over' farewell tour set to kick off in August.

Roger Daltrey, Pete Townshend, and co. will start their farewell run at the Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise, FL, on August 16, with the final date taking them to Las Vegas’ MGM Grand Garden Arena on September 28.

The news comes after Pete Townshend, on the promo campaign for the brand-new Quadrophenia ballet, admitted that playing live “doesn’t fill my soul” anymore.

Lone-working, he recently said, is where he gets his kicks these days, though his short-lived collaboration with David Gilmour proved to be an exception to the rule. Announcing the tour, however, Townshend speaks fondly of the band’s US reception over the years and looks forward to one last hurrah.

“Well, all good things must come to an end. It is a poignant time,” Townshend says (via Louder). “For me, playing to American audiences and those in Canada has always been incredible.

“The warmth and engagement of those audiences began back in 1967 with hippies smoking dope, sitting on their blankets, and listening deeply and intensely. Music was everywhere. We all felt equal.

“Today, Roger and I still carry the banner for the late Keith Moon, John Entwistle and of course, all of our long-time Who fans. I must say that although the road has not always been enjoyable for me, it is usually easy: the best job I could ever have had. I keep coming back. Every time I do, I meet new fans and feel new energy.

“Roger and I are in a good place, despite our age, eager to throw our weight behind this fond farewell to all our faithful fans,” he continues. “This tour will be about fond memories, love, and laughter. Make sure you join in.”

“Every musician's dream in the early ’60s was to make it big in the US charts,” adds Daltrey. “For the Who, that dream came true in 1967 and our lives were changed forever.

“Rock gave us a feeling of generational rebellion,” he reflects. “To me, America has always been great. The cultural differences had a huge impact on me, this was the land of the possible. It's not easy to end the big part of my life that touring with The Who has been. Thanks for being there for us and look forward to seeing you one last time.”

Last summer, Townshend had said he “can’t really see the point of making a big deal” of the Who's swan song, but it seems sentimentality has since crept in.

Townshend has also hit out at fans desperate for him to play Who songs during his solo shows, and has threatened to turn to AI if the trend continues.

Fans can join the Whooligan Fan Club to access ticket presales.

The Who: The Song Is Over Tour 2025

Aug 19: Newark Prudential Center, NJ
Aug 21: Philadelphia Wells Fargo Center, PA
Aug 23: Atlantic City Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall, NJ
Aug 26: Boston Fenway Park, MA
Aug 28: Wantagh Northwell at Jones Beach Theater, NY
Aug 30: New York Madison Square Garden, NY
Sep 02: Toronto Budweiser Stage, ON
Sep 04: Toronto Budweiser Stage, ON
Sep 07: Chicago United Center, IL
Sep 17: Los Angeles Hollywood Bowl, CA
Sep 19: Los Angeles Hollywood Bowl, CA
Sep 21: Mountain View Shoreline Amphitheatre, CA
Sep 23: Vancouver Rogers Arena, BC
Sep 25: Seattle Climate Pledge Arena, WA
Sep 28: Las Vegas MGM Grand Garden Arena, NV

Pete Townshend may have had an illustrious career as part of a band – the Who – who, despite fraught internal relationships, managed to forever make their mark on rock 'n' roll history.

However, the veteran guitarist has recently admitted he's far from a natural collaborator – in fact, he was largely the Who's principal songwriter – and also revealed that performing is not something he particularly enjoys.

 ”Most musicians are not like me,” he tells Spain's RockFM. “Most musicians do two things that I don't really do or don't enjoy doing.

 ”One is they love performing. I don't love performing. I don't like being on a stage. I don't mind being on a stage. I don't hate it, but it doesn't fill my soul in the way that you see some performers, [where] just their soul is filled through being on the stage. That's not me.”

He continues, “For me, collaboration is something that I find very difficult. If I was in a studio, like with a really, really great musician, or with a group of really great musicians, I think I would find it very hard. I find it very difficult looking in the eyes of another musician. I find myself looking to my own energy to express myself.”

However, this doesn't necessarily mean he's not open to collaborating in other art forms. Townshend points to his recent work Quadrophenia, which is being turned into a ballet, as an example.

“I think one of the things about that is that that kind of degree of collaboration is an exploration of the human body, of dancing,” he ponders. “With music, I find myself wanting to stay in my box for a while. I've always made demos in my studio of songs that I want other people to record.”

Asked whether there's any musician who would tempt him into making an exception, he replies matter-of-factly, “After what I just said about collaboration, it's not what I would want to do.

 ”I'm playing with Roger [Daltrey] next week at the [Teenage Cancer Trust] shows at the Royal Albert Hall, and I think that's gonna be enough for me for this month…

“I mean, I loved working with David Gilmour on my White City album and we co-wrote together some songs, but that was an uneasy collaboration.

“I actually made it clear I'm not a natural collaborator. And I really enjoyed working with Eric Clapton back in 1973 when we did the Rainbow Concert together.”

“I think it's interesting ’cause so many musicians, so many new musicians that I really respect want to work with me,” he adds with a laugh. “And I wish I was more open to it. I could have fun with some of the greatest musicians in the world.”

Interestingly, Townshend did recently collaborate with up-and-coming Dutch artist Inge Lamboo – imprinting a quintessentially ’60s-style solo on her latest record.

Session guitarist Andrew Synowiec's work is imprinted on some of Hollywood's highest-grossing movies, including Disney phenomenon Frozen and its earworm anthem, Let It Go. However, one gig Synowiec never expected to land was a last-minute session on a Who track.

“The phone rings, and I can see it's this kind of major contractor in town,” Synowiec tells Vertex Effects. “It's just somebody that works in the office. ‘Hi. We were wondering if you play clawhammer nylon.’ In the space of a millisecond, I'm thinking, ‘Clawhammer nylon?’”

Despite being an experienced session guitarist, Synowiec had no idea what technique they were referring to or what exactly they wanted, but decided to bluff his way into the job.

“I know what clawhammer banjo is. I mean, it's kind of like fingerpicking, so presumably that on a nylon string guitar. I guess I could do that,” he reasons.

“I immediately respond, ‘Oh, sure, yeah, no problem. I know exactly what that is. By the way, what's it for?’ And they go, ‘The Who, I guess it's a rock band or something,’ and I'm like, ‘What?!’”

Later that afternoon, Synowiec received an email detailing the job – The Who were working on a record, and there was a song that Townshend's brother Simon had written, with a guitar part in a style that The Who’s guitarist doesn’t typically play. Therefore, they needed someone to step in and play the part as Simon had intended.

“And then there's just one other kind of bone of contention here. ‘Would you mind recording just a little snippet of video for them to see you before, you know, we officially hire you?’ And normally, I would kind of be like, ‘Really? Come on!’ But for The Who, I'm like, ‘Hell yeah!’”

There was one minor problem, however – Synowiec still didn’t know what playing style was expected of him. “When you're in that situation, you're just thinking, ‘I gotta get this session, man, like, what can I do?’” he explains. “So at the time, that acoustic style of playing where you're tapping the guitar and hitting it, like Kaki King, was really popular, and I'm thinking, ‘Clawhammer or not, is that what they mean?’”

He decided to improvise, incorporating King’s style in his playing, alongside “fast fingerpicking” with a dash of blues in his audition clip.

Thankfully, he passed the legendary band’s test, and quickly found himself, along with his Peacewalker nylon guitar, at the producer’s home studio to record the part – which turned out to be one of the album’s final missing puzzle pieces.

“I sat down and pulled out my chart so I could have a clue. And they're like. ‘Uh, let's just check the headphones, and you'll hear eight clicks, and then you start playing.’ I get the headphone mix real quick, and kind of sit in front of the mic. And then, sure enough, I heard eight clicks. And I start playing the thing.

“And I'm looking at my chart, and I[‘m] [thinking], ‘This is the first time that I'm hearing anything besides just guitar. And I think this is where the verse happens.’ And then, sure enough, we get to bar nine or whatever. And on my headphones, I hear for the first time Roger Daltrey singing this song. And it's like a crazy, crazy feeling.”

The song, Break The News, ended up on the tracklist of The Who’s 12th studio album, Who (2019) – the band’s first new record in 13 years and the second spearheaded solely by Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey. The album was a commercial success, clinching the number two spot on the Billboard 200.

In recent news, Pete Townshend has reflected on the realities of touring in his golden years and clarified whether he and Daltrey plan to retire anytime soon.

As the guitarist who will forever be associated with guitar smashing, Pete Townshend has recently reflected on how fans still expect The Who to treat them to a raucous live performance. He also sets the record straight about whether there are any Who retirement shows in the works.

“I’m pretty sure there will [be more shows]. I can’t really see the point of making a big deal of [last Who shows], apart from the fact that it might help sell a few tickets,” he says in a new NME interview.

“When we started the last US tour the year before last, some of the seats were not filled. An easy way to fill seats is to say, ‘We’re not coming back,’ or, ‘This could be the last set of shows.’

“What I would prefer was that the band adjusted itself to the audience that wants to see it, rather than just saying, ‘We need to fill arenas in order to go home with enough money to make the whole thing worthwhile.’ The story of the end of The Who is gonna be when either Roger or I drop dead or can’t function anymore on the stage.”

He also discusses the realities of being a touring 79-year-old musician, especially one known for his onstage antics, and the pressures that come with that showmanship.

“A lot of the time when we’re on the stage together, it’s not all that comfortable and you can see that. And it’s sad to say that a lot of dedicated Who fans come to every show in order to see Roger hit me in the face again, for me to smash him over the head with a guitar or for one of us to drop dead.”

As for Roger Daltrey's comments that he is “happy” that “that part of my life [referring to the band] is over”, Townshend says, “I think it’s been over for a long time. The Who machine died when [bassist] John Entwistle died, because we were hanging on by a thread in a sense.

“Roger and I had a decision to make as to whether or not we would try to keep the flame burning, the brand going, when he died, and we were about to do a tour so we decided to do it. And that tour worked out to be quite successful.”

The Who's concept album, the 1973 Townshend-composed and produced Quadrophenia, is being transformed into a ballet set to tour the UK in the summer of 2025. It also marks Townshend's first foray into ballet after being involved in opera productions and literature.

The Who have announced they will be hitting the road this year as part of their "The Who Hits Back!" tour.

Spanning 29 dates across a number of states including Florida, Texas and Ohio, it will be the iconic rock ‘n’ roll outfit’s first time in America since 2019’s Moving On! tour.

The Who Hits Back has been divided into Spring and Fall legs, and will kick off on April 22 at Hard Rock Live in Hollywood, California, before concluding its first collection of dates on May 28 at Bethel Woods Center of the Arts, New York.

There will be a four-month summer break in the tour, which will continue on October 2 at the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Ontario. The Fall leg of The Who Hits Back will come to an end on November 5 at Dolby Live at Park MGM in Las Vegas.

Other notable dates include a performance at New York’s Madison Square Garden on May 26 and an appearance at the New Orleans Jazz Festival on April 30.

Founding members Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend will be joined by The Who’s current crop of players, including electric guitar player Simon Townshend, bassist Jon Button, drummer Zak Starkey, keys players Loren Gold and Emily Marshall and backing vocalist Billy Nichols.

Orchestra conductor Keith Levenson, along with violinist Katie Jacoby and cellist Audrey Snyder, will also hit the road in support of The Who. No official support acts have yet been announced for the tour, which is being produced by Live Nation.

Together, the group will dip into The Who’s melting pot of hits, offering up renditions of both tracks taken from the group’s celebrated repertoire and their most recent studio LP, 2019’s Who.

“Pete and I said we’d be back,” commented Roger Daltrey, “but we didn't think we'd have to wait for two years for the privilege. This is making the chance to perform feel even more special this time around. 

“So many livelihoods have been impacted due to Covid, so we are thrilled to get everyone back together – the band, the crew and the fans,” he added. “We’re gearing up for a great show that hits back in the only way The Who know how: by giving it everything we got.”

Tickets go on general sale on February 11 at 10am local time via Live Nation.

A full list of tour dates can be found below.

Spring 

• April 22: Hard Rock Live / Hollywood, FL*
• April 24: VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena / Jacksonville, FL
• April 27: Amalie Arena / Tampa, FL
• April 30: New Orleans Jazz Festival*
• May 3: Moody Center / Austin, TX
• May 5: American Airlines Center / Dallas, TX
• May 8: The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion / The Woodlands, TX
• May 10: Paycom Center / Oklahoma City, OK
• May 13: FedExForum / Memphis, TN
• May 15: TQL Stadium / Cincinnati, OH
• May 18: TD Garden / Boston, MA
• May 20: Wells Fargo Center / Philadelphia, PA
• May 23: Capital One Arena / Washington, D.C.
• May 26: Madison Square Garden / New York City, NY
• May 28: Bethel Woods Center of the Arts / Bethel, NY

*Not a Live Nation date

Fall

• Oct 2: Scotiabank Arena / Toronto, ON
• Oct 4: Little Caesars Arena / Detroit, MI
• Oct 7: UBS Arena / Belmont Park, NY
• Oct 9: Schottenstein Center / Columbus, OH
• Oct 12: United Center / Chicago, IL
• Oct 14: Enterprise Center / St. Louis, MO
• Oct 17: Ball Arena / Denver, CO
• Oct 20: Moda Center / Portland, OR
• Oct 22: Climate Pledge Arena / Seattle, WA
• Oct 26: Golden 1 Center / Sacramento, CA
• Oct 28: Honda Center / Anaheim, CA
• Nov 1: Hollywood Bowl / Los Angeles, CA
• Nov 4 and 5: Dolby Live at Park MGM / Las Vegas, NV

The Who's Roger Daltrey has launched an impassioned defence of his former bandmate Pete Townshend, claiming the band’s guitarist had his stage act “completely” stolen by the late electric guitar great, Jimi Hendrix.

Daltrey made the claim, which was admittedly offered in good humor, while in conversation with The Coda Collection, with whom The Who icon was speaking as part of an in-depth exploration of his rock ‘n’ roll career.

It was, however, offered with an additional claim that posited both guitarists owed the DNA of their onstage character to one legendary player who came before them, Buddy Guy, who Daltrey dubs the pioneer of six-string showmanship.

“You watch Buddy Guy in the early days and you suddenly realize that, you have to really look for the inventor of all that stuff, it was probably Buddy Guy,” commented Daltrey. “In fact, I would give it to Buddy Guy.”

“I’ve always stuck up for Pete,” he continued. “Jimi stole Pete’s stage act completely, which, incidentally, I think he did. But there again, I’m sure Jimi had seen Buddy Guy previously, as I am sure Pete had seen Buddy Guy, and embellished it.”

His praise for the blues great didn’t stop there, however. “I take my hat off to Buddy Guy, he deserves that accolade. I just love him.

“If you look back at our resumes – in those days you had all these fan magazines – you got asked, ‘What are your favorite blues singers?’ Female singers [was] always Nina Simone. Male singer, it was always Buddy Guy. I’m pleased to say, that’s still my opinion.”

Daltrey later turned his attention away from the guitar-playing performers towards vocalists, and weighed in on Paul McCartney’s recent comments on the Rolling Stones – which saw the Beatles legend label them a “blues covers band” – with some further reflection.

“It’s like comparing cheese with apples,” he analogized (via MusicRadar). “They’re both very tasty, but cheese does one thing and the apple does another.

“I’ve always thought that you cannot take away the fact that Mick Jagger is still the number one rock ‘n’ roll show. The only other people I’d put up against him would be perhaps James Brown, maybe Jerry Lee in his day, or Little Richard.

“But Mick Jagger,” he concluded, “you’ve got to take your hat off to. He’s the number one rock ‘n’ roll performer.”

Head over to The Coda Collection to watch the full interview with Roger Daltrey.

As of today (July 13), the definitive documentary of the legendary English rock band The Who, Amazing Journey: The Story of The Who, will be available to stream online for the first time ever exclusively on The Coda Collection.

The Grammy-nominated film, which was originally released in 2007, takes a deep-dive into the band’s entire 50+ year career, capturing the origins of the iconic outfit and tracing their rise to rock royalty.

Ushering in the news is a Guitar World exclusive clip, which captures electric guitar icon Pete Townshend’s early guitar-smashing days, and explores the pivotal gigs that saw the band develop their revered gear-trashing reputation.

In the two-and-a-half-minute sneak peek, Townshend recalls one gig in particular, saying, “I used to bang [my guitar] on the ceiling to make it go ‘boing, boing, boing’, and the guitar neck went through the ceiling. When it broke, I thought, ‘I may as well finish it off.’”

“Next week,” continued Townshend, “I start banging my other guitar, and immediately the drums are over, sticks through…”

Cue some truly exceptional archive footage of the formidable guitar player and the whole band absolutely going to town on their respective instruments.

The clip, which also addresses Townshend's pioneering approach to the electric guitar, can be viewed in its entirety above.

Of the documentary, Daltrey commented, “It’s not easy to capture in film the power and energy of any rock band, especially the four characters that made up The Who, the brilliance of Pete Townshend’s music, and the magic that happened between Pete, John, Keith and myself.

“But Who fans tell me Amazing Journey does just that,” he continued. “From the moment that Keith joined us at The Railway Hotel back in 1964 it was like a bottle of champagne being uncorked. We just clicked.

“And here we are, all these years later – we’ve lost our dear bandmates Keith and John, and Pete and I continue to play together and carry this story forward.

“Thanks to Coda for putting this show up, and enjoy this film about our journey. I’m still living it!”

Lining up alongside Amazing Journey on The Coda Collection is an all-new mini-series titled Six Quick Ones. The six-episode collection will take a deep-dive into the profiles of each individual Who member, and offer up an in-depth investigation into the band’s formidable chemistry.

The Coda Collection is an online subscription streaming service, available via Amazon Prime for $4.99 per month, that specializes in music documentaries and performance films spanning genres, artists and decades.

There are few images that more perfectly encapsulate the wildness and abandon of rock ‘n’ roll as Pete Townshend, in all his youthful, late ‘60s glory, smashing an electric guitar onstage at the climax of a Who show.

However, as Who frontman Roger Daltrey recently revealed, this act wasn’t quite as wild as it seemed. As Daltrey explained on Chris Evans’ How to Wow podcast, these guitars were carefully smashed and then glued back together in order to live to be smashed another day.

By way of example, he told a story about the Who coming to America to appear on the Murray the “K” show alongside Cream, Wilson Pickett and other acts, where they would play three to four sets a day.

“We would do our two hits, I Can’t Explain and My Generation, smash all the gear up and leave,” Daltrey recalled.

When Evans pointed out it sounded “quite costly to smash four lots of gear up a day,” Daltrey replied that it was “costly in glue because as fast as we were smashing it, we had four sets but as one got smashed it then got glued. And by the time we got to smash it again the glue got set.”

But, he continued, “They weren’t prop guitars. They were real guitars. We worked out very cleverly that very rarely did the neck break. As long as the neck didn’t break you could glue the body back. Even with holes in it, it didn’t matter. We could make it work.”

Later on in the conversation, talk turned to another onstage smasher of guitars, Jimi Hendrix, and the famous story of Townshend and Jimi flipping a coin backstage at the Monterey Pop Festival to determine who would perform first.

“Jimi was an absolutely amazing performer, but what people don’t realize is that a lot of Jimi’s showmanship, when he stated digging his guitar into the amps and the feedback and all that, most of that he copied from Townshend,” Daltrey said.

“So by the time we got to Monterey in ‘67, Pete’s going, ‘Well, that’s my whole show! And it was always a great finale.”

He continued, “You know, we didn’t really quite have confidence in the music. We were a pop band with these weird singles like I’m a Boy and Happy Jack and a mini-opera called A Quick One While He’s Away. It was insane, the stuff we were playing!

"So we thought, well, we’re gonna get slaughtered if he goes on before us. Because that’s our whole show, done. So Pete and Jimi flipped a coin and Pete won and we chose to go on first.

“But then, of course, Jimi came on and blew us all away anyway.”

Last week, Pete Townshend claimed he was asked by Michael Jackson to play on Thriller – but recommended Eddie Van Halen for the gig instead.

We thought we'd drop in on Queen—Brian May, John Deacon and Roger Taylor—who hosted the star-studded Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert on April 20, 1992.

Hey, why not?

The show, which was witnessed by a crowd of 70,000-plus, took place at London's Wembley Stadium.

Among the special guests that day were Black Sabbath's Tony Iommi and the Who's Roger Daltrey, both of whom sat in for this spirited performance of "I Want it All," a track that originally appeared on Queen's The Miracle (1989).

Mercury, Queen's frontman, had died the previous November 24.

The Who have announced a new North American tour, “Moving On!,” which kicks off on May 7 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The 29-city outing finds the band, led by Who original members Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend and featuring guitarist/backup singer Simon Townshend, keyboardist Loren Gold, bassist Jon Button and drummer Zak Starkey, presenting the group’s classic music with symphonic accompaniment.  

Said Townshend: "The Who are touring again in 2019. Roger christened this tour 'Moving On!' I love it. It is what both of us want to do. Move on, with new music, classic Who music, all performed in new and exciting ways. Taking risks, nothing to lose. Looking forward to seeing you all. Are you ready?"

Added Daltrey: "Be aware Who fans! Just because it's the Who with an orchestra, in no way will it compromise the way Pete and I deliver our music. This will be full-throttle Who with horns and bells on."

Tickets go on sale to the general public beginning Friday, January 18 at LiveNation.com.

Additionally, the Who will also release their first album of new songs in 13 years later in 2019.

The Who’s fan club presale starts Wednesday, January 16 at 10 a.m. local time and runs through Thursday, January 17 at 10 p.m. local time. Every pair of tickets purchased online includes a redeemable code for a CD copy of the Who’s forthcoming album when it is released. This offer is available to U.S. and Canada customers only and not valid for tickets purchased via resale. In addition, $1 from each ticket sold for the "Moving On!" tour will benefit Teen Cancer America.

Check out the full tour itinerary below. 

For more information head over to TheWho.com. 

The Who "Moving On!" 2019 tour dates:

May 07 - Van Andel Arena - Grand Rapids, MI

May 09 - KeyBank Center - Buffalo, NY

May 11 - Jiffy Lube Live - Bristow, VA

May 13 - Madison Square Garden - New York, NY

May 16 - Bridgestone Arena - Nashville, TN

May 18 - Ruoff Home Mortgage Music Center - Noblesville, IN

May 21 - Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre - Chicago, IL

May 23 - Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre St. Louis - Maryland Heights, MO

May 25 - Citizens Bank Park - Philadelphia, PA

May 28 - Little Caesars Arena - Detroit, MI

May 30 - PPG Paints Arena - Pittsburgh, PA

Jun. 01 - Scotiabank Arena - Toronto, ON

Sep. 06 - Xcel Energy Center - St. Paul, MN

Sep. 08 - Alpine Valley Music Theatre - Alpine Valley, WI

Sep. 10 - Blossom Music Center - Cuyahoga Falls, OH

Sep. 13 - Fenway Park - Boston, MA

Sep. 15 - Northwell Health at Jones Beach Theater - Wantagh, NY

Sep. 18 - State Farm Arena - Atlanta, GA

Sep. 20 - BB&T Center - Ft. Lauderdale, FL

Sep. 22 - Amalie Arena - Tampa, FL

Sep. 25 - Toyota Center - Houston, TX

Sep. 27 - American Airlines Center - Dallas, TX

Sep. 29 - Pepsi Center - Denver, CO

Oct. 11 - Hollywood Bowl - Los Angeles, CA

Oct. 13 - Hollywood Bowl - Los Angeles, CA

Oct. 16 - Viejas Arena at Aztec Bowl San Diego State University - San Diego, CA

Oct. 19 - T-Mobile Park - Home of the Seattle Mariners - Seattle, WA

Oct. 21 - Pepsi Live at Rogers Arena - Vancouver, BC

Oct. 23 - Rogers Place - Edmonton, AB

Roger Daltrey has announced As Long As I Have You, his first new solo album since 1992.

Though billed as the Who frontman's solo return, As Long As I Have You features Pete Townshend on seven of its 11 tracks. The album was produced by Dave Eringa—best known for his work with the Manic Street Preachers and on Daltrey and Wilko Johnson’s 2014 album, Going Back Home.

"This is a return to the very beginning, to the time before Pete [Townshend] started writing our songs, to a time when we were a teenage band playing soul music to small crowds in church halls," Daltrey said in a statement. "That’s what we were, a soul band. And now, I can sing soul with all the experience you need to sing it. Life puts the soul in. I’ve always sung from the heart but when you’re 19, you haven’t had the life experience with all its emotional trials and traumas that you have by the time you get to my age. You carry all the emotional bruises of life and when you sing these songs, those emotions are in your voice. You feel the pain of a lost love. You feel it and you sing it and that’s soul."

"For a long time, I’ve wanted to return to the simplicity of these songs, to show people my voice, a voice they won’t have heard before," he continued. "It felt like the right time. It’s where I am, looking back to that time, looking across all those years but also being here, now, in the soulful moment.”

As Long As I Have You is set for a June 1 release via Polydor. You can preorder it here and check out the album's title track below.

As Long As I Have You Tracklist:

• 01 “As Long As I Have You”
• 02 “How Far”
• 03 “Where Is a Man to Go?”
• 04 “Get on Out of the Rain”
• 05 “I’ve Got Your Love”
• 06 “Into My Arms”
• 07 “You Haven’t Done Nothing”
• 08 “Out of Sight, Out of Mind”
• 09 “Certified Rose”
• 10 “The Love You Save”
• 11 “Always Heading Home”

The Who have announced Live at the Fillmore East 1968, a new double live album celebrating the 50th anniversary of the band's set at the legendary New York venue.

The two-CD, three-LP set features extended versions of "A Quick One" and "Relax," in addition to a previously unreleased cover of Eddie Cochran's "C'Mon Everybody." Perhaps the most notable feature of the new live album though, is its closing track, a 33-minute version of the band's classic 1965 hit, "My Generation." This version—which features quite a bit of "guitar-smashing and drum demolition"—takes up the entirety of the album's second disc.

The band performed at the titular venue on April 5 and April 6, 1968, but the recordings used for Live at the Fillmore East 1968 document only the latter concert, as the band's equipment failed to capture the first night's performance.

The recordings from the April 6 show were restored by the Who's longtime sound engineer, Bob Pridden, using the original four-track tapes. You can check out the album's full tracklist below.

To preorder Live at the Fillmore East 1968, step right this way.

The Who Live at the Fillmore East 1968 Track List

Disc One:
1. "Summertime Blues"
2. "Fortune Teller"
3. "Tattoo"
4. "Little Billy"
5. "I Can’t Explain"
6. "Happy Jack"
7. "Relax"
8. "I'm A Boy"
9. "A Quick One"
10. "My Way"
11. "C'mon Everybody"
12. "Shakin' All Over"
13. "Boris The Spider"

Disc Two:
1. "My Generation"

Friday night, the Who's Roger Daltrey and Oasis' Liam Gallagher joined forces for a performance of the Who's 1965 classic "My Generation."

The duo got together for a special celebrating the 20-year anniversary of the British TV show TFI Friday. Daltrey and Gallagher were joined by former Oasis drummer (and son of Ringo Starr) Zak Starkey and former Oasis guitarist Paul "Bonehead" Arthurs.

Check out the performance below. Be sure to tell us what you think in the comments or on Facebook!

The Who's Roger Daltrey crashed a wedding over the weekend—and performed a Who song with the wedding band.

The blessed event took place at the hotel in Scotland where Daltrey happened to be staying.

Daltrey joined the wedding band—the Milestone—on stage for a rendition of "I Can't Explain." You can check out a video below. By the way, why would anyone film something vertically? Please turn the phone around and film things horizontally! Sorry, I got sidetracked there ...

Graeme Allan, lead guitarist of the Milestone, told the BBC: "Basically we were coming towards the end of our set and we were sort of halfway through a song. I remember looking over to the side of the dancefloor and a wedding guest was actually walking with Roger [Daltrey], coming toward the band."

"Roger came up and he took the mic and he congratulated the bride and groom. Because the groom had served in the parachute regiment he also mentioned them as well. Then he turned to the band and he said, 'I was through next door and I heard the band and they're brilliant, so I had to come through'."

Enjoy!

This is an excerpt from the August 2014 issue of Guitar World. For the rest of this story, plus features on Kirk Hamlett, Soundgarden, Jackson Guitars, David Crosby, our Summer Tour Survival Guide, columns, tabs and reviews of new gear from Jackson, Ibanez, Blackstar, Musicvox, EarthQuaker Devices, Electra Guitars and more, check out the August 2014 issue at the Guitar World Online Store.

Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey struggled for years to create a successful live production of Quadrophenia. The surviving Who members tell how they finally achieved their goal, as seen in the new video release Live in London.

“It’s a bit like havin’ a hard day in the toilet.”

Roger Daltrey’s spiky London accent comes crackling down the phone line. The Who’s lead singer is trying to explain the rigors and challenges of performing Quadrophenia, the band’s classic 1973 album, in concert. Daltrey’s powerful lungs and epic pipes get pushed to their limit on Pete Townshend’s towering rock opera. The piece is also emotionally wrenching to perform, no more so than on the Who’s acclaimed 2012–’13 "Quadrophenia and More" tour. For that production, images of dearly departed Who members, drummer Keith Moon and bassist John Entwistle, were presented on rear-stage projection screens. At times, their performances were carefully knitted into the fabric of the production, reuniting them, virtually at least, with their former band mates.

“It had to be that way,” Daltrey says. “The original idea for Quadrophenia is you’ve got these four guys in a band, the Who. The band is this doubly schizophrenic person called Jimmy. And the music is Jimmy. That’s what I was trying to bring across with the visuals for this live show. That’s why I brought Keith and John back in.”

All of which makes the new, multiformat DVD release Quadrophenia: Live in London by far the best realization of Townshend’s multimedia masterpiece since the original gatefold-sleeve vinyl issue. Recorded at London’s Wembley Arena on July 8, 2013, at the tour’s triumphant climax, Live in London captures the full majesty of Townshend’s epic composition in razor-sharp Blu-ray video and cavernous 5.1 audio. The stunning visual presentation that Daltrey and a filmmaking team prepared as a concert backdrop works beautifully on the home video screen and stands head and shoulders above most rock concert films.

Townshend and Daltrey haven’t always seen eye to eye over the years, but Pete has only praise for Daltrey’s work on this newest Quadrophenia reincarnation. “The visual interpretation is fascinating,” Townshend says. “Roger has set the music against an almost abstract visual background, with a fair bit of news footage and a lot of Who images from our early days. I’m sensing the emergence of Roger’s own acute view of post–World War II social history, and the audience responds very positively to it. I feel it must invite the listener and observer to enter the story behind the images and the music and make them their own. That’s my definition of the rock system at its best. Roger and his team have pulled off something really special.”

The inherent problems of presenting Quadrophenia live in concert have been a source of disagreement between Daltrey and Townshend from the start. The Who’s pioneering 1969 rock opera, Tommy, effortlessly made the transition from studio to stage and has been a powerful concert piece for the band ever since. But Townshend, Daltrey, Entwistle and Moon weren’t as fortunate with Quadrophenia when they first took it on the road in late 1973. Daltrey would insert lengthy spoken explanations of the plot line between songs, breaking up the headlong momentum that’s essential to any rock concert. The group also experimented with performing live to recorded backing tracks, necessitating the use of click tracks for Moon, who found the process difficult and constricting to his wild drumming style. The original Quadrophenia tour was the first since the group first hit the States in 1967 that wasn’t an unqualified artistic triumph.

For the rest of this story, plus features on Kirk Hamlett, Soundgarden, Jackson Guitars, David Crosby, our Summer Tour Survival Guide, columns, tabs and reviews of new gear from Jackson, Ibanez, Blackstar, Musicvox, EarthQuaker Devices, Electra Guitars and more, check out the August 2014 issue at the Guitar World Online Store.

In commemoration of Roland's 40th anniversary and Rock 'n' Roll Fantasy Camp's 15th anniversary, Roland is hosting its first-ever Roland Rock 'n' Roll Fantasy Camp Giveaway.

One entrant will win a chance to jam with Dave Navarro of Jane's Addiction and Roger Daltrey of The Who in January at the MGM Grand Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas.

Rock 'n' Roll Fantasy Camp provides music fans with a rare opportunity to jam with rock stars, write and record original songs and perform on stage in front of family and friends. Campers also get opportunity to play new Roland gear.

Campers can buy a three-day rock star package or the five-day headliner experience. Both packages include hotel accommodations, breakfast and lunch daily, scheduled classes and daily jam sessions, a DVD of the final concert performance and more.

For all the info you need, including how to enter, visit Roland's U.S. Facebook page. Mobile users should visit www.rolandus.com/go/rock_n_roll_fantasy_camp.

Eagle Rock Entertainment will release a new DVD/Blu-ray, The Who Live In Texas ’75, on October 9.

The concert featured on the DVD was filmed in Houston, Texas, November 20, 1975, during the band's extensive The Who By Numbers tour.

The show, which has been available in the past as a poor-quality bootleg, has been fully restored for the new release. The DVD's run time is 117 minutes. Check out the track listing below.

For more info, visit eaglerockent.com.

The Who Live In Texas ’75 Track Listing

• 01. Substitute
• 02. I Can’t Explain
• 03. Squeeze Box
• 04. Baba O’Riley
• 05. Boris The Spider
• 06. Drowned
• 07. However Much I Booze
• 08. Dreaming From The Waist
• 09. Behind Blue Eyes
• 10. Amazing Journey
• 11. Sparks
• 12. Acid Queen
• 13. Fiddle About
• 14. Pinball Wizard
• 15. I’m Free
• 16. Tommy’s Holiday Camp
• 17. We’re Not Going To Take It / See Me, Feel Me / Listening To You
• 18. Summertime Blues
• 19. My Generation
• 20. Join Together
• 21. Naked Eye
• 22. Roadrunner
• 23. Won’t Get Fooled Again
• 24. Magic Bus
• 25. My Generation Blues

It's always nice when members of at least three of the Big Four Bands of British Rock (The Beatles, The Stones, The Who and Led Zeppelin) get together to jam on some old tunes.

It happened last night, actually, when Paul McCartney (Beatles) invited Roger Daltrey (Who) and Ron Wood (Stones) on stage to perform The Beatles' "Get Back" at London's Albert Hall.

Also invited up there to strum a first-position A chord was a Les Paul Custom-wielding Paul Weller, former frontman of The Jam, who we spoke to earlier this month.

The show was part of this year's series of Teenage Cancer Trust concerts -- and McCartney actually had to rejigger his touring schedule in order to keep his promise to Daltrey and perform.

“We almost got him last year, but he couldn’t make the date work,” Daltrey told London’s The Sun. “He said, ‘I’ll be there for you next year, Rog’ -- and here he is. He did a few extra shows in Europe to make it work, so that no one had to foot the bill of getting his show here – and that means a lot.”

Last night, McCartney also covered Jimi Hendrix's "Foxy Lady" (aka "Foxey Lady").

Check out the video of McCartney, Daltrey, Wood and Weller below.

"The Who were not just another rock band. And Pete Townshend was never your run-of-the-mill guitar hero. Without Townshend, the terms 'power chord,' 'Marshall stack' and 'feedback' might never have entered the modern guitarist’s vocabulary.

"Instrumentally speaking, the Who—rounded out by singer Roger Daltrey, drummer Keith Moon and bassist John Entwistle—were the first power trio, and Townshend defined what the electric guitar could do within that context. But he was never one to riff on mere notes. The guy riffs on ideas—ideas which have profoundly affected the way rock music is performed and presented. He increased rock’s vocabulary a hundredfold, dramatically expanding what can be said with a song, a show or an album." —Alan Di Perna

Read the following bios of Townshend, Daltrey, Entwistle and Moon, courtesy of TheWho.com.

PETE TOWNSHEND

Pete Townshend, The Who’s guitarist and principal songwriter, was born into a musical family in Chiswick, West London, on May 19, 1945. His father Cliff played the alto saxophone with the Squadronaires, the RAF dance band, and his mother Betty Dennis sang professionally. An aunt encouraged him to learn piano but after seeing the movie Rock Around The Clock in 1956 he became drawn to rock’n’roll, an interest his parents actively encouraged.

Having dallied briefly with the guitar, Pete’s first real instrument was the banjo which he played in a schoolboy trad jazz outfit called the Confederates. The group featured John Entwistle on trumpet but after John took up the bass guitar the two friends joined another schoolboy band, the Scorpions, with Pete on guitar.

Pete and John both attended Acton County School where another, slightly older, pupil Roger Daltrey had a group called the Detours. Roger invited John to join and around six months later the nucleus of the Who was in place when John persuaded Roger that Pete should join too. Meanwhile Pete had graduated to Ealing Art College, where he broadened his mind on a diet of radical performance art and American blues music, both of which would eventually inform the Detours as they worked their passage through the West London club and pub circuit.

With the arrival in 1964 of drummer Keith Moon and managers Kit Lambert and Chris Stamp, The Who were on their way, with Pete increasingly cast in the role of leader and spokesman. Pete soon found himself at the forefront of the British musical boom of the Sixties. As guitarist and composer of the band, he became the driving force behind one of the most powerful, inventive and articulate bodies of work in rock. From early classic three-minute singles like ‘My Generation’, ‘Substitute’ and ‘I Can See For Miles’, through to complete song cycles in the shape of Tommy, Lifehouse and Quadrophenia, Pete established himself as one of the most gifted and imaginative musicians working in the rock field.

Pete spent all of the Sixties and much of the Seventies concentrating his creative energies on the Who. In concert he became recognized as the most visual guitarist of his and future generations, careering around the stage, leaping into the air and spinning his arm across the strings in his trademark ‘windmill’ fashion. He developed a unique guitar style, a cross between rhythm and lead which veered from furiously strummed chord patterns and crunching power chords to chromatic scales and delicate arpeggios. On top of this he frequently smashed his guitar into smithereens at the climax of a performance.

In 1967 Pete became a follower of the Indian avatar Meher Baba which inspired him to release three privately circulated devotional albums. These led him to compile Who Came First (1972), the first of a series of non-Who albums, beginning with Rough Mix (1977), a collaboration with fellow Baba devotee Ronnie Lane, and followed by the solo albums Empty Glass (1980), All The Best Cowboys Have Chinese Eyes (1982), White City: A Novel (1985), The Iron Man, an adaptation of Ted Hughes’ children’s story (1988), and Psychoderelict (1993).

In 1984, with the Who temporarily disbanded, he led an ad-hoc group called Deep End which released a live album in 1986, and he has also issued a series of albums called Scoop which feature Pete’s demos for Who songs, solo material and miscellaneous unrealized projects.

At various times throughout the Nineties Pete toured North America with a solo band, initially performing Psychoderelict but, as the decade wore on, he presented shows that included his solo material as well as Who classics. Many such shows, including occasional concerts in the UK, have been done in aid of charities.

Long acknowledged as one of the most intelligent and articulate of rock performers, Pete has run his own book publishing company and worked as an editor at the literary house of Faber & Faber which in 1985 published Horse’s Neck, a collection of his short stories. Ever inquisitive about new ideas and technology, he has turned his attention to the Internet on which his regular and often frank journals and essays provide essential reading for fans. In many ways Pete can be regarded as an Internet pioneer, insofar as Lifehouse, the project that embraced the songs on the album Who’s Next, included ideas such as the ‘Grid’, a national communications network, and ‘experience suits’ where life programs were fed to individuals via the Grid. At the time most observers were unable to grasp these ‘science fiction’ ideas but with hindsight it’s clear that Pete’s concepts were not too far removed from the web and virtual reality that we know today. In 1970, the technology wasn’t available for the project to be realized and it took Pete almost 30 years to see it through. It was only fitting that when he did get to perform the Lifehouse music in its entirety it was available to a global audience via a webcast.

Pete has run successful websites and blogsites, takes a hands-on approach with this medium and, indeed, has been nominated for a number of awards. As well as his diary entries, he has often made available free mp3s of rare tracks and ‘work in progress’ materials, video diaries and ‘pdf’ downloads of short essays.

He has also made available for sale at www.eelpie.com exclusive material, such as his live ‘signature’ series of CDs as well as the standard back catalog. The site has also been used for charity auctions and in 2000 it raised in excess $250,000 for Oxfam’s relief effort in Mozambique when Pete auctioned off many of his personal effects. This site will soon be brought into this official Who site.

Townshend has ambitious plans for future artistic endeavors using the Internet. They include continuing to distribute free music and selling CDs and DVDs. But most important he is still looking at ways of using the Internet to present musico-dramatic works (musicals, light operas) with a degree of audience interactivity akin to that enjoyed at live concerts.

In the meantime Pete continues to write and perform with The Who, and 2006 saw the release of Endless Wire, the band’s first new album in 24 years. He is presently working on an autobiography due for publication in 2010.

ROGER DALTREY

If any one member of The Who can be said to be the group’s founding member it is singer Roger Daltrey, who was born in the West London suburb of Shepherd’s Bush on March 1, 1944. Roger first assembled the group that would become the Who in 1961 while at Acton County School, recruiting John Entwistle and subsequently agreeing to John’s proposal that Pete Townshend should join. In those days Roger, whose daytime job was in a sheet metal factory, even made the band’s guitars, and it was his energy and ambition that drove the group during their formative years. That same energy, coupled with his unwavering resolve, has sustained the group during periods of uncertainty ever since.

Roger’s earliest tastes in music ran to the blues and R&B which formed the setlist during their early years as the Detours, as well as Fifties rock’n’roll, which is reflected in his outstanding interpretations of such noted Who covers as ‘Summertime Blues’ and ‘Shakin’ All Over’. In surrendering his leadership of the band to Pete when the latter became the group’s songwriter, Roger became the mouthpiece for Pete’s lyrics and ideas. At the same time he contributed to the group’s sense of showmanship by developing his unique skill at twirling his microphone lead around like a lasso and, by the time of Tommy in 1969, becoming one of rock’s most iconic sex symbols with his golden curls, bare chest and fringed suede coats.

In this respect Roger became Tommy, the deaf dumb and blind boy of Pete’s imagination, and it was therefore only natural that he should assume the role in Ken Russell’s movie adaptation of the rock opera in 1975, for which he received a Golden Globe nomination. This in turn led Roger to develop a concurrent career as a film actor while continuing to sing with the Who. Other film credits over the years include Ken Russell’s Lizstomania, the title role in McVicar, Lightning Jack with Paul Hogan, Teen Agent, and numerous roles in TV dramas. Most recently he appeared in the US CBS TV show C.S.I. – which uses Who songs as theme music - as five separate, differently made-up characters, one of them a middle-aged African-American woman. Other US TV appearances include Lois & Clarke (Superman), Midnight Caller, William Tell, Sliders and Highlander as well as Leprechauns for Celtic Leprechaun Ltd and The Bill, the long running UK TV police drama. He has also narrated a series for the History Channel, undergoing extreme hardships similar to those faced by pioneering settlers in America and elsewhere.

Roger has also cultivated a singing career outside of The Who, beginning in 1973 when he found himself on the BBC’s Top Of The Pops, the UK’s then premier chart TV show, promoting the single ‘Giving It All Away’ which reached number five in the UK charts. It was a track from his first solo album Daltrey, released that same year, which he followed up with the albums Ride A Rock Horse (1975), One Of The Boys (1977), the soundtrack to McVicar (1980), and After The Fire (1985).

Roger has appeared on stage away from the Who on many occasions, and his 1994 solo concert at New York’s Carnegie Hall, with The Juillard Orchestra, was the fastest selling event in the venue’s history. The following year he appeared on stage as The Tin Man in a production of The Wizard Of Oz at The Lincoln Centre, and in 1998 he starred as Scrooge in A Christmas Carol at Madison Square Garden. He has also performed with his friends The Chieftains, the traditional Irish band, and toured the world with the British Rock Symphony interpreting a variety of rock classics.

Since 2000 he has been a patron of the Teenage Cancer Trust, a charity that builds specialized wards for teenagers with cancer in the UK. That year Roger had the idea of setting up the first show at the Royal Albert Hall by ‘The Who & Friends’, with ticket sales and revenue from a DVD and CD raising over £1.2 million, and as a result Roger was given a Humanitarian Award in 2003 from Time magazine. The actual amount Roger has raised to date from the Albert Hall shows has meant that two new TCT units have been built. Donations to The Teenage Cancer Trust can be given through their website www.teencancer.org.In February 2005 Roger was awarded a CBE by the Queen at Buckingham Palace for his services to music and good causes.

Whatever extra-curricular activities have tempted Roger away from The Who, the group he began forming at a Shepherd’s Bush Youth Club at the age of 16 will always be his first love. Even more than his colleagues, it has been Roger who has done his best to keep The Who's flag flying during those periods when Pete felt the need to seek creative outlets elsewhere, and the respect he has earned from Who fans as a result is something he cherishes deeply.

This was never more apparent than when, in 1995, Roger took the trouble to generously assemble a band to appear at the first British Who Convention, organized by Who fans for Who fans, at Shepherd's Bush, the area of London where he was born which has become synonymous with the band. As the ad-hoc group, which included John Entwistle and Pete Townshend's brother Simon, left the stage, Roger gazed over the sea of faces. “Thank you,” he said, genuinely moved by the occasion. “You've given us a wonderful life.”

JOHN ENTWISTLE

John Entwistle, The Who’s original bass player, was born in London on October 9, 1944, and his natural talent as a musician formed the backbone to many of the Who’s most memorable recordings. He was nicknamed “The Ox”, as well as “Thunderfingers” - because his digits became a blur across the four-string fretboard – and in a poll at the end of the 20th Century was voted ‘Bassist of the Millennium’ in Musician magazine.

Born into a musical family in Chiswick, West London, John was a formally trained musician who played the French horn in the Middlesex Youth Orchestra. He became a fan of Duane Eddy, the US guitarist whose hit singles featured a guitar played in a low register. As a teenager he abandoned his trumpet for a home-made bass guitar, and played in school groups The Confederates and The Scorpions with his friend Pete Townshend. In 1961, he was approached to join fellow Acton County Grammar school pupil Roger Daltrey’s group, The Detours. Six months later, John persuaded Roger to let Townshend join, and in 1964 they became The Who.

John contributed to The Who’s distinctive sound by cultivating a lead style of bass, underpinning Pete’s more rhythmic style of guitar playing with inventive runs in a higher register than most bass players, while at the same time keeping the group’s timing rigid during Keith’s volatile thrashings.

The Who’s third single, ‘My Generation’, featured a prominent bass solo by Entwistle, the first of its kind on a rock record, but unlike his colleagues John remained virtually motionless on stage, quietly observing – and underpinning - the reckless styles of Pete and Keith and Roger’s up-front approach.

While Pete emerged as The Who’s songwriter-in-chief, John began making distinctive, macabre contributions to The Who’s catalog, beginning with ‘Whisky Man’ and the imperishable ‘Boris The Spider’ on the A Quick One album in 1966, continuing with ‘Doctor, Doctor’ and ‘Someone’s Coming’ (1967), ‘Silas Stingy’ (from 1967’s The Who Sell Out), ‘Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde’ (1968), ‘Heaven And Hell’ with which The Who opened their formidable live shows between 1968 and 1970. John wrote ‘Cousin Kevin’ and ‘Fiddle About’ for The Who’s 1969 magnum opus Tommy because Pete specifically requested John to write “nasty songs” that he felt uncomfortable with. ‘My Wife’, John’s hilarious rocker about marital strife from 1971’s Who’s Next, also became a popular stage number.

When The Who’s success enabled the other members of the group to move out of London, John remained true to his West London roots. He married his childhood sweetheart Alison Wise in 1967 and bought a large semi-detached home in Acton, filling it with all sorts of extraordinary artifacts, ranging from suits of armor to a tarantula spider. His eccentricity and taste for the bizarre was to remain with him throughout his life, and when he finally moved out of the city to Stowe-on-the-Wold in Gloucestershire in 1975, his 17-bedroom mansion Quarwood resembled a major museum. It also housed one of the largest guitar collections belonging to any rock musician.

John’s impressive musicianship continued apace and his work on ‘The Real Me’ (from Quadrophenia) and ‘Dreaming From The Waist’ (from 1975’s The Who By Numbers) was particularly memorable. In the meantime, John sought an outlet for his backlog of songs, and in 1971 became the first member to release a solo album, Smash Your Head Against The Wall, which earned him a cult following in the US for fans of his brand of black humor. Other solo studio albums followed: Whistle Rymes (1972), Rigor Mortis Sets In (1973), Mad Dog (1975), Too Late The Hero (1981) and The Rock (1996). John also compiled a Who leftovers collection Odds & Sods in 1974 and with The Who resting in 1975, went out on the road with his own band, Ox. He also fronted the John Entwistle Band on US club tours during the 1990s, and appeared with former Beatle Ringo Starr’s All Starr Band, in 1995. A talented artist, John held exhibitions of his paintings, many of them featuring The Who, on a regular basis.

By the end of the millennium, a stripped down version of The Who – consisting of Pete, Roger, John, keyboard player John ‘Rabbit’ Bundrick, and Ringo Starr’s son, Zak Starkey (who had drummed in John’s studio band) – were touring again, amply demonstrating to original fans and a new generation of musicians just how they had established their original credentials. On these later tours John would perform an extraordinary bass solo on ‘5.15’.

John died from a heart attack on June 27, 2002, in Las Vegas on the eve of an American Who tour which carried on with a hastily recruited Pino Palladino playing bass.

KEITH MOON

Keith Moon, The Who’s celebrated original drummer, was born in Wembley on August 23, 1946, and is widely acclaimed as the greatest drummer in the history of rock. Brashly confident, he played quite differently to his peers, turning his massive kit into a lead instrument, and his up-front technique was crucial in establishing the Who’s passionate style. His playing ushered in an era wherein the drums became far more than simply a means of keeping the beat, and much of his recorded legacy from 1965–73 has a timeless quality that has never been repeated, let alone bettered. In this respect Keith Moon was to the drums what Jimi Hendrix was to the guitar – a complete original - and as such he was probably the most influential drummer the rock world has ever seen.

There was nothing in Keith’s humble background to suggest the extraordinary turn of events his life would take. He became a surf music fan as a schoolboy, took early lessons on drums as a teenager and played with three local bands in his native Wembley in north west London, The Escorts, Mark Twain & the Strangers, and The Beachcombers, before joining The Who in the spring of 1964. Shortly after Keith’s recruitment, The Who became managed by Kit Lambert and Chris Stamp whose energy and ambition focused the group.

Moon announced his arrival in spectacular fashion on the Who’s first real single ‘I Can’t Explain’ (1965) on which his rifle-shot snare preempted Roger Daltrey’s leap into the chorus. Mostly, though, his foil was Pete Townshend with whom he developed an uncanny musical relationship, the product of which became one of The Who’s great trademarks: the chiming, bell-like, open-stringed power chord, cross cut against pounding drums and bass and allowed to feedback on itself and drone into a wall of electronic discord.

Moon’s drumming is outstanding throughout the group’s debut album My Generation and on several Sixties singles, most notably ‘Happy Jack’ (1966) and ‘I Can See For Miles’ (1967), but it is on the double album Tommy (1969) that his talents are best utilized. On Townshend’s celebrated rock opera he becomes an orchestra within himself, driving the band along with an intelligence and sureness of touch that defies analysis. On Who’s Next (1971) Moon is reined in somewhat but his playing on the bridge on ‘Behind Blue Eyes’ and throughout both ‘Bargain’ and ‘Won’t Get Fooled Again’ ranks with anything he ever did.

The Who’s greatest strength, though, was in concert and by the end of the Sixties they were justifiably billing themselves as "the most exciting rock band in the world". To this Moon contributed an almost superhuman energy, his hands and feet battering his kit into submission night after night, the relentless power of The Who in full flight spiraling out from his arms and legs.

Moon's kit was the biggest in rock, at one stage boasting at least 10 tom-toms, twin bass drums, twin timpani, snare, half-a-dozen cymbals and a gong. With this vast array of percussion at his command, he adopted a peculiar style wherein he pointed his sticks downwards and, as John Enwtistle once remarked: "He didn't play from left to right or right to left, he'd play forwards. I've never seen anyone play like that before or since." Keith was also a virtuoso showman, twiddling his drumsticks between his fingers and flamboyantly tossing them into the air and, occasionally, catching them when they fell. He developed an on-stage image as a wise-cracker and often ad-libbed comical asides between numbers, and like Pete he took an almost manic delight in wrecking his equipment at the close of a concert, especially in the group's early days.

At the same time Keith was rock’s wildest character in the Sixties and Seventies, an unapologetic freewheeling hedonist whose lifestyle became synonymous with the mad, carefree image of the rock star at large. He courted the press and became notorious as ‘Moon The Loon’, the incorrigible clown who respected no authority whatsoever and never knew the meaning of the word embarrassment. As the Who became massively popular worldwide, so Keith Moon became a celebrity, not just as a drummer, but as the mad jester to rock’s high court whose exploits included cross-dressing, elaborate practical jokes and a much-publicized episode when he and his great friend Vivian Stanshall of the Bonzo Dog Band visited a London beerkeller dressed in Nazi SS uniforms. Keith’s Chertsey home, Tara House, became the venue for many memorable parties, not least the 1971 launch of Who’s Next.

When The Who slowed down and Pete Townshend sought creative outlets elsewhere, Keith moved to California and took cameo roles in several movies, most notably in That’ll Be The Day (1973) and its sequel Stardust (1974), as the drummer in a fictitious rock band led by David Essex. He also completed a solo album, Two Sides Of The Moon (1975). He moved back to the UK in 1977 to play on Who Are You, his last recorded work with The Who.

Keith died on September 7, 1978, from an accidental overdose of the prescription drug Heminevrin, prescribed to combat alcoholism. He died in the same flat in Curzon Place in London’s Mayfair (belonging to Harry Nilsson) that Mama Cass had passed away in during 1974. On the eve of his death, Moon had been at a screening of The Buddy Holly Story during the Paul McCartney-sponsored, annual Buddy Holly week.