The Who’s Pete Townshend acknowledged in a new interview that only continues to tour “for the money,” and says fans who “want to see The Who myth” might be better served waiting for a future concert of digital avatars.
Townshend’s comments came in a new interview promoting the Broadway revival of The Who’s Tommy. The article’s writer, Rob Tannenbaum, asked the guitarist/songwriter about the prospects of releasing any new music given that he has only put out three records (two with The Who and one solo) since 1983.
“I do and I think I will,” Townshend responded before acknowledging the reality of being a 78-year-old musician in a legacy rock band. “It feels to me like there’s one thing The Who can do, and that’s a final tour where we play every territory in the world and then crawl off to die. I don’t get much of a buzz from performing with The Who. If I’m really honest, I’ve been touring for the money. My idea of an ordinary lifestyle is pretty elevated.”
“I’ve been immensely creative and productive throughout that period, but I haven’t felt the need to put it out,” Townshend continued. “And if I can make it personal, I don’t care whether you like it or not… AC/DC made 50 albums, but all their albums were the same. It wasn’t the way The Who worked. We were an ideas band.”
Townshend estimated he has “about 500 titles I might release online, mostly unfinished stuff. We’re not making Coca-Cola, where every can has to taste the same. And it’s turned out, surprise, surprise, that rock ’n’ roll is really good at dealing with the difficulties of aging. Watching Keith Richards onstage, trying to do what he used to do — it’s disturbing, heart-rending, but also delightful.”
Returning to the topic of touring, however, Townshend stated that the version of The Who performing in 2024 is a much different experience than that took the stage decades prior. “The Who isn’t [Roger] Daltrey and Townshend onstage at 80, pretending to be young. It’s the four of us in 1964, when we were 18 or 19,” Townshend explained. “If you want to see The Who myth, wait for the avatar show. It would be good!
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Daltrey and Townshend aren’t ruling out further performances as The Who — in fact, just last week they took the stage for a pair of gigs as part of Daltrey’s Teenage Cancer Trust concerts. However, nothing else is on the books at the moment.
Instead, Daltrey will embark on a solo tour of North America beginning in June, while Townshend is promoting the return the Broadway revival of The Who’s Tommy, which opens officially at the Nederlander Theatre on March 28th.
Fans can also revisit The Who’s classic Live at Leeds, which celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2020 and remains arguably the greatest live rock and roll recording of all time.