Pete Townshend makes cryptic comment about the future of The Who
Pete Townshend continues to speak cryptically about The Who’s future. The band is set to jet off on a North American farewell tour later this year.
Speaking on My Cultural Life on Radio 4, Townshend reflected on his time in the band. He asked himself, wondering aloud, “whether it’s the end of The Who.” In response, the guitarist noted, “It’s certainly the end of touring in America. I asked Roger [Daltrey] if it’s the end of touring Europe, and he said, ‘We’ll have to wait and see.’”
This comes after the band doubted their ability to tour the UK following the upcoming North American tour. Speaking on Zoom at the Iconic Gallery in London at a press conference, attended by Far Out, to announce their new tour, Daltrey jokingly said of the prospect of bringing it to the UK, “Let’s see if we survive this one.”
The Who frontman earnestly added: “I don’t want to say that there won’t be, but equally, I’m not confident to say there will be. That’s the honest answer to that.”
However, Townshend told Sunday People in a recent interview: “The Who has gone on a bit too long with two of us dying. It does sometimes feel like flogging a dead horse”. Daltrey angrily reacted to Townshend’s confession, telling The Daily Mail, “If Pete doesn’t want to tour, I don’t want to be back with The Who on the road, at 81, with someone who doesn’t want be there — if that’s what he’s saying.”
During the Radio 4 interview, Townshend also opened up about his experience in the music industry, contemplating how his difficult childhood shaped the music he’d eventually pen. “I’m a dangerous fucker,” he said. “There’s no question. When I work, I am charged, and I feel that came from the time with my grandmother when I had to build up some level of resistance.”
In his 2012 memoir, Who I Am, Townshend called this time with his grandmother the darkest time of his life. The book also detailed how the “clinically insane” woman would deny him food and hold his head under water at the tender age of six.
The band have made headlines recently after firing their drummer of 29 years, Zak Starkey, after previously firing the drummer in April before re-hiring him. Scott Devours has been announced as Starkey’s replacement for their final tour.
Never Miss A Beat
The Far Out Music Newsletter
All the latest music news from the independent voice of culture.
Straight to your inbox.