Why Roger Daltrey “froze” when he first met The Beatles
Since The Who first broke onto the scene, frontman Roger Daltrey has been regarded as one of rock music’s resident alpha males. Possessing a booming voice, commanding stage presence, and a character unafraid to air his opinions no matter the occasion, Daltrey stamped his authority across the genre.
From knocking lumps out of Keith Moon to loathing the internet, whilst many of Daltrey’s exploits might make him seem like the Desperate Dan of classic rock, according to the man himself, he’s much more bashful than fans might expect. In fact, the first time he met The Beatles during The Who’s early days, he simply “froze” in a state of nervous tension.
Daltrey recalled the anecdote when speaking to Meet My Inspiration in 2021. Not only did he reveal that his body shut down when he first met the Fab Four, but that it also happened in an elevator, adding an extra dose of anxiety to the tale. Admittedly, it must have been a strange experience for Daltrey to face the biggest act of all time in such close quarters, given that The Beatles were already shaping the world in their image at such a young age.
Discussing the moment, The Who frontman recalled: “I was so shy, I was very shy in those days. When we supported The Beatles in 1964, and we travelled down to the stage as we went on, and they were in the elevator, and I just froze (laughs).”
This wasn’t the last time an incident such as this would happen to Daltrey. He explained that the presence of folk great Judy Collins, an artist whom he is a “big fan” of, also shook him to his core. Daltrey explained: “At least. I mean, yeah, totally, I couldn’t open my mouth and that goes on still to today. Recently, I got in an elevator and there before me was Judy Collins. I was going to an awards dinner, and I’m a big fan of Judy Collins. I think she is absolutely wonderful, and she is a stunning-looking woman, and I just froze (laughs). Still happens to me quite a lot. But it’s better now than it used to be, but it is still not easy.”
Returning to the heady days of supporting The Beatles, Daltrey reminisced: “They were two years earlier. They kind of started at the end of ’63, big time in ’64. We supported them, we were the backup band, we went on before them. Bands like The Kinks, The Rolling Stones – there wasn’t one of those Mersey bands we didn’t support somewhere; those were fantastic days. They were all a great bunch of guys; that was one common thing. Brian Jones, I was particularly friends with; I got on really well with Brian.”
Watch Roger Daltrey discuss his first meeting with The Beatles below.
Never Miss A Beat
The Far Out Beatles Newsletter
All the latest stories about The Beatles from the independent voice of culture.
Straight to your inbox.