While most of their pioneering rock peers have withered away in the 21st century, The Who have remained a potent live force. But it looks like Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey are closing up shop in the near future: In a recent interview with London’s Evening Standard, Townshend said the band’s final tour will be in 2015.
“For the 50th anniversary we’ll tour the world,” Townshend said. “It’ll be the last big one for us. There are still plenty of places we’ve not played. It would be good to go to eastern Europe and places that haven’t heard us play all the old hits.”
Part of the reason for the shutdown might be health issues: Townshend has long battled with tinnitus (a condition that has famously ruined his hearing), and Daltrey has faced vocal issues. (In 2010, the singer went under the knife to remove pre-cancerous growths, and he’s faced constant struggles with wearing out his voice — that pristine wildman shriek ain’t what it used to be, but that’s getting older, right?)
The Evening Standard piece also claims the pair will start working on solo projects.
The Who will release a fancy deluxe edition of Tommy, their 1969 “rock opera” masterpiece, on November 12th through Universal Music. Just yesterday, HT writer Doug Collette reminisced about the band’s 1970 summer tour for his new column, “I Was There When…”
