The Who are an English rock band formed in London in 1964. Their classic lineup (1964–1978) consisted of lead vocalist Roger Daltrey, guitarist Pete Townshend, bassist John Entwistle, and drummer Keith Moon. Considered one of the most influential rock bands of the 20th century, their contributions to rock music include the development of the Marshall stack, large public address systems, the use of synthesisers, Entwistle's and Moon's influential playing styles, Townshend's feedback and power chord guitar technique, and the development of the rock opera. They are cited as an influence by many bands, particularly those in the hard rock, punk, power pop and mod genres. The group were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990.
The Who evolved from an earlier group, the Detours, and established themselves as part of the pop art and mod movements, featuring auto-destructive art by destroying guitars and drums on stage. Their first single as the Who, "I Can't Explain" (1964), reached the UK top ten, and was followed by a string of hit singles including "Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere", "My Generation" (both 1965), "Substitute", "I'm a Boy", "Happy Jack" (all 1966) and "Pictures of Lily" (1967). In 1967, they performed at the Monterey Pop Festival and released "I Can See for Miles", their only US top ten single. The group's 1969 concept album Tommy included the single "Pinball Wizard" and was a critical and commercial success.
Further festival appearances at Woodstock and the Isle of Wight, along with the concert album Live at Leeds (1970), established their reputation as a respected rock act. The success put pressure on lead songwriter Townshend, and the follow-up to Tommy, Lifehouse, was abandoned. Songs from the project made up the album Who's Next (1971), including the hits "Won't Get Fooled Again", "Baba O'Riley", and "Behind Blue Eyes". The group released another concept album, Quadrophenia (1973), as a celebration of their mod roots, and oversaw the film adaptation of Tommy (1975). Following the release of The Who by Numbers (1975), they continued to tour to large audiences before semi-retiring from live performances at the end of 1976. The release of Who Are You (1978) was overshadowed by Moon's death shortly after.
Former Small Faces and Faces drummer Kenney Jones replaced Moon, and the group resumed touring. In 1979, they released a film adaptation of Quadrophenia and the retrospective rockumentary The Kids Are Alright. The early 1980s brought two more albums, Face Dances (1981) and It's Hard (1982), and more successful world tours, though Townshend became weary of the group during this time, and they officially split in 1983. The Who occasionally re-formed for live appearances such as Live Aid in 1985, a 25th-anniversary tour in 1989 with Simon Phillips on drums, and a tour of Quadrophenia during 1996–1997 with Zak Starkey on drums. A full-time reunion began in 1999, with Starkey as drummer. After Entwistle's death in 2002, plans for a new album were delayed until 2006, when Endless Wire was released. Since Entwistle's death, the Who have continued to perform and tour officially as a duo of Daltrey and Townshend, augmented by various other musicians. Their twelfth album, Who, was released in 2019 and was supported by additional touring. In 2025, the band conducted their final tour, entitled The Song Is Over North American Farewell Tour.[2]
History
Background
The founding members of the Who, Roger Daltrey, Pete Townshend and John Entwistle, grew up in Acton, London and attended Acton County Grammar School.[3] Townshend's father, Cliff, played saxophone and his mother, Betty, had sung in the entertainment division of the Royal Air Force during World War II, and both supported their son's interest in rock and roll.[4] Townshend and Entwistle became friends in their second year of Acton County, and formed a trad jazz group;[5] Entwistle also played French horn in the Middlesex Schools' Symphony Orchestra. Both were interested in rock, and Townshend particularly admired Cliff Richard's début single, "Move It".[6] Entwistle moved to guitar, but struggled with it due to his large fingers, and moved to bass on hearing the guitar work of Duane Eddy. He was unable to afford a bass and built one at home.[7][6] After Acton County, Townshend attended Ealing Art College,[8] a move he later described as profoundly influential on the course of the Who.[9]
Daltrey, who was in the year above, had moved to Acton from Shepherd's Bush, a more working-class area. He had trouble fitting in at the school, and discovered gangs and rock and roll.[10] He was expelled at 15 and found work on a building site.[11] In 1959 he started the Detours, the band that was to evolve into the Who. The band played professional gigs, such as corporate and wedding functions, and Daltrey kept a close eye on the finances as well as the music.[12]
Daltrey spotted Entwistle by chance on the street carrying a bass and recruited him into the Detours.[13] In mid-1961, Entwistle suggested Townshend as a guitarist,[13] Daltrey on rhythm guitar, Entwistle on bass, Harry Wilson on drums, and Colin Dawson on vocals. The band played instrumentals by the Shadows and the Ventures, and a variety of pop and trad jazz covers.[14] Daltrey was considered the leader and, according to Townshend, "ran things the way he wanted them".[9] Wilson was fired in mid-1962 and replaced by Doug Sandom, though he was older than the rest of the band, married, and a more proficient musician, having been playing semi-professionally for two years.[15]
Dawson left after frequently arguing with Daltrey[9] and was briefly replaced by Gabby Connolly, before Daltrey moved to lead vocals. Townshend, with Entwistle's encouragement, became the sole guitarist. Through Townshend's mother, the group obtained a management contract with local promoter Robert Druce,[16] who started booking the band as a support act. The Detours were influenced by the bands they supported, including Screaming Lord Sutch, Cliff Bennett and the Rebel Rousers, Shane Fenton and the Fentones, and Johnny Kidd and the Pirates. The Detours were particularly interested in the Pirates as they also only had one guitarist, Mick Green, who inspired Townshend to combine rhythm and lead guitar in his style. Entwistle's bass became more of a lead instrument,[17] playing melodies.[18] In February 1964, the Detours became aware of the group Johnny Devlin and the Detours, and changed their name.[19] Townshend and his house-mate Richard Barnes spent a night considering names, focusing on a theme of joke announcements, including "No One" and "the Group". Townshend preferred "the Hair", and Barnes liked "the Who" because it "had a pop punch".[20] Daltrey chose "the Who" the next morning.[21]
1964–1978
Early career
By the time the Detours had become The Who, they had already found regular gigs, including at the Oldfield Hotel in Greenford, the White Hart Hotel in Acton, the Goldhawk Social Club in Shepherd's Bush, and the Notre Dame Hall in Leicester Square.[22] They had also replaced Druce as manager with Helmut Gorden, with whom they secured an audition with Chris Parmeinter for Fontana Records.[23] Parmeinter found problems with the drumming and, according to Sandom, Townshend immediately turned on him and threatened to fire him if his playing did not immediately improve. Sandom left in disgust, but was persuaded to lend his kit to any potential stand-ins or replacements. Sandom and Townshend did not speak to each other again for 14 years.[24]
During a gig with a stand-in drummer in late April at the Oldfield, the band first met Keith Moon. Moon grew up in Wembley, and had been drumming in bands since 1961.[25] He was performing with a semi-professional band called the Beachcombers, and wanted to play full-time.[26] Moon played a few songs with the group, breaking a bass drum pedal and tearing a drum skin. The band were impressed with his energy and enthusiasm, and offered him the job.[27] Moon performed with the Beachcombers a few more times, but dates clashed and he chose to devote himself to the Who. The Beachcombers auditioned Sandom, but were unimpressed and did not ask him to join.[28]
The Who changed managers to Peter Meaden. He decided that the group would be ideal to represent the growing mod movement in Britain which involved fashion, scooters and music genres such as rhythm and blues, soul and modern jazz. He renamed the group the High Numbers, dressed them up in mod clothes,[29] secured a second, more favourable audition with Fontana and wrote the lyrics for both sides of their single "Zoot Suit"/"I'm the Face" to appeal to mods. The tune for "Zoot Suit" was "Misery" by the Dynamics,[30] and "I'm the Face" borrowed from Slim Harpo's "I Got Love If You Want It".[31] Although Meaden tried to promote the single, it failed to reach the top 50[32] and the band reverted to calling themselves the Who.[33] The group – none of whom played their instruments conventionally[34] – began to improve their stage image; Daltrey started using his microphone cable as a whip on stage, and occasionally leapt into the crowd; Moon threw drumsticks into the air mid-beat; Townshend mimed machine-gunning the crowd with his guitar while jumping on stage and playing guitar with a fast arm-windmilling motion,[35] or stood with his arms aloft allowing his guitar to produce feedback in a posture dubbed "the Bird Man".[36]
Meaden was replaced as manager by two filmmakers, Kit Lambert and Chris Stamp. They were looking for a young, unsigned rock group that they could make a film about,[37] and had seen the band at the Railway Hotel in Wealdstone, which had become a regular venue for them.[38][39] Lambert related to Townshend and his art school background, and encouraged him to write songs.[37] In August, Lambert and Stamp made a promotional film featuring the group and their audience at the Railway.[40] The band changed their set towards soul, rhythm and blues and Motown covers, and created the slogan "Maximum R&B".[29]
In June 1964, during a performance at the Railway, Townshend accidentally broke the head of his guitar on the low ceiling of the stage.[41] Angered by the audience's laughter, he smashed the instrument on the stage, then picked up another guitar and continued the show. The following week, the audience were keen to see a repeat of the event. Moon obliged by kicking his drum kit over,[42] and auto-destructive art became a feature of the Who's live set.[43]
First singles and My Generation
By late 1964, the Who were becoming popular in London's Marquee Club, and a rave review of their live act appeared in Melody Maker.[44] Lambert and Stamp attracted the attention of the American producer Shel Talmy, who had produced the Kinks. Townshend had written a song, "I Can't Explain", that deliberately sounded like the Kinks to attract Talmy's attention. Talmy saw the group in rehearsals and was impressed. He signed them to his production company,[45] and sold the recording to the US arm of Decca Records, which meant that the group's early singles were released in Britain on Brunswick Records, one of UK Decca's labels for US artists.[46] "I Can't Explain" was recorded in early November 1964 at Pye Studios in Marble Arch with the Ivy League on backing vocals, and Jimmy Page played fuzz guitar on the B-side, "Bald Headed Woman".[33]
"I Can't Explain" became popular with pirate radio stations such as Radio Caroline.[47] Pirate radio was important for bands as there were no commercial radio stations in the UK and BBC Radio played little pop music.[48] The group gained further exposure when they appeared on the television programme Ready Steady Go![29] Lambert and Stamp were tasked with finding "typical teens", and invited the group's regular audience from the Goldhawk Social Club.[49] Enthusiastic reception on television and regular airplay on pirate radio helped the single slowly climb the charts in early 1965 until it reached the top 10.[50] In early 1965, the Who made their first appearance on the television music show, Top of the Pops, at the BBC's Dickenson Road Studios in Manchester, with "I Can't Explain".[51]
The follow-up single, "Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere", by Townshend and Daltrey,[52] features guitar noises such as pick sliding, toggle switching[53] and feedback, which was so unconventional that it was initially rejected by the US arm of Decca. The single reached the top 10 in the UK[52] and was used as the theme song to Ready Steady Go![54]
The transition to a hit-making band with original material, encouraged by Lambert, did not sit well with Daltrey, and a recording session of R&B covers went unreleased.[55] The Who were not close friends either, apart from Moon and Entwistle, who enjoyed visiting nightclubs together in the West End of London.[56] The group experienced a difficult time when touring Denmark in September, which culminated in Daltrey throwing Moon's amphetamines down the toilet and assaulting him. Immediately on returning to Britain, Daltrey was sacked,[57] but was reinstated on the condition that the group became a democracy without his dominant leadership. At this time, the group enlisted Richard Cole as a roadie.[58]
The next single, "My Generation", followed in October. Townshend had written it as a slow blues, but after several abortive attempts, it was turned into a more powerful song with a bass solo from Entwistle. The song used gimmicks such as a vocal stutter to simulate the speech of a mod on amphetamines, and two key changes.[59] Townshend insisted in interviews that the lyrics "Hope I die before I get old" were not meant to be taken literally.[60] Peaking at No. 2, "My Generation" is the group's highest-charting single in the UK.[50] The debut album My Generation was released in late 1965. Among original material by Townshend, including the title track and "The Kids Are Alright", the album has several James Brown covers from the session earlier that year that Daltrey favoured.[61]
After My Generation, the Who fell out with Talmy, which meant an abrupt end to their recording contract.[62] The resulting legal acrimony resulted in Talmy holding the rights to the master tapes, which prevented the album from being reissued until 2002.[63] The Who were signed to Robert Stigwood's label, Reaction, and released "Substitute". Townshend said he wrote the song about identity crisis, and as a parody of the Rolling Stones's "19th Nervous Breakdown". It was the first single to feature him playing an acoustic twelve-string guitar.[64] Talmy took legal action over the B-side, "Instant Party", and the single was withdrawn. A new B-side, "Waltz for a Pig", was recorded by the Graham Bond Organisation under the pseudonym "The Who Orchestra".[65]
In 1966 the Who released "I'm a Boy", about a boy dressed as a girl, taken from an abortive collection of songs called Quads;[66] "Happy Jack";[67] and an EP, Ready Steady Who, that tied in with their regular appearances on Ready Steady Go![68] The group continued to have conflict; on 20 May, Moon and Entwistle were late to a gig having been on the Ready Steady Go! set with the Beach Boys' Bruce Johnston. During "My Generation", Townshend attacked Moon with his guitar; Moon suffered a black eye and bruises, and he and Entwistle left the band, but changed their minds and rejoined a week later.[69] Moon kept looking for other work, and Jeff Beck had him play drums on his song "Beck's Bolero" (with Page, John Paul Jones and Nicky Hopkins) because he was "trying to get Keith out of the Who".[70]
A Quick One and The Who Sell Out
To alleviate financial pressure on the band, Lambert arranged a song-writing deal which required each member to write two songs for the next album. Entwistle contributed "Boris the Spider" and "Whiskey Man" and found a niche role as second songwriter.[71] The band found they needed to fill an extra ten minutes, and Lambert encouraged Townshend to write a longer piece, "A Quick One, While He's Away". The suite of song fragments is about a girl who has an affair while her lover is away, but is ultimately forgiven. The album was titled A Quick One[72] (Happy Jack in the US),[73] and reached No. 4 in the UK charts.[74] It was followed in 1967 by the UK Top 5 single "Pictures of Lily".[75]
By 1966, Ready Steady Go! had ended, the mod movement was becoming unfashionable, and the Who found themselves in competition on the London circuit with groups including Cream and the Jimi Hendrix Experience.[76] Lambert and Stamp realised that commercial success in the US was paramount to the group's future, and arranged a deal with promoter Frank Barsalona for a short package tour in New York.[77] The group's performances, which still involved smashing guitars and kicking over drums, were well received,[78] and led to their first major US appearance at the Monterey Pop Festival. The group, especially Moon, were not fond of the hippie movement, and thought their violent stage act would stand in sharp contrast to the peaceful atmosphere of the festival. Hendrix was also on the bill, and was also going to smash his guitar on stage. Townshend verbally abused Hendrix and accused him of stealing his act,[79] and the pair argued about who should go on stage first, with the Who winning the argument.[80] The Who brought hired equipment to the festival; Hendrix shipped over his regular touring gear from Britain, including a full Marshall stack. According to biographer Tony Fletcher, Hendrix sounded "so much better than the Who it was embarrassing".[81] The Who's appearance at Monterey gave them recognition in the US, and "Happy Jack" reached the top 30.[81]
The group followed Monterey with a US tour supporting Herman's Hermits.[81] The Hermits were a straightforward pop band and enjoyed drugs and practical jokes. They bonded with Moon,[82] who was excited to learn that cherry bombs were legal to purchase in Alabama. Moon acquired a reputation for destroying hotel rooms while on tour,[78] with a particular interest in blowing up toilets. Entwistle said the first cherry bomb they tried "blew a hole in the suitcase and the chair".[83] Moon recalled his first attempt to flush one down the toilet: "[A]ll that porcelain flying through the air was quite unforgettable. I never realised dynamite was so powerful".[83] After a gig in Flint, Michigan on Moon's 21st birthday on 23 August 1967, the entourage caused $24,000 of damage at the hotel, and Moon knocked out one of his front teeth.[84] Daltrey later said that the tour brought the band closer, and as the support act, they could turn up and perform a short show without any major responsibilities.[85]
After the Hermits tour, the Who recorded their next single, "I Can See for Miles", which Townshend had written in 1966 but had avoided recording until he was sure it could be produced well.[86] Townshend called it "the ultimate Who record",[87] and was disappointed it reached only No. 10 in the UK.[87] It became their best selling single in the US, reaching No. 9.[75] The group toured the US again with Eric Burdon and the Animals, including an appearance on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, miming to "I Can See For Miles" and "My Generation".[88] Moon bribed a stage hand to put explosives in his drum kit, who loaded it with ten times the expected quantity. The resulting detonation threw Moon off his drum riser and his arm was cut by a flying piece of a cymbal. Townshend's hair was singed and his left ear left ringing, and a camera and studio monitor were destroyed.[89]
The next album was The Who Sell Out – a concept album parodying pirate radio, which had been outlawed in August 1967 by the Marine Broadcasting Offences Act 1967. It included humorous jingles and mock commercials between songs,[90] a mini rock opera called "Rael", and "I Can See For Miles".[87] The Who declared themselves a pop art group and thus viewed advertising as an artform; they recorded a wide variety of radio advertisements, such as for canned milkshakes and the American Cancer Society, in defiance of the rising anti-consumerist ethos of the hippie counterculture.[91] Townshend stated, "We don't change offstage. We live pop art".[92] Later that year, Lambert and Stamp formed a record label, Track Records, with distribution by Polydor. As well as signing Hendrix, Track became the imprint for all the Who's UK output until the mid-1970s.[93]
The group started 1968 by touring Australia and New Zealand with the Small Faces.[94] The groups had trouble with the local authorities and the New Zealand Truth called them "unwashed, foul-smelling, booze-swilling no-hopers".[95][96] After an incident that took place on a flight to Sydney, the band were briefly arrested in Melbourne and then forced to leave the country; Prime Minister John Gorton sent a telegram to the Who telling them never to return to Australia.[97] The Who would not return to Australia until 2004. They continued to tour across the US and Canada during the first half of the year.[98]
Tommy, Woodstock, Isle of Wight and Live at Leeds
By 1968, the Who had started to attract attention in the underground press.[99] Townshend had stopped using drugs and became interested in the teachings of Meher Baba.[100] In August, he gave an interview to Rolling Stone editor Jann Wenner describing in detail the plot of a new album project and its relationship to Baba's teachings. The album went through several names during recording, including Deaf Dumb and Blind Boy and Amazing Journey; Townshend settled on Tommy[101] for the album about the life of a deaf, dumb and blind boy, and his attempt to communicate with others.[102][103] Some songs, such as "Welcome" and "Amazing Journey", were inspired by Baba's teaching,[104] and others came from observations within the band. "Sally Simpson" is about a fan who tried to climb on stage at a gig by the Doors that they attended[105] and "Pinball Wizard" was written so that New York Times journalist Nik Cohn, a pinball enthusiast, would give the album a good review.[106] Townshend later said, "I wanted the story of Tommy to have several levels ... a rock singles level and a bigger concept level", containing the spiritual message he wanted as well as being entertaining.[107] The album was projected for a Christmas 1968 release[107] but recording stalled after Townshend decided to make a double album to cover the story in sufficient depth.[108]
By the end of the year, 18 months of touring had led to a well-rehearsed and tight live band, which was evident when they performed "A Quick One While He's Away" at The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus television special. The Stones considered their own performance lacklustre, and the project was never broadcast.[109] The Who had not released an album in over a year, and had not completed the recording of Tommy, which continued well into 1969, interspersed with gigs at weekends.[110] Lambert was a key figure in keeping the group focused and getting the album completed, and typed up a script to help them understand the story and how the songs fitted together.[111]
The album was released in May with the accompanying single, "Pinball Wizard", a debut performance at Ronnie Scott's,[113] and a tour, playing most of the new album live.[114] Tommy sold 200,000 copies in the US in its first two weeks,[115] and was a critical success, Life saying, "for sheer power, invention and brilliance of performance, Tommy outstrips anything which has ever come out of a recording studio".[116] Melody Maker declared: "Surely the Who are now the band against which all others are to be judged".[117] Daltrey had significantly improved as a singer, and set a template for rock singers in the 1970s by growing his hair long and wearing open shirts on stage.[112] Townshend had taken to wearing a boiler suit and Doctor Martens shoes.[112]
In August, the Who performed at the Woodstock Festival, despite being reluctant and demanding $13,000 up front.[118] Pete Townshend gave journalist Robert Christgau a ride to Woodstock.[119] The group were scheduled to appear on Saturday night, 16 August,[120] but the festival ran late and they did not take to the stage until 5 am on Sunday;[121] they played most of Tommy.[122] During their performance, Yippie leader Abbie Hoffman interrupted the set to give a political speech about the arrest of John Sinclair; Townshend kicked him off stage,[118] shouting: "Fuck off my fucking stage!"[123][121] During "See Me, Feel Me", the sun rose almost as if on cue;[124] Entwistle later said, "God was our lighting man".[123] At the end, Townshend threw his guitar into the audience.[124][125] The set was professionally recorded and filmed, and portions appear on the Woodstock film, The Old Grey Whistle Test and The Kids Are Alright.[126] The Who were later critical of the festival: Roadie John "Wiggie" Wolff, who arranged the band's payment, described it as "a shambles"[120]; Daltrey declared it as "the worst gig [they] ever played"[127]; and Townshend said, "I thought the whole of America had gone mad".[121]
A more enjoyable appearance came a few weeks later at the 1969 Isle of Wight Festival in England, which Townshend described as "a great concert for" the band.[128] According to Townshend, at the end of the Isle of Wight gig the field was covered in rubbish left by fans (which the band's roadies helped to clear up), which inspired the line "teenage wasteland" from their single "Baba O'Riley".[129]
By 1970, the Who were widely considered one of the best and most popular live rock bands; Chris Charlesworth described their concerts as "leading to a kind of rock nirvana that most bands can only dream about". They decided a live album would help demonstrate how different the sound at their gigs was to Tommy, and set about listening to the hours of recordings they had accumulated. Townshend baulked at the prospect of doing so, and demanded that all the tapes be burned. Instead, they booked two shows, one in Leeds on 14 February, and one in Hull the following day, with the intention of recording a live album. Technical problems from the Hull gig resulted in the Leeds gig being used, which became Live at Leeds.[130] The album is viewed by several critics including The Independent,[131][132] The Telegraph[133] and the BBC,[134] as one of the best live rock albums of all time.[135]
The Tommy tour included shows in European opera houses and saw the Who become the first rock act to play at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York City.[136] In March, the Who released the UK top 20 hit "The Seeker", continuing a theme of issuing singles separate to albums. Townshend wrote the song to commemorate the common man, as a contrast to the themes on Tommy.[137] The tour included their second appearance at the Isle of Wight Festival. A record attendance in England which the Guinness Book of Records estimated at between 600,000 and 700,000 people,[138] the Who began their set at 2:00 A.M. on Sunday 30 August.[139]
Lifehouse and Who's Next
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Tommy secured the Who's future, and made them millionaires. The group reacted in different ways – Daltrey and Entwistle lived comfortably, Townshend was embarrassed at his wealth, which he felt was at odds with Meher Baba's ideals, and Moon spent frivolously.[141]
During the latter part of 1970, Townshend conceived a follow-up Tommy: Lifehouse, which was to be a multi-media project symbolising the relationship between an artist and his audience.[142] He developed ideas in his home studio, creating layers of synthesizers,[143] and the Young Vic theatre in London was boo