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Who, The, extremely popular British rock band who created the first rock opera (Tommy) among many other achievements. Membership:Pete Townshend, lead and rhythm gtr., voc. (b. Chiswick, London, England, May 19, 1945); Roger Daltrey, lead voc. (b. Hammersmith, London, March 1, 1944); John Entwhistle, bs., French horn, voc. (b. Chiswick, London, Oct. 9, 1944); Keith Moon, drm. (b. Wembley, London, Aug. 23, 1947; d. there, Sept. 7, 1978). Keith Moon was replaced by Kenney Jones (b. Stepney, East London, Sept. 16, 1948).

In 1959, Pete Townshend and classically trained John Entwhistle formed The Confederates while still in grammar school. Three years later, Roger Daltrey invited Entwhistle to join his band, The Detours, soon adding Townshend and drummer Doug Sanden. Daltrey functioned as the leader, lead guitarist, and lead singer with the group but eventually assumed the sole role of lead vocalist. Under manager Peter Meaden, the group adopted a colorful “mod” image, became The High Numbers, and issued their first single, “I’m the Face,” in mid-1964. By October 1964, they had replaced Sanden with Keith Moon from the surf band The Beachcombers. The group became The Who under new managers Kit Lambert and Chris Stamp, who encouraged Townshend to develop his songwriting. The two urged the group to display open aggression on stage and cultivated the group’s mod image with flashy clothes, including Townshend’s renowned Union Jack jacket. In 1965, during a performance at the Railway Tavern, Pete Townshend inadvertently broke the neck of his guitar on a low ceiling. Townshend and Keith Moon subsequently destroyed their equipment, an expensive practice the group reenacted at virtually every performance for the next four years.

Enjoying a highly successful residency at London’s Marquee club, The Who signed to American Decca (Brunswick and later Reaction and Track in Great Britain) on the recommendation of American producer Shel Talmy. They scored four consecutive smash hits in Britain through the spring of 1966 with Talmy as producer: “I Can’t Explain,” the archetypal heavy metal “Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere,” the instant classic “My Generation,” and “Substitute.” “I Can’t Explain” and “My Generation” became minor American hits. Their debut album contained “My Generation,” “The Kids Are Alright,” and the satiric “A Legal Matter,” all by Townshend, plus the manic instrumental “The Ox,” but it failed to sell in the U.S. “I’m a Boy” and “Happy Jack” became smash British hits and their second album, Happy Jack, yielded their first major American hit with the title song, while including Entwhistle’s “Boris the Spider” and “Whiskey Man,” and Townshend’s first attempt at an extended piece, “A Quick One While He’s Away.”

Launched in America with their frenetic performance at the Monterey International Pop Festival in June 1967 (later chronicled in the D. A. Pennebaker film) and subsequent late summer tour in support of Herman’s Hermits, The Who issued one of the earliest concept albums, The Who Sell Out, a tribute to Britain’s pirate radio stations, at year’s end. Featuring a bizarre album cover and satiric radio station commercials between songs, the album contained the near-smash British and American hit “I Can See for Miles,” “Armenia City in the Sky,” and the gentle “Rael.” The Who quickly became a major concert attraction in the U.S. and next released the anthology set Magic Bus, which included Townshend’s “Call Me Lightning,” “Magic Bus” (a major American hit), and “Pictures of Lily” (a smash British hit in 1967), and a remake of the surf song “Bucket T.,” featuring Entwhistle’s humorous French horn solo.

The Who’s next album was the highly influential “rock opera” Tommy. Although not the first work of its kind, the album proved hugely successful, remaining on the album charts for more than two years and yielding a major hit with “Pinball Wizard.” An odd and elaborate tale of lost innocence, redemption, and contrition, Tommy featured a number of instrumental interludes and Sonny Boy Williamson’s “Eyesight to the Blind,” as well as the psychedelic “Acid Queen,” the inspiring “Sensation,” the liberating “I’m Free,” and Tommy’s final rejection and plea for acceptance, “We’re Not Gonna Take It”/“See Me, Feel Me.” Performed in its entirety only twice—once in London and once in N.Y.—Tommy drew the attention and praise of “serious” drama, opera, and classical music critics as well as fans and rock critics.

Tommy was performed in excerpted form by The Who for nearly two years and inspired both an all-star London stage production and an excessive and frankly unfortunate film by Ken Russell. The stage production, released on album in late 1972, featured the London Symphony Orch. and Chamber Choir and performances by Rod Stewart, Merry Clayton, Steve Winwood, Sandy Denny, Richie Havens, Ringo Starr, and The Who. Director, screenwriter, and coproducer Ken Russell’s 1975 film version, an extravagant and bizarre production replete with repulsive, inane, and tedious scenes, featured Roger Daltrey as Tommy and performances by Eric Clapton, Tina Turner, Elton John, and the members of The Who. It also contained the decidedly shallow acting and poor musical performances of Ann-Margret, Oliver Reed, and Jack Nicholson.

Seriously challenging The Rolling Stones’ claim to being “the world’s greatest rock-and-roll band,” particularly after their celebrated appearance at the Woodstock Music and Art Fair (and subsequent film) in August 1969, The Who next recorded Live at Leeds, one of the most exciting live albums ever issued. The album produced a major American hit with Eddie Cochran’s “Summertime Blues” and contained Johnny Kidd’s “Shakin’ All Over” and extended versions of both “My Generation” and “Magic Bus.” The 1995 CD reissue doubled the length of the original album.

Who’s Next, their first studio album in two years, was another milestone in the history of rock, showcasing Townshend’s outstanding and innovative use of synthesizers. The album included several finely crafted and brilliantly performed extended pieces such as “Baba O’Riley,” “The Song Is Over,” and the disillusioned “Won’t Get Fooled Again” (a near-smash British and major American hit), as well as the menacing “Behind Blue Eyes” (a moderate American hit) and Entwhistle’s “My Wife.” The Who soon issued the anthology set Meaty, Beaty, Big and Bouncy, which Townshend reviewed in Rolling Stone. The album successfully collected the singles of The Who through “Pinball Wizard” and “The Magic Bus,” and included Townshend’s overlooked “The Seeker.” In the summer of 1972, The Who scored a near-smash British and major American hit with “Join Together.”

The Who’s next album of new material was the double-record set Quadrophenia. Although greeted by equivocal reviews, the album was perhaps even more ambitious and personal than Tommy and every bit its equal in musical and dramatic terms. Concerned with the early history of The Who and the Mod movement through its protagonist Jimmy, Quadrophenia’s title referred to Jimmy’s double schizophrenia, the four members of The Who as representatives of the four sides of his personality, and the four recurrent musical themes of the album. Oddly criticized for its lack of unity, the album was heavily orchestrated and lavishly produced. It included “I’m One,” “5:15,” “Is It in My Head,” and “Drowned,” plus the minor hits “Love, Reign O’er Me” and “The Real Me.” For the first time in two years, The Who toured in support of the album.

In the meantime, the members of The Who had pursued individual projects. Keith Moon appeared in Frank Zappa’s film 200 Motels (1971) and the David Essex films That’ll Be the Day (1973) and Stardust (1974). John Entwhistle recorded three solo albums, including a brilliant debut, through 1973. Pete Townshend supported Eric Clapton’s “comeback” at London’s Rainbow Theatre in January 1973 and recorded his solo debut for fellow devotees of guru Meher Baba. Who Came First proved so popular that it was issued as a regular commercial release. With Townshend handling virtually every musical instrument and engineering chore, the album included “Pure and Easy,” “Nothing Is Everything (Let’s See Action),” and an adaptation of Meher Baba’s Universal Prayer, “Parvardigar.” Roger Daltrey’s debut solo album proved the most successful of the group member’s outside releases. Produced by David Courtney and former pop star Adam Faith, Daltrey featured the collaborative compositions of Courtney, Faith, and Leo Sayer. The album yielded a smash British and minor American hit with “Giving It All Away” and contained outstanding existential songs such as “The Way of the World,” “You Are Yourself,” and “Hard Life,” plus “One Man Band.”

During 1974, John Entwhistle assembled a remarkable collection of mostly unreleased Who material as Odds and Sods. An excellent summation of the career of The Who, the album included their first single release, “I’m the Face,” a dynamic and superior version of “Pure and Easy,” the menacing and moving “Naked Eye,” and the neglected rock anthem, “Long Live Rock.” John Entwhistle toured and recorded with the band Ox in 1975, as Keith Moon issued his first solo album and Daltrey his second. Daltrey’s Ride a Rock Horse included “Oceans Away” and yielded a minor hit with Russ Ballard’s “Come and Get Your Love.”

The Who’s next album, The Who by Numbers, was recorded during a relatively inactive period that lasted until 1977, but it was perhaps the group’s weakest effort to date, producing a major hit with “Squeeze Box.” The Who conducted a major American tour in 1975 and 1976 (including a joint performance with The Grateful Dead in October 1976), but Townshend, suffering permanent hearing loss and desirous of spending more time with his family, withdrew from the public eye. Daltrey appeared in Ken Russell’s equivocal Lisztomania movie as composer Franz Liszt in 1975 and Moon moved to Los Angeles in 1976. Daltrey recorded his third solo album in 1977 and Townshend reemerged triumphantly with Rough Mix, recorded with Ronnie Lane of The Faces.

In 1978, The Who returned with their first album in nearly three years, Who Are You. It contained “Had Enough,” “Sister Disco,” and “Music Must Change” and produced a major hit with the title song. However, on Sept. 7, 1978, Keith Moon was found dead in his London flat at the age of 31, the victim of a drug overdose. By the beginning of 1979, former Small Faces drummer Kenney Jones had replaced Moon. The group toured in the summer of 1979, augmented by keyboardist John “Rabbit” Bundrick, a former member of Free. During the year, The Who released two feature-length films and double-record soundtrack albums, the excellent documentary The Kids Are Alright and the fictional Quadrophenia, based on their 1973 album. The Kids Are Alright included the first offical release from the legendary 1968 television special The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus and the soundtrack yielded a minor hit with “Long Live Rock/’ Perhaps due to American audiences’ unfamiliarity with the Mod movement, Quadrophenia failed at the box office. The soundtrack album featured remixes from the original album, three new songs, and an entire side of “oldies” such as James Brown’s “Night Train” and The Ronettes’ “Be My Baby.”

The Who toured America again in late 1979, but, at a performance at Cincinnati’s Riverfront Stadium on Dec. 3, eleven people were killed in the crush of callous fans outside the stadium, an unfortunate legacy to the career of one of rock music’s most talented and exciting acts. By 1980, The Who had switched to Warner Bros, for their American releases, and Townshend had recorded Empty Glass, with its near-smash hit “Let My Love Open the Door,” as his debut for his new label, Atco. Roger Daltrey starred in the title role of the film McVicar, based on the life of bank robber John McVicar, widely known in Great Britain for his repeated escapes from prison. The soundtrack album, credited to Daltrey and Russ Ballard, featured all the members of The Who, producing a major hit with “Without Your Love.” In 1981, The Who toured again and released Face Dances, which yielded a major hit with “You Better You Bet.”

In 1982 and 1983, The Who conducted their “Farewell Tour” of stadiums with The Clash as their opening act, officially disbanding in December 1983. The tour produced the live set Who’s Last. Ateo issued Towns-hend’s All the Best Cowboys Have Chinese Eyes, and Townshend joined the prestigious publishing firm Faber and Faber as an editor in 1983. Townshend’s Scoop compiled his demo recordings, as would Another Scoop in 1987. Roger Daltrey appeared in the BBC production of The Beggar’s Opera as McHeath and later costarred in the BBC-Time-Life production of Shakespeare’s Comedy of Errors. He switched to Atlantic for Parting Should Be Painless, followed in 1985 by Under the Raging Moon. During 1985, Pete Townshend published his first book, the collection of poetry and prose Horse’s Neck, and recorded the ambitious White City—A Novel with Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour, among others. The album yielded a major hit with “Face the Face.”

The Who reunited for the Live Aid concert in July 1985, but immediately went their separate ways. Townshend toured England with Deep End, which included David Gilmour, and the tour produced both a concert video and album released in 1986. John Entwhistle toured on his own in 1988 and Townshend composed and recorded songs for the musical The Iron Man, based on a children’s story by Ted Hughes. The album included The Who’s “Dig” and “Fire” and John Lee Hooker’s “Over the Top” and “I Eat Heavy Metal.”

Townshend, Daltrey, and Entwhistle reunited for a Who stadium tour in 1989 sponsored by Bud weiser and Miller Lite beers. For the tour, the three were augmented by guitarist Steve Bolton, keyboardist John “Rabbit” Bundrick, drummer Simon Phillips, a five-piece horn section, and three backup vocalists. The tour included two full performances of Tommy, one in N.Y. and one in Los Angeles. The Los Angeles show, the highlight of the tour, was offered as a pay-per-view cable televison show and featured guest performances by Steve Winwood, Elton John, Billy Idol, Phil Collins, and Patti Labelle. However, the tour was viewed cynically by critics. The Who were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990.

In November 1991, Pete Townshend began working with Des McAnuff, the artistic director of the La Jolla (Calif.) Playhouse to transform Tommy into a stage musical. The setting was changed, connecting dialogue was added, and Townshend composed one new song, “I Believe My Own Eyes.” The show opened at the La Jolla Playhouse in July 1992, debuted on Broadway in April 1993, and won five Tony Awards. The show went on national tour in October.

In the meantime, Roger Daltrey starred in the 1990 film Mack the Knife with Raul Julia and recorded Rocks in the Head. In 1994, he conducted a “Daltrey Sings Townshend” tour with a 32-piece orchestra. Pete Townshend composed and recorded the ambitious PsychoDerelict and toured the show with three actors and an eight-piece band in 1993. The August performance at the Brooklyn Academy of Music was later broadcast as part of PBS television’s Great Performances series. In 1995, John Entwhistle toured as a member of Ringo Starr’s All-Starr Band.

In June 1996, Pete Townshend, Roger Daltrey, and John Entwhistle reunited to perform Quadrophenia at the Prince’s Trust benefit show in London’s Hyde Park with Billy Idol, Gary Glitter, and drummer Zak Starkey (Ringo’s son). They subsequently performed the show five times at N.Y.’s Madison Square Garden in July and toured North America with the show for five weeks in the fall. In 1998, Townshend’s keyboardist daughter Emma recorded her debut album Winterland. In 1999, the Who once again reunited for a single benefit concert; they then toured into 2000.

Discography

The Who Sings My Generation (1966); Happy Jack (1967); The Who Sell Out (1967); Magic Bus (1968); Tommy (1969); Live at Leeds (1970); Who’s Next (1971); Meaty, Beaty, Big and Bouncy (1971); Quadrophenia (1973); Odds and Sods (1974); The Who by Numbers (1975); Who Are You (1978); The Kids Are Alright (soundtrack; 1979); Face Dances (1981); Hooligans (1981); It’s Hard (1982); Who’s Last (1984); Who’s Missing (ree. 1965-72; rei. 1986); Two’s Missing (ree. 1964-73; rei. 1987); Join Together (1990); 30 Years of Maximum R&B: The Gift Set (1994); Live on the BBC (ree. 1964-73; rei. 2000). JOHN ENTWHISTLE: Smash Your Head against the Wall (1971); Whistle Rhymes (1972); Rigor Mortis Sets In (1973); Mad Dog (with Ox) (1975); Too Late the Hero (1981); The Rock (1996); King Biscuit Flower Hour (1997). ROGER DALTREY: Daltrey (1973); Ride a Rock Horse (1975); One of the Boys (1977); Best Bits (1982); Parting Should Be Painless (1984); Under a Raging Moon (1985); Rocks in the Head (1992). ROGER DALTREY/RICK WAKE M AN: Lisztomania (soundtrack; 1975). ROGER DALTREY/RUSS BALLARD: McVicar (soundtrack; 1980). PETE TOWNSHEND: Who Came First (1972); Empty Glass (1980); All the Best Cowboys Have Chinese Eyes (1982); Scoop (1983); White City: A Novel (1985); Another Scoop (ree. 1964-84; rei. 1986); Pete Townshend’s Deep End Live! (1986); The Iron Man (A Musical by Pete Townshend) (1989); PsychoDerelict (1993). PETE TOWNSHEND AND RONNIE LANE: Rough Mix (1977). EMMA TOWNSHEND: Winterland (1998).

Writings

P. Townshend, Horse’s Neck (Boston, 1985); S. Clarke (compiler), The W. in Their Own Words (N.Y., 1979).

Bibliography

G. Herman, The W.(N.Y., 1972); J. Stein and C. Johnston, The W.(N.Y., 1973); Rolling Stone, The W.(San Francisco, 1975); G. Tremlett, The W.(N.Y., 1975); J. Swenson, The W.: Britain’s Greatest Rock Group (N.Y., 1979); D. Butler, with C. Trengrove and P. Lawrence, Full Moon: The Amazing Rock and Roll Life of Keith Moon (N.Y., 1981); R. Barnes, 77a? W.: Maximum R&B (London, 1982; N.Y., 1983; London, 1996); D. Marsh, Before I Get Old: The Story of The W.(N.Y, 1983); J. Benson, Uncle Joe’s Record Guide: Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, The W.(Glendale, Calif., 1987); S. Wolter and K. Kimber, The W. in Print: An Annotated Bibliography, 1965 through 1990 (Jefferson, N.C., 1992); G. Giuliano, Behind Blue Eyes: The Life of Pete Townshend (N.Y., 1996); J. Perry, Meaty Beaty Big and Bouncy (N.Y., 1998).

—Brock Helander