The Who: Last News

Pete Townshend of The Who has revealed that he is currently working on creating a new rock opera.Opening up about the upcoming project in a new interview, the rock veteran confirmed that it will see him take his novel The Age Of Anxiety to the stage, and see it performed alongside a variety of new songs.The novel was released by Townshend in 2019 and explored themes of societal anxiety, triggered by things such as global warming and the threat of terrorism. It also saw the musician depict the detrimental consequences of social media on modern life, and how mental health issues are becoming more prominent across younger generations.Speaking with The Sun’s Bizarre column, the 78-year-old guitarist confirmed that the book is currently being remade as a rock opera and that he is “still developing the score and recording the music” for production.He also revealed that he is creating a making-of programme about its development, and speculated it may be another couple of years before either is officially complete.“I am also working on a documentary about the project, from its inception in 2007 until today,” he told the outlet.

Pete Townshend of The Who has revealed Keir Starmer was the lawyer who challenged him in Townshend’s infamous child pornography case.In 2003, it was discovered that Townshend had paid to view a child pornography site, which prompted a police investigation. The Who star claimed that it was research for a campaign against pedophilia for his memoir, where Townshend believed he may have been sexually abused as a child: “You have to know what’s out there.”Shortly before his memoir was published in 2012, Townshend elaborated on the incident.

Mantra Of The Cosmos – the new group featuring Shaun Ryder (Happy Mondays, Black Grape), drummer Zak Starkey (The Who, Oasis), guitarist Andy Bell (Oasis, Ride) and Bez (Happy Mondays, Black Grape) – have shared their new single ‘X (Wot You Sayin?)’ and spoken to NME about their forthcoming plans.The collective were formed by Starkey – who is the son of Ringo Starr – after he initially tried to work on a krautrock project with ex-Kraftwerk member Karl Bartos during the pandemic.“I wanted him to produce it and write the lyrics because I really like his solo work and what he did with Kraftwerk,” Starkey, who is at pains to point out that Mantra are not a supergroup, told NME over Zoom. “He’s got really mad words and he can think outside the box.

The Who, Madness, Soul II Soul, Amy Winehouse, David Bowie and more.The trail will recognise more pivotal figures in music with a five-day-long celebration. This year’s recipients are Janis Joplin, Harvey Goldsmith CBE, UB40, Gordon Mac (Founder Of Kiss FM), Paul ‘Trouble’ Anderson, Sugarhill Gang, Eddy Grant, Buzzcocks, Billy Bragg, Shalamar and The Kinks.

Shaun Ryder has formed a new band consisting of ‘90s music icons, called Mantra Of The Cosmos.The Happy Mondays frontman revealed the new supergroup in an interview with The Sun’s Bizarre column, and announced to fans that new music and a Glastonbury debut are imminent.Mantra Of The Cosmos is formed of Ryder, former Oasis bassist Andy Bell, The Lightning Seeds guitarist and vocalist, Ian Broudie, and drummer Zak Starkey — who has previously performed with The Who.Former Happy Mondays percussionist, Bez — real name Mark Berry — is the final name completing the lineup, and as confirmed by Ryder, an album is on the way.“I’ve got a new band together. It’s me, Zak Starkey, you know, Ringo [Starr’s] son, and the drummer in The Who, Andy Bell from Oasis and Ian Broudie from The Lightning Seeds.

Nicolas Cage has recalled the first concert he ever attended to see The Who.In a newly aired segment from the April 13 episode of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Nicolas Cage partook in the “Colbert Questionert” and was asked about the first concert he ever attended.Cage revealed that his first concert was seeing The Who perform at the Fillmore Stadium in San Fransisco, before going on to explain how “blown away” he was by the performance. “Roger [Daltrey] did this incredible thing where he was spinning the microphone with the cable and he just hit the cymbal.

The Who frontman Roger Daltrey has opened up about the chances of the band touring America again.Speaking to USA Today for a new interview, Daltrey spoke about the band’s latest live record ‘The Who with Orchestra: Live at Wembley’, the 79-year-old singer shared his thoughts on The Who touring the US again, saying he’s “very doubtful” it will happen, though he says “never say never”.When asked if The Who have plans to tour America again, Daltrey said: “Nothing at the moment. I don’t know if we’ll ever come back to tour America.

The Who‘s Pete Townshend has released his first solo single in 29 years in the form of ‘Can’t Outrun The Truth’.The track – released today (March 24) for charity – was composed and produced by Townshend’s partner Rachel Fuller under the pseudonym Charlie Pepper. All proceeds of the track’s vinyl sales, and an undisclosed portion of all digital downloads, will go towards the Teenage Cancer Trust.Listen to Pete Townshend’s ‘Can’t Outrun The Truth’ below.Townshend said of the track per a press statement: “The pandemic years were terrible for charities; the Teenage Cancer Trust was created in order to take the money from a series of concerts at the Albert Hall every year and various other things and that had all dropped out.”“So, the idea of doing this, which is it’s something that has sprung out of Lockdown about mental illness, but also for this particular charity.

The Who frontman Roger Daltrey has spoken to NME about the long-awaited Keith Moon biopic, vowing that the film “will be made” despite numerous past setbacks.The project has been in the works since at least 2005, when Mike Myers signed up to portray the late drummer. However, it’s since languished in development limbo and failed to get off the ground.In early 2022, it was reported that the movie would finally begin shooting that summer but that ended up not being the case.

Roger Daltrey has spoken to NME about the upcoming Teenage Cancer Trust shows, as well as The Who‘s “big, bold and sexy” orchestral tour, and whether we’ll hear any new music from the band.The frontman, who is an Honorary Patron of TCT, enlisted the likes of Kasabian, Wet Leg, Courteeners and Underworld for the 2023 edition of the charity’s annual gig series at the Royal Albert Hall in London.To close proceedings, Daltrey will play a solo concert at the historic venue on Sunday March 26. He’ll be joined on the night by special guests Richard Ashcroft and Joan Armatrading.

The Who have surprised fans in Long Island with a song that’s only been played a handful of times by the band in the last 40 years.During the gig, which took place on October 7, Roger Daltrey and co played ‘Young Man’s Blues’ as an extra encore.The band haven’t played the song since a one-off in 2014, and it’s only been played six times in the last 40 years of the band’s touring history (via Rolling Stone).The song, which was written by jazz pianist Mose Allison in 1957, added a R&B version of the song into their live set in 1964. It later appeared on the band’s ‘Live At Leeds’.

Tenacious D have shared a medley of songs from The Who‘s rock opera Tommy.The band have posted a video, which you can watch below, featuring snippets of the tracks ‘Pinball Wizard’, ‘There’s A Doctor’ and ‘Go To The Mirror’.“Who better to deliver a tribute to the greatest rock opera of all times? Who? The D! That’s Who!! We’ve been working on this medley for 20 years. It’s finally ready to be unleashed.

The Cure‘s albums are set to go up for auction.The LPs, which will go under the hammer in Manchester on June 7 in aid of the BRIT Trust charity, include the band’s albums ‘Disintegration’, ‘Pornography’, ‘Seventeen Seconds’, ‘Head On The Door’ and ‘Acoustic Hits’.

The Who’s Pete Townshend has reflected on the death of drummer Keith Moon, saying he “tried everything” to keep him alive.Moon was the drummer for The Who between 1964 and 1978, and died from an overdose of Heminevrin, a drug used to treat and prevent symptoms of alcohol withdrawal. He was 32 years old.“I tried everything,” Townshend told People of his attempts to help his friend. “I tried giving him money, I tried starving him of money.

Roger Daltrey has said he believes that the music industry has been “stolen” from artists.During a recent interview with The Independent, the frontman of The Who claimed that the band’s 2019 album ‘WHO’ left him £10,000 out of pocket. “Musicians cannot earn a living in the record industry anymore,” Daltrey told the publication.“That is ridiculous, and they’re being robbed blind by streaming and the record companies, because the old deals with record companies that existed in the Seventies, Eighties and Nineties, they’re still working on the same percentage breaks.”He continued: “And of course, they don’t do any work.

The Who are set to begin a two-part North American tour next week, and have appeared on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert to perform an orchestral version of ‘Behind Blue Eyes’.On Friday night (April 15), the band were the musical guests on the show and ran through a grand version of their 1971 track, backed by a full orchestra.The performance, which you can watch in full below, came in support of the Teen Cancer America organisation, and was recorded during the band’s annual Teenage Cancer Trust gigs at the Royal Albert Hall in London last month, which featured Yungblud, Liam Gallagher, Ed Sheeran, The Who themselves and more.Watch the Colbert performance of ‘Behind Blue Eyes’ below.The band’s forthcoming tour – dubbed ‘The Who Hits Back!’ – will begin next week (April 22) in Florida, with the first leg running until the end of May.The band will then return to the States in October for another run of dates, which take them through until November.Speaking of the tour, Roger Daltrey said: “Pete and I said we’d be back, but we didn’t think we’d have to wait for two years for the privilege. This is making the chance to perform feel even more special this time around.“So many livelihoods have been impacted due to COVID, so we are thrilled to get everyone back together – the band, the crew and the fans.

The Who have announced details of a huge two-part North American tour for 2022 – see the full list of dates and ticket details below.The tour – dubbed ‘The Who Hits Back!’ – will begin in late April, with the first leg running until the end of May.The band will then return to the States in October for another run of dates, which take them through until November.Speaking of the tour, Roger Daltrey said: “Pete and I said we’d be back, but we didn’t think we’d have to wait for two years for the privilege. This is making the chance to perform feel even more special this time around.“So many livelihoods have been impacted due to COVID, so we are thrilled to get everyone back together – the band, the crew and the fans.

Pete Townshend – best known as the founding guitarist and singer for The Who – seems to be working on a new body of solo material.Over the weekend, Townshend was spotted in the studio with session bassist Guy Pratt (whose portfolio includes work with Pink Floyd, Madonna, The Smiths and more) and drummer Ged Lynch (a longtime collaborator of Peter Gabriel). The former posted a photo of the trio on Twitter, writing: “To say the last couple of days recording has been beyond magical would be an understatement.”To say the last couple of days recording has been beyond magical would be an understatement.

The Who drummer Keith Moon is set to begin shooting this summer, according to reports.Moon was the drummer for The Who between 1964 and 1978 when he died from an overdose of Heminevrin, a drug used to treat and prevent symptoms of alcohol withdrawal.The new film project, which is provisionally called The Real Me after the ‘Quadrophenia’ song, will be executive produced by The Who’s Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend.According to Variety, Paul Whittington (The Crown) is set to direct, while the script has been penned by British screenwriter Jeff Pope.The production company behind George Harrison: Living in the Material World and Ron Howard’s Beatles documentary Eight Days a Week: The Touring Years is helming the production of the project.It’s still undetermined who will play Moon, although Daltrey has previously said the casting will need to be very specific – and will need to be based on the actor’s eyes.“I’ve got to find a Keith Moon,” the star told BBC 6Music’s Matt Everitt back in 2018. “It’s going to be very, very dependent on the actor and the actor’s eyes.

Rock biopics are a dime a dozen nowadays. Thanks to the ridiculous success of “Bohemian Rhapsody,” if you’re any sort of rock band worth your salt, you’re likely getting approached by Hollywood for the biopic treatment.

Pete Townshend has moved from his Richmond home of 26 years, leaving behind the home studio but taking with him the console he used for many recordings by The Who.The Richmond Hill residence – once owned by Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood – sold the 18th-century, Grade I listed Georgian house for £15 million in August.“Moving house is never fun,” the musician said on Instagram. “But with it went the home studio (which I helped build for Ronnie Wood when he lived int he house before my in 1973) where I have produced a lot of my songs and quite a bit of commercial music.”His Neve BCM10 console, which he is taking with him, was used to mix ‘Live at Leeds’, the piano part of ‘Love Reign O’er Me’ and more.