The Who's Roger Daltrey fears he won't make it through final tour

San Francisco Chronicle​

a day ago

Roger Daltrey, the 81-year-old frontman of The Who, says he's not certain he'll make it to the end of the band's final U.S. tour — a run that includes a Bay Area stop this fall.
'This is certainly the last time you will see us on tour,' Daltrey told the Times of London in an interview published Friday, Aug. 1. 'It's gruelling. In the days when I was singing Who songs for three hours a night, six nights a week, I was working harder than most footballers. As to whether we'll play concerts again, I don't know. The Who to me is very perplexing.'
The band, best known for its late 1960s/early '70s songs like 'My Generation' and 'Pinball Wizard,' is scheduled to perform at Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View on Sept. 21.
'I'm going to be 82 next year. Fortunately, my voice is still as good as ever. I'm still singing in the same keys and it's still bloody loud, but I can't tell you if it will still be there in October,' Daltrey said. 'There's a big part of me that's going: I just hope I make it through.'
Health concerns cast a shadow over the tour. Daltrey continues to feel the effects of a meningitis infection he suffered nine years ago, which disrupted his internal temperature regulation and has left him vulnerable during performances.
'It's done a lot of damage. Every time I start singing in any climate over 75 degrees, I'm wringing with sweat, which drains my body salts,' he explained. 'The potential to get really ill is there and, I have to be honest, I'm nervous about making it to the end of the tour.'
'There's no point. Can't f—ing see it!' he said. 'I've got an incurable macular degeneration.'
The Who has declared farewell before, most notably in 1982 with a U.K. and North American tour later commemorated in 'Who's Last.' But the band continued to return, including a 1989 reunion tour, a 70-date 'long goodbye' in 2015, and a 2019 to 2021 run supporting 'WHO,' its first new album in more than a decade.
Now in their 80s, Daltrey and guitarist Pete Townshend vow this time is really the end.
Still, Daltrey's committed to giving fans a show worthy of the band's legacy.
'I want to give the songs the same amount of passion as I did the first time round,' he said.
The tour comes after a period of internal tension, including a public split with longtime drummer Zak Starkey, son of Ringo Starr. Daltrey briefly acknowledged an incident during a show at London's Royal Albert Hall that led to what he called a 'character assassination' by Starkey.
'Pete and I retain the right to be The Who. Everyone else is a session player,' Daltrey said. 'You can't replace Keith Moon. We wanted to branch out, and that's all I want to say about it. But (Starkey's reaction) was crippling to me.'