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San Francisco Chronicle
04-08-2025
- Entertainment
- San Francisco Chronicle
The Who's Roger Daltrey fears he won't make it through final tour
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.'
San Francisco Chronicle
08-05-2025
- Entertainment
- San Francisco Chronicle
After 60 years, the Who prepares to take its final bow in the Bay Area
After more than six decades of thunderous performances and rock opera epics, The Who announced that its upcoming 'The Song Is Over' North American tour will be their final bow — and this time, the band insists, it's for real. Guitarist Pete Townshend and vocalist Roger Daltrey revealed the tour dates at a press conference in London on Thursday, May 8, dubbing it a 'truly grand finale.' The tour is set to begin Aug. 16 in Sunrise, Fla., and plans to hit major cities including Boston, New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and Toronto before concluding Sept. 28 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. A Bay Area date is scheduled for Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View on Sept. 21. 'Well, all good things must come to an end,' Townshend said in a statement. 'It is a poignant time. For me, playing to American audiences and those in Canada has always been incredible.' He reflected on the band's U.S. breakthrough in 1967, recalling 'hippies smoking dope, sitting on their blankets and listening deeply and intensely.' On Thursday, he added, 'Roger and I still carry the banner for the late Keith Moon and John Entwistle and, of course, all of our longtime Who fans.' Daltrey echoed the sentiment, calling their U.S. success 'every musician's dream in the early '60s.' He went on to describe the farewell as bittersweet. 'It's not easy to end the big part of my life that touring with the Who has been,' he said. 'Thanks for being there for us and look forward to seeing you one last time.' Presales for the tour begin Tuesday, May 13, for Citi cardmembers and fan club members, with public sales opening at 10 a.m. Friday, May 16. A Live Nation presale begins Wednesday, May 14, with the code FREESTYLE. This isn't the first time the Who has threatened a final bow. In 1982, the band mounted what was billed as their farewell tour across the U.K. and North America, later commemorated with the live album 'Who's Last.' The band returned to the stage for brief performances at Live Aid in 1985 and again in 1988, before launching a full-scale 50-show reunion tour in 1989. More recently, the 2015 tour marking the band's 50th anniversary was labeled a 'long goodbye' by Daltrey, featuring 70 concerts across Europe, North America and Asia. From 2019 to 2021, the Who hit the road once more in support of 'WHO,' its first studio album in more than a decade. But with Townshend and Daltrey in their 80s, they say this is truly the end. The announcement comes on the heels of a recent performance at London's Royal Albert Hall, where longtime drummer Zak Starkey, son of Ringo Starr, was briefly dismissed from the band following a contentious showing. After a short period of uncertainty, Starkey was reinstated. 'There have been some communication issues, personal and private on all sides, that needed to be dealt with, and these have been aired happily,' Townshend later said. 'Fortunately, I still have my voice, because then I'll have a full Tommy,' Daltrey said, referencing Tommy, the fictional character from the Who's classic 1969 rock opera of the same name, who is deaf, blind and mute.
