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The Who are an English rock band formed in 1964. The primary lineup was guitarist Pete Townshend, vocalist Roger Daltrey, bassist John Entwistle and drummer Keith Moon. They became known for energetic live performances, are one of the most influential rock bands of the 1960s and '70s, and recognised as one of the greatest rock and roll bands of all time. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990, their first year of eligibility. According to the New York Times, The Who have sold 100 million records.
The Who rose to fame in the United Kingdom with a pioneering instrument destruction stage show and a series of top ten hit singles (including "My Generation") and top five albums, beginning in 1965 with "I Can't Explain".
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Quotations
A song is a message, a song is a letter, nothing more, nothing less.
Anyone who disagrees with me gets a bunch of fives and a swift knee in the happysack.
Fuck off.
Mumbled to a doctor telling Pete Townshend that Keith was "clinically dead" when he was just coming round to consciousness.
God was our lighting man.
On the sun coming up and illuminating the stage during the finale of Tommy at Woodstock, 1969.
I ain't heard anyone play like I do in my band and I am very happy about that.
I am sick of people asking me about The Who! Ask me about my solo career you bastards!
Encyclopedia
The Who are an English rock band formed in 1964. The primary lineup was guitarist Pete Townshend, vocalist Roger Daltrey, bassist John Entwistle and drummer Keith Moon. They became known for energetic live performances, are one of the most influential rock bands of the 1960s and '70s, and recognised as one of the greatest rock and roll bands of all time. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990, their first year of eligibility. According to the New York Times, The Who have sold 100 million records.
The Who rose to fame in the United Kingdom with a pioneering instrument destruction stage show and a series of top ten hit singles (including "My Generation") and top five albums, beginning in 1965 with "I Can't Explain". They hit the top ten in the US in 1967 with "I Can See for Miles". The 1969 release of Tommy was the first in a series of top five albums in the US, followed by Live at Leeds (1970), Who's Next (1971), Quadrophenia (1973), and Who Are You (1978).
Moon died in 1978, after which the band released two studio albums, the top five Face Dances (1981) and the top ten It's Hard (1982), with drummer Kenney Jones, before disbanding in 1983. They re-formed at events such as Live Aid and for reunion tours such as their 25th anniversary tour (1989) and the Quadrophenia tours of 1996 and 1997. In 2000, the three surviving original members discussed recording an album of new material. The plans were delayed by the death of Entwistle in 2002. Townshend and Daltrey continue to perform as The Who. In 2006 they released the studio album Endless Wire, which reached the top ten in the UK and US.
History
1960s
Early days
In the early days, The Who was a trad jazz band started by Townshend and Entwistle called The Confederates. Townshend played banjo and Entwistle played the French horn, an instrument he had started playing while in the school band. Daltrey met Entwistle walking down the street with a bass slung over his shoulder and asked him to join his band called The Detours. Entwistle suggested Townshend as an additional guitarist. In early days the band was influenced by American blues and country music, playing mostly rhythm and blues. The lineup was Daltrey on lead guitar, Townshend on rhythm guitar, Entwistle on bass, Doug Sandom on drums, and Colin Dawson vocals. After Dawson left, Daltrey moved to vocals and Townshend became sole guitarist. In 1964 Sandom left and Keith Moon became drummer.
The Detours changed to The Who in 1964 and, with the arrival of Moon that year, the line-up was complete. However, for a short period in 1964, under the management of mod Peter Meaden, they changed to The High Numbers, releasing "Zoot Suit/I'm the Face", a single to appeal to mod fans. When it failed to chart, the band fired Meaden and reverted to The Who. They became popular among the British mods, a 1960s subculture involving cutting-edge fashions, scooters and music genres such as rhythm and blues, soul, and beat music.
In September 1964, at the Railway Tavern in Harrow and Wealdstone, London, Townshend's physical performance resulted in accidentally breaking the head of his guitar through the ceiling. Angered by sniggers from the audience, he smashed the instrument on the stage. He picked up another guitar and continued the show. A large crowd attended the next concert, but Townshend declined to smash another guitar. Instead, Moon wrecked his drumkit. Instrument destruction became a staple of The Who's shows for several years. The incident at the Railway Tavern is one of Rolling Stone magazine's "50 Moments That Changed the History of Rock 'n' Roll".
The band crystallised around Townshend as primary songwriter and creative force. Entwistle made songwriting contributions. Moon and Daltrey contributed songs in the 60s and 70s.
Early singles and My Generation
The Who's first release, and first hit, was January 1965's "I Can't Explain", influenced by the Kinks with whom they shared American producer Shel Talmy. The song was first played in the USA on WTAC AM 600 in Flint, Michigan, by DJ Peter C Cavanaugh where Moon drove a car into a hotel pool during his 20th birthday (Moon claimed it was his 21st so he could drink) . The song was a top 10 hit in the UK and was followed by "Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere", song credited as composed by Townshend and Daltrey, though Townshend implied Daltrey assisted in songwriting without credit in the liner notes to Meaty Beaty Big and Bouncy.
The debut album My Generation (The Who Sings My Generation in the U.S.) released the same year. It included "The Kids Are Alright" and the title track "My Generation". Subsequent hits, such as the 1966 singles "Substitute", about a young man who feels like a fraud, "I'm a Boy" about a boy dressed as a girl, and "Happy Jack" about a mentally disturbed young man, show Townshend's use of sexual tension and teenage angst. More hits followed, including "I Can See for Miles" and the 1968 single "Magic Bus".
Conceptual work
Although successful as a singles band, Townshend wanted The Who's albums unified rather than collections of songs. Townshend said "I'm a Boy" was from a projected opus, the first sign of which came in the 1966 album A Quick One, which included the storytelling medley "A Quick One While He's Away", which they referred to as a mini opera, and which has been called the first progressive epic.
A Quick One was followed by The Who Sell Out in 1967, a concept album like an offshore radio station, complete with humorous jingles and commercials which included a mini rock opera called Rael (whose closing theme ended up on Tommy), as well as The Who's biggest US single, "I Can See for Miles". The Who destroyed equipment at the Monterey Pop Festival that year and repeated the routine on the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour with explosive results as Moon detonated his drumkit. Supposedly, too much explosive was used in the drum kit, resulting in damage to Townshend's hearing. In 1968, The Who headlined the first Schaefer Music Festival in New York City's Central Park. Also that year, Townshend became the subject of the first Rolling Stone interview. Townshend said he was working on a full-length rock opera. This was Tommy, the first work billed as a rock opera and a landmark in modern music.
Tommy and Live at Leeds
Around this time the teachings of India's Meher Baba influenced Townshend's songwriting, continuing for many years. Baba is credited as "Avatar" on Tommy. In addition to commercial success, Tommy became a critical smash, Life Magazine saying, "...for sheer power, invention and brilliance of performance, Tommy outstrips anything which has ever come out of a recording studio," and Melody Maker declaring, "Surely The Who are now the band against which all others are to be judged."
The Who performed much of Tommy at the Woodstock Music and Art Festival that year. That, and the ensuing film, catapulted The Who in the USA. Though the festival became free, the Who demanded to be paid before performing despite banks and roads being closed 2–3am on Sunday morning and only agreed to play when one of the promoters, Joel Rosenman, came up with a certified check for $11,200 (the manager of White Lake branch of Sullivan County National Bank opened the bank so performers could be paid)
In February 1970 The Who recorded Live at Leeds, thought by many the best live rock album of all time.* The Independent (7 June 2006). Retrieved on 3 January 2007.
* Hyden, Steven. PopMatters.com (29 January 2003)
* BBC - Leeds - Entertainment (18 August 2006). Retrieved on 3 January 2007
* Rolling Stone Magazine (1 November 2003). Retrieved on 3 January 2007 The album, originally relatively short and containing mostly the show's hard rock songs, has been re-released in expanded and remastered versions, remedying technical problems with the original and adding portions of the performance of Tommy, as well as versions of earlier singles and stage banter. A double-disc version contains the entire performance of Tommy. The Leeds University gig was part of the Tommy tour, which not only included gigs in European opera houses but saw The Who become the first rock act at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York City.
1970s
Lifehouse and Who's Next
In 1970, The Who began a studio album that was never released. At the Isle of Wight Festival in August, Daltrey introduced "I Don't Even Know Myself" as "off the new album, which we're sort of half-way through". But within weeks Townshend wrote "Pure and Easy", which he described as the "central pivot" of a concept album/performance art project called Lifehouse, distracting the band from the album. Lifehouse was never completed in its intended form. Some Lifehouse songs were released as non-album track singles, B-sides and on albums such as 1974's outtakes compilation Odds & Sods and Townshend's 1972 solo album Who Came First. Townshend later reconstructed it as a radio play for the BBC in 2000, and most of the material was on a 6-CD album from Townshend's website shortly after.
Meanwhile, in March 1971, the band began recording the available Lifehouse material with Kit Lambert in New York, and then restarted the sessions with Glyn Johns in April. Selections from the material, with one unrelated song by Entwistle, were released as a traditional studio album, Who's Next, which became their most successful album among critics and fans, but which terminated the Lifehouse project. Who's Next reached #4 in the USA pop charts and #1 in the UK. Two tracks from the album, "Baba O'Riley" and "Won't Get Fooled Again", are cited as pioneering examples of synthesizer use in rock music; both tracks' keyboard sounds were generated in real time by a Lowrey organ (though in "Won't Get Fooled Again", the organ was processed through a VCS3 synthesizer). Synthesizers can be found elsewhere on the album, in "Bargain", "Going Mobile", and "The Song is Over".
Quadrophenia and By Numbers
Who's Next was followed by Quadrophenia (1973), which can be seen an autobiographical or social history piece about early 1960s adolescent life in London. The story is about Jimmy, his struggle for self-esteem, his conflicts with his family and others, and his mental illness. His story is set against clashes between Mods and Rockers in the early 1960s in the UK, particularly at Brighton. The US tour featured a 20 November 1973 San Francisco, California concert at the Cow Palace in Daly City where Moon passed out during "Won't Get Fooled Again" and in "Magic Bus". Townshend asked the audience, "Can anyone play the drums? - I mean somebody good." An audience member, Scot Halpin, filled in for the rest of the encore.
The band's later albums contained songs more personal for Townshend, and he transferred this style to solo albums, as on the album Empty Glass. 1975's The Who by Numbers had introspective songs, lightened by "Squeeze Box", another hit single. Nevertheless, some critics considered By Numbers Townshend's "suicide note." A movie version of Tommy released that year was directed by Ken Russell, starred Daltrey and earning Townshend an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Score. In 1976, The Who played at Charlton Athletic football ground in what was listed for over a decade in the Guinness Book of World Records as the world's loudest concert.
Who Are You and Moon's death
In 1978, the band released Who Are You, a move from rock opera towards a radio-friendly sound, though it did contain one song from a never-completed rock opera by Entwistle. The release was overshadowed by Moon's death in his sleep after an overdose of Heminevrin - prescribed to combat alcohol withdrawal - a few hours after a party held by Paul McCartney . The last album cover shows Moon in a chair with the words "not to be taken away"; the song "Music Must Change" has no drum track. Kenney Jones, of The Small Faces and The Faces, joined as Moon's successor.
In 1979, The Who returned to the stage with well-received concerts at the Rainbow Theatre in London, at the Cannes Film Festival in France and at Madison Square Garden in New York City. A small tour of the United States was marred by tragedy: on 3 December 1979 in Cincinnati, Ohio, a crush at Riverfront Coliseum killed 11 fans. The band was not told until after the show because civic authorities feared crowd problems if the concert were cancelled. Also in 1979, The Who released a documentary film called The Kids Are Alright and a film version of Quadrophenia, the latter a box office hit in the UK and the former capturing many of the band's most scintillating moments on stage. In December, The Who became the third band, after the Beatles and The Band, featured on the cover of Time. The article, written by Jay Cocks, said The Who had "outpaced, outlasted, outlived and outclassed" all of their rock band contemporaries.
1980s
Decline and breakup
The band released two more studio albums with Jones as drummer, Face Dances (1981) and It's Hard (1982). Face Dances produced a Top 20 hit with the single "You Better You Bet" and a string of MTV and AOR hits like "Another Tricky Day". Three videos from the album played on MTV the day it took to the air in August 1981. While both albums sold fairly well, and It's Hard receiving a five-star review in Rolling Stone, fans were not receptive to the new sound. "Athena" was a US Top 30 hit and "Eminence Front" charted as well and became a favorite. Shortly after It's Hard, The Who embarked on a farewell tour after Townshend said he wanted one more tour with The Who before turning it into a studio band. It was the highest grossing tour of the year, with sellout crowds throughout North America.
Townshend spent part of 1983 trying to write material for the studio album still owed to Warner Bros. Records from a contract in 1980. By the end of 1983, however, Townshend declared himself unable to generate material appropriate for The Who and left in December 1983. Townshend focused on solo projects such as White City: A Novel, The Iron Man (which featured Daltrey and Entwistle and two songs on the album credited to "The Who"), and Psychoderelict, a forerunner to the radio work Lifehouse.
Reunions
On 13 July 1985, The Who, including Kenney Jones, reformed for a one-off at Bob Geldof's Live Aid concert at Wembley. The band performed "My Generation", "Pinball Wizard", "Love Reign O'er Me", and "Won't Get Fooled Again" (the band had also intended to play a new Townshend composition, "After the Fire", but was unable to learn it well enough; it became a solo hit for Daltrey that year). Although the BBC's equipment blew a fuse at the beginning of "My Generation", the band kept playing, so most of "My Generation" and all "Pinball Wizard" was missed by the rest of the world.
In 1988 the band was honoured with the British Phonographic Industry's Lifetime Achievement Award. The Who played a short set at the ceremony (the last time Jones worked with The Who). In 1989 they embarked on a 25th anniversary "The Kids Are Alright" reunion tour which emphasised Tommy. Simon Phillips played drums with Steve "Boltz" Bolton playing lead guitar, as Townshend had massive hearing problems and would be relegated to strumming acoustic guitar. A horn section and backing singers were added. Newsweek said, "The Who tour is special because, after the Beatles and the Stones, they're IT." There were sellouts throughout North America, including a four-night stand at Giants Stadium. In all, over two million tickets were sold. The tour included Tommy in New York and at the Universal Amphitheatre in Los Angeles, with Elton John, Phil Collins, Billy Idol, Patti LaBelle, and Steve Winwood.
A 2-CD live album Join Together had to poor sales in 1990, limping to #188 in the US. Townshend injured himself in Tacoma, WA on when he gashed his hand during one of his windmill moves (he was playing more electric guitar in the latter half of shows). His hand hit the tremolo bar and he started bleeding and went to the hospital.
1990s
Partial reunions
In 1990, their first year of eligibility, The Who were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame by U2, Bono saying, "More than any other band, The Who are our role models." The Who's display at the Rock Hall describes them as prime contenders for the title of "World's Greatest Rock Band". Only The Beatles and The Rolling Stones receive a similar accolade at the Rock Hall.
In 1991 The Who recorded a cover of Elton John's "Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting" for a tribute album. This was the last time they released any studio work with Entwistle. Townshend toured in 1993 to promote his Psychoderelict album. One night Entwistle guested at the end of the show. In 1994 there were rumours of a 30th anniversary tour. These never happened but Daltrey turned 50 and celebrated with two concerts at Carnegie Hall. These included guest spots by Entwistle and Townshend. Although original members of The Who attended, they did not appear on stage together except for the finale, "Join Together", with the other guests. Daltrey toured that year with Entwistle and with John "Rabbit" Bundrick on keyboards, Zak Starkey on drums and Simon Townshend filling in for his brother. Pete Townshend allowed Daltrey to call this band The Who, but Daltrey declined. Daltrey Sings Townshend was not a commercial success.
Quadrophenia revival
In 1996 Townshend joined the lineup for a concert at Hyde Park. He intended to perform Quadrophenia as a solo acoustic piece using parts of the film on screens. Entwistle and Daltrey agreed a one-off performance. The band was augmented by Starkey, Rabbit on keyboards and Simon Townshend and Geoff Whitehorn on guitars. Jon Carin was an additional keyboard player, a horn section was added alongside backing vocalists and guests played characters from the album. These included David Gilmour, Ade Edmonson, newsreader Trevor McDonald and Gary Glitter. The performance was narrated by Phil Daniels who played Jimmy the Mod in the film. Despite technical difficulties the show was a success and led to a six-night residency at Madison Square Garden. These shows were not billed as The Who.
The success of the Quadrophenia shows led to a US and European tour. Rabbit, Starkey, Simon and Carin remained for the shows. The show was reworked for the tour and included three Who standards as encore. The show was billed under the members' names but later as The Who to aid ticket sales. Among the worst attendances were 7,432 in the Tacoma Dome in Tacoma, WA; 7,346 in Dayton, OH and 6,210 for a show in Las Vegas. Chicago, Philadelphia and Detroit drew sellouts or close to it. Idol and Glitter played these dates.
After Quadrophenia, The Who toured in the summer of 1997 in "greatest hits" shows, although they were reprises of the Quadrophenia tour with five Who classics as encore instead of three. P.J. Proby and Ben Waters replaced Glitter and Idol. The European dates ranged from 23 April to 18 May, the US from 19 July until 16 August.
Townshend performed many acoustic shows, Entwistle mounted shows with The John Entwistle Band and Daltrey toured with the British Rock Symphony performing Who and other rock songs. In 1998, VH1 ranked The Who ninth in the 100 Greatest Artists of Rock 'n' Roll.
In late 1999, The Who reformed as a five-piece with Rabbit on keyboards and Starkey on drums and performed seven shows, all but one for charity. Many songs were from Who's Next; others had not been performed for 30 years. The first show took place 29 October 1999 in Las Vegas at the MGM Grand Garden. From there, they performed acoustic shows at Neil Young's Bridge School Benefit at the Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, CA on 30 and 31 October. Next, they played on 12 and 13 November at the House of Blues in Chicago, as a benefit for the Maryville Academy. The first Chicago show was the first of the shows to be booked. Finally, two Christmas charity shows on 22 and 23 December at the Shepherds Bush Empire in London. For these Townshend was again playing electric guitar for the full show and The Who were a five-piece. The 29 October show in Las Vegas was partially on TV as well as the internet and would later see release as the DVD The Vegas Job.
2000s
Charity shows and Entwistle's death
The success of 1999 led to a US tour in 2000 and a UK tour in November. The tour started on 6 June at the Jacob Javits Center in New York to benefit the Robin Hood Foundation and ended with a charity show on 27 November at the Royal Albert Hall for the Teenage Cancer trust. With good reviews all three members of The Who discussed a new album. VH1 placed The Who eighth in the 100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock.
The band performed at The Concert for New York City on 20 October 2001, during which they played "Baba O'Riley" and "Won't Get Fooled Again" for the fire and police departments of New York City. The Who were honoured with a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award that year.
In winter 2002, The Who played five shows in England, in Portsmouth on 27 and 28 January and Watford on 31 January, in preparation for two shows for the Teenage Cancer Trust Benefit at the Albert Hall on 7 and 8 February. Just before a tour in summer 2002, Entwistle was found dead at the Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas. The cause was a heart attack in which cocaine was a contributing factor. After a brief delay, the tour commenced in Los Angeles with bassist Pino Palladino. Most shows from the tour were released officially on CD as Encore Series 2002. Before the tour "Real Good Looking Boy" and "Certified Rose" were rehearsed alongside classics such as "I Can See for Miles", but due to the death of Entwistle, they were not performed. In September, Q magazine named The Who as one of the "50 Bands to See Before You Die".
Endless Wire
In 2004 The Who released "Old Red Wine" and "Real Good Looking Boy" (with Pino Palladino and Greg Lake, respectively, on bass guitar), as part of a singles anthology (The Who: Then and Now), and went on an 18-date tour playing Japan, Australia, the UK and the US. All shows were on CD as part of Encore Series 2004. The band also headlined the Isle of Wight Festival. Also that year, Rolling Stone Magazine ranked The Who #29 on their list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.
The Who announced that spring 2005 would see their first studio album in 23 years (tentatively titled WHO2). In March 2005, Townshend's website said release was delayed indefinitely, and explained that tours in summer 2005 were also shelved. Part of this was due to slow recording of new material, and part Starkey's tour with Oasis. Townshend continued working on the album, posting a novella called The Boy Who Heard Music on his blog. This developed into a mini-opera which formed the kernel for the new Who album, and later a full opera which Townshend presented at Vassar College.
The Who performed "Who Are You" and "Won't Get Fooled Again" on the London stage of the Live 8 concert in July 2005. Steve White (drummer for Paul Weller and older brother of ex-Oasis drummer Alan White) took the place of Starkey, and Damon Minchella (Ocean Colour Scene's bassist) filled in for Palladino who was touring for Jeff Beck. The Who were inducted into the UK Music Hall of Fame.
In 2006, The Who were first recipients of the Freddie Mercury Lifetime Achievement Award in Live Music at the Vodafone music awards. Roger Taylor and Brian May of Queen presented the award. On 3 October 2006, the iTunes Store released two singles in advance of the new album, Endless Wire entitled "Tea & Theatre" (played at the end of concerts during the North American tour) and "It's Not Enough".
Endless Wire was on 30 October 2006 (31 October in the US). It was the first full studio album of new material since 1982's It's Hard. The album featured songs inspired by subjects such as Stockholm syndrome during the Beslan school hostage crisis ("Black Widow's Eyes"), Mel Gibson's 2004 film, The Passion of the Christ ("Man in a Purple Dress" and "2000 Years") and it contained the band's first mini-opera since "Rael" on 1967's The Who Sell Out. Excerpts from the mini-opera, called "Wire & Glass", were released as a Maxi-single on 17 July on iTunes, and on CD and limited edition 12" vinyl in the UK on 24 July. "Mirror Door" was released in a radio edit and first played on BBC Radio 2, on The Ken Bruce Show at 10 on 8 June 2006. Endless Wire debuted at #7 on Billboard and #9 in the UK Albums Chart.
The Who Tour 2006-2007
In advance of the album, and to support it, The Who embarked upon their The Who Tour 2006-2007. First they did a 24-date European tour followed by the rest of the world. These are their first shows since their 2004 world tour and brief performance at Live 8 in 2005. Members of the latest lineup remain, including keyboardist John "Rabbit" Bundrick, bassist Pino Palladino, drummer Zak Starkey and guitarist Simon Townshend, who is also supporting act for The Who with his band the Casbah Club. Other opening acts on the tour include The Pretenders and Rose Hill Drive. Shows are on CD and DVD as part of Encore Series 2006. Starkey was invited to join Oasis in April 2006, and The Who in November 2006, but he declined, preferring to split his time between the two. On 24 June 2007, The Who topped the Glastonbury Festival.
Amazing Journey
In November 2007, the documentary Amazing Journey: The Story of The Who was released. The two-DVD set included new interviews from Daltrey, Jones, and Townshend as well as Sting, The Edge, Noel Gallagher, Eddie Vedder and Steve Jones. The documentary includes footage not in earlier documentaries, including film from the 1970 Leeds University appearance and a 1964 performance at the Railway Hotel when they were The High Numbers. Amazing Journey was nominated for a 2009 Grammy Award.
The Who Tour 2008-2009
On 30 October 2007, Daltrey planned 2008/2009 shows in Japan and Australia. "We don't want to stop..." he said. "We don't want those long hiatuses that we used to have... You should at least keep the ball rolling."
Daltrey implied that Townshend was working on new material and on 11 February 2008 Townshend confirmed this on the band's website. He said Daltrey was setting up album work. A proposed T-Bone Burnett-produced album of covers of R&B songs was ruled out, however.
The Who were honoured at the 2008 VH1 Rock Honors in Los Angeles. Taping of the show took place 12 July, followed by a network broadcast on 17 July. The Flaming Lips, Pearl Jam, Foo Fighters, Incubus, and Tenacious D played Who songs and the night ended with the band on stage to perform. That same week, a 12-song best-of collection was released for the music video game Rock Band. The Who performed at the Rock Band party at the Orpheum Theater during the 2008 E3 Media and Business Summit. Townshend made a joke regarding the color choices on the game's guitar controller.
In October 2008, The Who embarked on a tour of four Japanese cities and nine North American cities.
A New Zealand and Australian tour with the support of Counting Crows is scheduled for 2009, starting on 21 March in Auckland, New Zealand then following on in the Australian cities of Brisbane, Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney and ending in Perth on 4 April.
The Who were recognised in 2008 at the Kennedy Center Honors. Pete Townshend's songs were performed by a variety of artists, including Joss Stone ("My Generation"), Chris Cornell ("Wont Get Fooled Again"), Dave Grohl ("Who Are You?"), Bettye LaVette ("Love Reign O'er Me"), and Rob Thomas ("Baba O'Riley"). Joining them were the New York City Fire and Police Departments, a nod to the 2001 charity concert in New York—The Concert For New York City—where The Who performed "Who Are You", "Baba O'Riley", "Behind Blue Eyes" and "Won't Get Fooled Again" for them.
Influence
The Who are one of the most influential groups in rock music. Their progressive approach to the writing of albums and their live shows are matched by few. The hard rock style they brought to England set the stage for bands from Led Zeppelin to The Clash. The Who sold 100 million albums. The Who's Mod genesis inspired bands of the Britpop wave in the mid-1990s. Blur, Oasis, Stereophonics and Ash draw influence from the band, which, especially with the Mod counter-culture, provided a "Cool Britannia" ideal.
The Who have been called "The Godfathers of Punk"
, as well as in Spike Lee's film, Summer of Sam. Part of the foundation of punk rock lies in The Who's aggression,
violence and snotty attitude. The Stooges, MC5, Ramones, Sex Pistols, The Clash, Generation X, Green Day and other
punk rock and protopunk rock bands point to The Who as influence.
The group has been credited with devising the "rock opera" and it made one of the first notable concept albums. Following Tommy were David Bowie's The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway by Genesis and Pink Floyd's The Wall in the 1970s. More recent concept albums in the tradition include The Flaming Lips' Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, Green Day's American Idiot, and Marilyn Manson's Mechanical Animals.
In 1967 Townshend coined "power pop" to describe The Who's sixties singles. The guiding lights of the seventies power pop movement, from the Raspberries to Cheap Trick, take inspiration from The Who.
The Who's influence can also be seen in early incorporation of synthesizers, with Who's Next featuring the instrument prominently. "My Generation" is the band's most covered song. Iron Maiden, Oasis, Sweet, Pearl Jam, Patti Smith, Green Day, McFly, Hawk Nelson, Di-Rect and Hilary Duff have recorded it. Oasis used it as their closer during the 2005 tour. The Zimmers, "the world's oldest rock band", made a tongue-in-cheek version as their first single, a hit in Britain. David Bowie covered "I Can't Explain", "Pictures of Lily" and "Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere". The Sex Pistols, the Ramones and Great White covered "Substitute". The Jam and The Breeders have covered "So Sad About Us". The Shadows have done an instrumental medley of "Pinball Wizard" and "See Me Feel Me" on their 1973 album "Rockin' with Curly Leads".
The Clash incorporated the riff of "I Can't Explain" into "Clash City Rockers" and "Guns on the Roof". Pearl Jam performed "Baba O'Riley" and "The Kids Are Alright" during tours in the 1990s and 2000s. Pearl Jam played songs such as "Leaving Here", "Blue, Red, & Grey", "Love, Reign O'er Me" and "Naked Eye". German band Scorpions covered "I Can't Explain" while W.A.S.P. covered "The Real Me". Van Halen covered "Won't Get Fooled Again" on their 1993 live album Live: Right Here, Right Now, describing it as "a tribute to The Who" and in 1995, Phish covered Quadrophenia for their second Halloween tradition of performing another band's album, which was released as Live Phish Volume 14. Phish continued to cover "Drowned" in live performances. The Grateful Dead covered "Baba O'Riley" in the early 1990s, as did Nirvana. Rush covered "The Seeker" on their 2004 "Feedback" EP and live during their R30 tour that same year. The Foo Fighters covered "Bargain" and "Young Man Blues" on tour.
McFly covered "Pinball Wizard" for the B-side to their 2004 single "I'll Be OK", and played the song in their 2005 tour. Fish (ex Marillion) covered "The Seeker" during his Songs from the Mirror period. Many other artists, ranging from Buddy Rich to Richard Thompson to U2 to Petra Haden (who covered The Who Sell Out in its entirety), have covered Who songs. The Smithereens covered "The Seeker" on the album, Live, and released it as a single (this track is also found on the compilation album, Attack of the Smithereens).
The music of The Who is still performed by tribute bands, such as Bargain, My Generation, The Ohm, The Relay, The Substitutes, Townzen in Japan, The Whodlums (UK), The Wholigans, The Who Show, Who's Next USA, Who's Next UK, Who's Who UK. All three versions of the American forensic drama CSI (CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, CSI: Miami, and CSI: NY) feature songs written and performed by The Who as theme songs, "Who Are You", "Won't Get Fooled Again" and "Baba O'Riley" respectively. The CBS sitcom Two and a Half Men once did a brief CSI spoof called Stiffs with the theme song "Squeeze Box".
Awards
The Who were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990, the UK Music Hall of Fame in 2005 and won the first annual Freddie Mercury Lifetime Achievement in Live Music Award in 2006. They received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the British Phonographic Industry in 1988, and from the Grammy Foundation in 2001, for creative contributions of outstanding artistic significance to the field of recording. Tommy was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1998, "My Generation" in 1999 and Who's Next in 2007.
Townshend and Daltrey received Kennedy Center Honors at the 31st annual awards ceremony on 7 December 2008. The Kennedy Center Honors are America's highest cultural honour. The Who are the only rock band to receive the award.
Band members
Discography
See also
External links
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