Good news for fans of The Who: While the legendary rock band has been notably quiet over the past year, co-founder and guitarist Pete Townshend recently hinted at exciting prospects for 2025, stirring anticipation for a possible tour.
In a recent interview with The London Standard, Townshend shared details of his conversation with frontman Roger Daltrey and suggested that The Who’s next chapter might be around the corner.
“I met with Roger for lunch a couple of weeks ago,” Townshend revealed in the interview, striking an optimistic tone about the band’s future. “We’re in good form. We love each other. We’re both getting a bit creaky, but we will definitely do something next year.”
Townshend suggested the band is leaning toward live shows rather than new music. “The album side of it…Roger’s not keen,” Townshend admitted, while also hinting at his personal hope to record new material, jokingly adding that he might “bully” Daltrey into a studio session. However, for now, the band appears more interested in returning to its rock ‘n’ roll roots onstage. “The last big tours that we’ve done have been with a full orchestra, which was glorious, but we’re now eager to make a noise and make a mess and make mistakes,” Townshend added.
Townshend’s remarks come as a surprise after Daltrey said in a 2023 USA Today interview that it was “very doubtful” the band would return to the U.S., citing the increased costs and financial risk of touring in the post-COVID era.
“Touring has become very difficult since COVID,” he explained. “We cannot get insured and most of the big bands doing arena shows, by the time they do their first show and rehearsals and get the staging and crew together, all the buses and hotels, you’re upwards $600,000 to a million in the hole. To earn that back, if you’re doing a 12-show run, you don’t start to earn it back until the seventh or eighth show. That’s just how the business works. The trouble now is if you get COVID after the first show, you’ve (lost) that money.”
Earlier this year, Daltrey embarked on a successful “semi-acoustic” solo tour, performing intimate shows across 11 cities in just under a month. Townshend meanwhile was involved in a Broadway production of The Who‘s groundbreaking 1969 rock opera Tommy, which earned a nomination for Best Revival of a Musical at the 2024 Tony Awards.
In another candid moment, Townshend commented on the recently announced reunion of Oasis, sharing his unique take on the situation. “Well, I’m disappointed,” he remarked. Asked whether the source of his disappointment was the difficulty of securing tickets, he replied, “No, because I really like their solo albums.”
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