“We’d play every territory in the world and then crawl off to die”: Pete Townshend talks a potential final tour with The Who
Take his comments with a pinch of salt, though, as he adds that he doesn’t “get much of a buzz from performing with The Who”.
Credit: Katja Ogrin/Redferns
The Who have been going for six decades now, but they’re not finished yet. Speaking to the New York Times, Pete Townshend says he wants to create new music, and that the band want to undertake a final world tour.
The guitarist shares, “It feels to me like there’s a final tour where we play every territory in the world and then crawl off to die. I don’t get much of a buzz from performing with The Who. If I’m really honest, I’ve been touring for the money. My idea of an ordinary lifestyle is pretty elevated.
“I’ve been immensely creative and productive throughout that period, but I haven’t felt the need to put [new music] out. And if I can make it personal, I don’t care whether you like it or not. When White City came out and the sales were so slow, I thought ‘screw this.’ Nobody wanted me as I was – they wanted the old Pete.”
He goes on to contrast The Who with AC/DC, who “made 50 albums” that “were the same,” whereas he described The Who as an “ideas band.”
Townshend continues, “The Who isn’t [Roger] Daltrey and Townshend onstage at 80, pretending to be young. It’s the four of us in 1964, when we were 18 or 19. If you want to see The Who myth, wait for the avatar show. It would be good!”
Meanwhile, Daltrey himself also recently weighed in on the future of the band. He told The Times in January, “We need to sit down and have a meeting, but at the moment I’m happy saying that part of my life is over.”
He said that Townshend is the one who’ll decide the band’s future, but that he’s happy leaving it where they are. Now an octogenarian, will we see Daltrey and his 78-year-old bandmate on stage together again? Only time will tell.