Pete Townshend Admits He and Who Bandmate Roger Daltrey ‘Don’t Communicate Very Well’

Pete Townshend is getting candid about the dynamics between him and Roger Daltrey.

In an interview with AARP the Magazine published on Friday, Aug. 15, The Who guitarist and songwriter spoke about what their relationship is like after being in the same band together for over 50 years. The Who embarked on their The Song Is Over tour on Saturday, Aug. 16.

When asked about his “love/hate relationship” with 81-year-old Daltrey, Townshend, 80, said, “We don’t communicate very well. He and I are very different and we have different needs as performers.”

“He got upset because he felt I had sometimes given the impression of having left the building. Roger complained about the fact that he is deaf. He’s a singer, and he has to be 100 percent fit in order to do his job.”

During a concert at London’s Royal Albert Hall in March, Daltrey quipped about the “joys of getting old.” “I also now have got the joy of going blind,” he said at the time. “Fortunately, I still have my voice, because then I’ll have a full Tommy,” referring to the fictitious Tommy Walker of their 1969 rock opera Tommy.

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Elsewhere in his interview, Townshend spoke about continuing The Who after drummer Keith Moon and bassist John Entwistle died in 1978 and 2002, respectively. “It’s a brand rather than a band,” Townshend began. “Roger and I have a duty to the music and the history.”

“The Who [still] sells records — the Moon and Entwistle families have become millionaires. There’s also something more, really: the art, the creative work is when we perform it. We’re celebrating. We’re a Who tribute band.”

“But apart from that, it does whet an appetite to think about how we should bow out in our personal lives — what we do with our families and our friends and everything else at this age,” the bassist continued.

“We’re lucky to be alive. I’m looking forward to playing, Roger likes to throw wild cards out sometimes in the set, and we have learned and rehearsed a few songs that we don’t always play.”

The Who, known for hit songs “Pinball Wizard,” “Baba O’Riley,” “Won’t Get Fooled Again” and “Who Are You” embarked on their North America tour called The Song Is Over on Aug. 16 in Sunrise, Fla.

They will make stops in Philadelphia, Boston, New York, Chicago, Toronto and Seattle, among other cities. The rock band wraps up their trek in Las Vegas at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on Sunday, Sept. 28.

“This tour will be about fond memories, love and laughter,” Townshend said when announcing the tour in May. “Make sure you join in.”