In the early 1960s, John Entwistle and Pete Townshend were performing in a jazz band in England.  Roger Daltrey met Entwistle and learned that he played bass guitar; Daltrey asked him to join his band, The Detours.  Entwistle suggested Townshend as another potential band member.

The Who

But what was interesting about what the Who did is that we took things which were happening in the pop genre and represent them to people so that they see them in a new way.

The Early Years

In the early 1960s, John Entwistle and Pete Townshend were performing in a jazz band in England.  Roger Daltrey met Entwistle and learned that he played bass guitar; Daltrey asked him to join his band, The Detours.  Entwistle suggested Townshend as another potential band member.  They performed at local clubs and bars.  In 1965, The Detours' drummer left the band and was replaced by Keitn Moon.  The band, at that time, changed their name to The Who.

With Townshend taking the lead in songwriting, The Who was prepared to launch their career.  They released their first album, My Generation, in 1965.  While band members later dismissed the album as a rushed release that did not appropriately represent their abilities; however, the album would later be touted as one of the best albums of all time.

Growing a Name for Themselves

Two more albums in 1966 and 1967 produced moderate sales, but with the help of their dynamic stage presence and penchant for destroying instruments, they were attracting attention and gaining fans.  In 1968, The Who created a rock opera, entitled Tommy.  They made the album into a movie in 1975, with Roger Daltrey playing the title role.  

Tommy was followed by a series of successful albums; through 1981, they released five albums, all of which certified platinum or greater.  In 1978, their drummer, Keith Moon, died from an overdose of a drug used to combat alcohol withdrawal.  The Who replaced him with drummer Kenney Jones.  In 1982, they launched their farewell tour, planning to continue only as a studio band.  

Here and Now

In 1990, The Who was inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame.  Through the 1990s, the members of The Who went their separate ways.  The three living members all performed at Roger Daltrey's 50^th birthday party and Carnegie Hall, but did not perform together until the finale when all of the artists in attendance performed together.

In 1999, VH1 named The Who #8 in the 100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock.  The band had returned to touring together, primarily for charity concerts.  In 2002, John Entwistle died of heart failure.  Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey came together to discuss returning to the recording studio.  In 2006, they released Endless Wire, which certified gold.  In 2010, they performed at Superbowl XLIIII.

Did you know . . .

1. In 1979, in Cincinnati, Ohio, eleven people were killed and many were injured in a crush to get into The Who's concert.  The hall was offering festival seating, which caused a panic to get into the building.

2. During their 1973 Quadrophenia concert, Keith Moon took fifteen horse tranquilizers before a show and passed out cold in the middle of the concert. A teenaged drummer from the crowd came up and finished the set with the band.

3. The Who has sold 100 million albums; they have had twenty-seven Top 40 singles and seventeen Top 10 albums.

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