The Who have announced that their touring days are over and that they will bow out with a final set of gigs to mark their 50th anniversary in 2015.
The legendary rockers, whose first album My Generation was released in 1965, have sold more than 100 million records and kept touring despite the death of founding members Keith Moon and John Entwistle. Singer Roger Daltrey, 69, and guitarist Pete Townshend, 68, were last night in Hammersmith for the screening of Sensation — The Story Of The Who’s Tommy, a documentary on the making of their 1969 rock opera.
Townshend said: “For the 50th anniversary we’ll tour the world. It’ll be the last big one for us. There are still plenty of places we’ve not played. It would be good to go to eastern Europe and places that haven’t heard us play all the old hits.”
Both stars have had to deal with debilitating illnesses. Townshend suffered from the hearing condition tinnitus and Daltrey needed regular throat checks after having a pre-cancerous growth removed in 2010.
A source close to the band said the pair now plan to work on solo projects.
Daltrey’s will be his first in more than 20 years. The singer this year hinted that The Who were considering marking their anniversary after witnessing how well the Rolling Stones’ half-century concerts in London and the US were received.
A special-edition box set of Tommy is out on November 11.
