Roger Daltrey has said that The Who “were the first heavy metal band”, claiming that they paved the way for the genre in the ‘60s.
The rock icon made the comments during a new interview with Rolling Stone, saying that they demonstrated multiple sounds, live performance tricks and more that would go on to be synonymous with heavy metal.
“We were just different than everybody else,” the frontman said, saying that while Americans generally “don’t really know The Who from the early ’60s”, if they were to look back, they’d see that their style back then had elements reminiscent of what would later be considered metal.
“As the drummer of Deep Purple [Ian Paice] said recently: ‘The Who started it all.’ We were the first heavy metal band,” Daltrey said.
“Jim Marshall invented the 4×12 [speaker cabinet], 100-watt stack for [Who guitarist] Pete Townshend… All the guitar smashing that Jimi Hendrix became famous for, in his style, was basically copied from Pete Townshend,” he continued.
“And the first rock opera, of course, we elevated rock to be maybe up its own ass in a way, you could say it,” he added. “We were doing it before anyone, but it’s not important in the long run.”
This isn’t the first time that a member of The Who has shared that they pioneered heavy metal, either. Back in 2019, Pete Townshend claimed that the iconic rockers paved the way for the genre specifically on their acclaimed 1970 ‘Live At Leeds’ album.
Speaking to the Toronto Sun at the time, the legendary guitarist said that they were the earliest champions of the riff-heavy genre, and that Led Zeppelin copied their sound.
“We were copied by so many bands, principally by Led Zeppelin — you know, heavy drums, heavy bass, heavy lead guitar and some of those bands, like Jimi Hendrix for example, did it far better than we did,” he said. “Cream, with Eric Clapton and Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker, they came along in ’67, same year as Jimi Hendrix, and they kind of stole our mantle in a sense.”
“So people who want to hear that old heavy metal sound, there are plenty of bands that can provide it,” he added. “So it’s not really what we can actually do today. Even if we wanted to, it was never high on my list of wishes.”
The latest comments from Daltrey come on the heels of the frontman announcing a solo tour.
Those shows will take place across the US later this year, and see him play a range of material from his extensive back catalogue. Visit here for tickets.
The Who played their final-ever live shows last year, however, earlier this year Townshend hinted that there could be more to come from the band.
“We are always trying to come up with SOMETHING special, and God Willing will continue to do that, hoping one day we can astound you the way we used to,” the guitarist said.
It isn’t clear what exactly the band may have planned, although the hopes of more Who news has been circulating since Townshend told fans at the final show of the farewell tour that he was “sure we’ll get up to all kinds of mischief” and continue to “do stuff together”.
