Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend have opened up about if The Who may play more live shows after their farewell tour comes to an end.
The band are currently in the US, embarking on their farewell,‘The Song Is Over’ tour. For the stint, the rock icons have 16 shows lined-up in the schedule, and the name of the tour comes as a nod to their song of the same name, released back in 1971.
While frontman Roger Daltrey and guitarist Pete Townshend have said that these shows will mark their last tour as The Who, there has been some doubt about if it really will mark the final ever shows from the band, as they have played numerous “farewell tours’ over the years.
When asked by The New York Times if these 2025 US dates actually do mark the end – especially given as their first farewell tour was back in 1982 – Townshend joked: “Are you suggesting we’re swindling the public? The fact is, we are willing to swindle them. That’s what we’ve done our entire life. Why stop?
“It’s in Roger’s hands. If we don’t extend, would we be in breach of contract? Would we be in swindle-land if we came back and played all those important venues we’ve left off the list, like Duluth,” he added, before saying why he would be fine if these were indeed the last shows.
“I’m 80, I don’t like being away from my family, my studios, my dogs and my friends. I’m not looking to spend the next five years of my life waiting to drop dead on the stage… The end of the tour could give Roger and I permission never to call each other again. I hope that doesn’t happen.”
Daltrey continued, saying that there will likely be some upcoming shows on the way, but maybe not as a full tour. “We’re not giving up as a band. We might do a couple of residencies. Hopefully, Pete and I won’t stop making music.”
The comments also follow on from Townshend recently saying that he is already planning to embark on some solo shows once the ‘Song Is Over tour’ wraps up, but hopeful that the band will continue to come together “charity and possibly for special projects”.
Before then though, he opened up about the strain of being on the road for extensive touring schedules and said that he was mentally done with the idea as “I don’t love performing. I don’t like being on a stage… it doesn’t fill my soul.”
The comments would prompt a response from Daltrey, who said: “If Pete doesn’t want to tour, I don’t want to be back with The Who on the road, at 81, with someone who doesn’t want [to] be there… if that’s what he’s saying.”
Daltrey also opened up about his health issues putting a dampener on hopes of a return, and said that he was “nervous” about making it to the end of current tour, as he has “the potential to get really ill”.
At his shows at Royal Albert Hall over the Spring, held for the Teenage Cancer Trust, he also spoke briefly of vision impairments, saying: “The problem with this job is that you go deaf… And now I’ve been told that I am going blind.”
Before then, Townshend spoke to NME about the possibility of more new music from The Who, following on from 2019’s ‘Who’. “I don’t think there is. If there was a need or a place for a Who album, could I write the songs for it within six weeks? Of course I fucking could, it’s a piece of cake. The problem is, I don’t think Roger wants to do it again.”
