The Who is one of the legendary bands of the classic rock era.
Nearly 60 years after they burst onto the scene they still have a diehard following.
And The Who’s Pete Townshend confirmed one scary fact about the band’s future.
The Who launched their last North American concert tour in 2022 with The Who Hits Back! Tour.
That was their first tour since before the pandemic in 2019.
Fans of the iconic classic rock band were stunned by the group’s guitarist Pete Townshend’s confession in an interview.
Pete Townshend says a farewell tour is being planned
In March, Townshend said that the plan was planning on wrapping its touring days during an interview with The New York Times.
“It feels to me like there’s one thing The Who can do, and that’s a final tour where we play every territory in the world and then crawl off to die,” Townshend said. “I don’t get much of a buzz from performing with The Who. If I’m really honest, I’ve been touring for the money. My idea of an ordinary lifestyle is pretty elevated.”
The second farewell tour for the iconic band appeared to be forthcoming after his comments.
In 1982, The Who embarked on a farewell tour before members left to focus on solo projects.
But the band came back together in 1989 to launch another tour and have been touring regularly ever since.
Townshend clarifies his remarks on a farewell tour
Townshend appeared on the Sound Up! Podcast where he claimed that he was joking in his interview with The Times.
“I’m not doing a farewell tour,” Townshend said. “I think I was being sarcastic about it.”
He recalled one of the songs on his 1982 solo album All the Best Cowboys Have Chinese Eyes.
“When I was 34, I wrote the song ‘Slit Skirts,’ and I think the line is ‘I’m 34 years old and I’m still wandering in a haze,’” Townshend recounted. “I felt old at 34.”
He was asked about his line from the 1965 song “My Generation” where he sings “I hope I die before I get old.”
“That’s a twist, in a sense. ‘Slit Skirts’ was an honest confession of how I didn’t like what I’d become. When I wrote [‘My Generation’], I was celebrating the fact that I was young — I was 18 and surrounded by old people. Now, everybody seems younger. But in those days, everybody seemed older and they all seemed to be messed up, either miserable or poor or working too hard or complaining about something. The song was about, ‘I’m never gonna be like you if I’m old,’ and I don’t think I am like them. I’m happy and I’m struggling still, and I think I’m operating for the greater good — touch wood!” Townshend recalled.