Pete Townshend has done an about face and says he was “being sarcastic” when he recently told The New York Times that the only thing left for The Who to do is "a final tour where we play every territory in the world and then crawl off to die.”
He now tells the Sound Up! podcast that they are "not doing a farewell tour... I think I was being sarcastic about it.”
Of course, the reality of the situation is that any tour, especially for acts as old as The Who -- Roger Daltrey is 80 and Townshend turns 79 on May 19th -- could be their farewell tour.
And, going back to that New York Times interview, Townshend also 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.”
It's that type of negative talk that Roger Daltrey tells us drives him crazy.
The Who finished their first farewell tour in 1982 and then came back in 1989 with Daltrey saying, "Pete changed his mind. It’s our 25th anniversary. We’re going to celebrate the fact that we’re still here.”
The Who did two shows last month as part of the annual run of week-long shows in support of Teenage Cancer Trust at London's Royal Albert Hall.
While The Who have no tour plans set for this year, Daltrey will play 11 U.S. dates with his band in June starting on the 10th in Glenside, Pennsylvania outside Philadelphia. No Texas-area dates announced so far.
In other Who news, here's a recent post from Roger Daltrey's Official Instagram about his own solo dates coming up.