Pete Townshend (b. 1945)

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Biography

Peter Dennis Blandford Townshend is an English musician. He is the co-founder, guitarist, keyboardist, second lead vocalist, principal songwriter and de facto leader of the Who, one of the most influential rock bands of the 1960s and 1970s. His aggressive playing style, poetic songwriting techniques and authorship of two rock operas with the Who, as well as other projects, have earned him critical acclaim.

Timeline

The story of Pete Townshend, told in moments.

1964 Event

Co-founded the Who with Roger Daltrey, John Entwistle, and Keith Moon. His violent guitar-smashing stage act started by accident when he broke a guitar on a low ceiling.

Was smashing that first guitar really an accident? How did the Who's violence become art? What made Keith Moon the right drummer for your chaos?

1969 Event

Released Tommy, the first major rock opera. Townshend wrote the entire thing. It told the story of a deaf, dumb, and blind boy who becomes a pinball champion.

Where did the idea for a deaf, dumb, and blind pinball champion come from? Did you know Tommy would change rock? Was writing a rock opera pretentious or necessary?

1971 Event

Wrote "Baba O'Riley" and "Won't Get Fooled Again" for the album Who's Next. Both used synthesizers in ways no rock band had tried.

How did you know synthesizers belonged in rock? Did 'Baba O'Riley' feel revolutionary when you wrote it? What was the message behind 'Won't Get Fooled Again'?

1973 Event

Released Quadrophenia, a double rock opera about a mod named Jimmy and his identity crisis in 1960s Brighton. It became a film in 1979.

Was Jimmy in Quadrophenia autobiographical? How much of your own identity crisis went into that record? Why did 1960s Brighton resonate so deeply?