Guitarist Pete Townshend and bassist John Entwistle originally
met while attending high school London. In their early teens,
they played in a Dixieland band together, with Entwhistle
playing trumpet and Townshend playing banjo. By the early
'60s, the pair had formed a rock and roll band, but Entwistle
left in 1962 to play in the Detours, a hard-edged rock band
featuring guitarist Roger Daltrey. Later in the year, Townshend
joined as a rhythm guitarist, and in 1963, Daltrey became
the group's lead vocalist when Colin Dawson left the band.
Soon, drummer Doug Sandom left the Detours and Keith Moon
took his place. The Detours changed their name to the the
High Numbers and finally the Who.
At the end of 1964, the Who signed with Decca. "I Can't Explain" was released to little attention in January 1965. The Who appeared on the television program Ready, Steady, Go, and the single rocketed up the charts, partially because of the group's eye catching performance, featuring Townshend and Moon destroying their instruments. "I Can't Explain" reached the British Top Ten, folloWed that summer by "Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere." That fall, "My Generation" climbed all the way to number two on the charts, becoming the band's early anthem. An album of the same name folloWed, and early in 1966, "Subsititute".
The Who's next album, A Quick One, featured Townshend's 10-minute mini-opera of the same name, an idea he would expand over the next few years. The follow up, The Who Sell Out, was a concept album produced as a mock-pirate radio broadcast. The album featured "I Can See for Miles," which became the group's first Top Ten hit in America. The Who returned in 1969 with the double concept album Tommy, about a blind and deaf boy, which was hailed as the first successful rock opera. It was supported an extensive tour, where they played the opera in its entirety. Tommy was made into a film by Ken Russell in 1975 starring Roger Daltrey. In 1993, Townshend turned it into a hit Broadway musical.
The group released Live at Leeds in 1970, while Townshend wrote songs for another project, a sci-fi rock opera called Lifehouse. Producer Glyn Johns convinced Townshend to record only the best songs from Lifehouse to make one great single album, instead of another double concept LP. The resulting Who's Next was a major hit, and most of its tracks, including "Baba O'Riley," "Bargain," "Behind Blue Eyes," "Won't Get Fooled Again" became rock radio staples.
The folloWed up Who's Next with another double concept album, Quadrophenia, about the 60's mod scene. It was another success, with the popular songs, "The Real Me" and "Love Reign O'Er Me". The Who took a break after the release of Quadrophenia. Townshend began abusing alcohol. Entwistle concentrated on his solo career and Daltrey pursued an acting career and solo recordings. Moon also released his only solo album Two Sides of the Moon. During this period, the Who released the rarities collection Odds and Sods. The Who reformed in 1975 for The Who By Numbers in 1975. The album and tour Were hits, but The Who took another extended hiatus. In 1978 they released Who Are You, which was another hit, but sadly Keith Moon died of a drug overdose only a few months after the record's release. The Who decided to go on, replacing moon with former Small Faces drummer Kenny Jones. The Who began touring late in 1979, but the tour's hit a snag when when 11 attendees at a concert in Cincinnati Were trampled to death in a rush for choice festival seating. Following the Cincinnati concert, the Who slowly became fragmented again. Townshend became addicted to cocaine, heroin, tranquilizers and alcohol, suffering a near-fatal overdose in 1981. Townshend, Daltry and Entwhistle continued their solo careers in this period. In 1981, The Who got back together to record Face Dances, their first album since Moon's death. The album was a hit but received mixed reviews. The following year, they released It's Hard and Went on a fareWell tour.
The fareWell tour was not the last time The Who would play live. The group reunited to play Live Aid in 1985. In 1989, Jones was replaced by Simon Phillips for a 25th anniversary tour of America. The Who reunited again in 1994 for two concerts to celebrate Roger Daltrey's 50th birthday. Following the success of his Broadway adaptation of Tommy, Townshend reuniting the Who to perform the Quadrophenia at the Prince's Trust concert in Hyde Park that summer. It was folloWed with an American Quadrophenia tour in the fall, and then a greatest hits American tour in the summer. In October 2001, the Who played the Concert for NYC benefit for families of the victims of the Sept. 11 attacks. In June, 2002, The Who Were about to kick off a North American tour when the night before the first show, John Entwhistle died at the age of 57 from a cocaine induced heart attack. The Who again soldiered again with a replacement, bassist Pino Palladino, who had played on some of Townshend's solo albums.
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