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Peter Dennis Blandford Townshend ( / ˈtaʊnzənd /; born 19 May 1945) is an English musician. He is the co-founder, guitarist, second lead vocalist and principal songwriter of the Who, one of the most influential rock bands of the 1960s and 1970s. [2] [3] His aggressive playing style and poetic songwriting techniques, with the Who and in other ...
- Rachel Fuller
She is a pop music artist, a composer, and occasional...
- Pete Townshend Discography
6. Live albums. 9. Compilation albums. 4. Singles. 18. The...
- Peter Townsend
Peter Townsend may refer to: . Peter Townsend (cricketer)...
- Emma Townshend
Emma Townshend (born 28 March 1969) is an English writer and...
- Psychoderelict
Psychoderelict is a concept album written, produced and...
- All The Best Cowboys Have Chinese Eyes
All the Best Cowboys Have Chinese Eyes is the third solo...
- Cliff Townshend
Cliff and Betty Townshend's second son, Paul Townshend, was...
- Who Came First
Who Came First is the debut studio album by the English...
- The Who Discography
The Who performed the songs "Fire" and "Dig" from Pete...
- Rough Mix
Rough Mix is an album by the Who's guitarist Pete Townshend...
- Rachel Fuller
Nov 25, 2019 · That decades-long preoccupation, which has resulted in so much thrilling, questing music, resurfaces on “WHO,” his band’s first studio album in 13 years, as well as Townshend’s first novel ...
Learn about the life and career of Pete Townshend, the principal songwriter and driving force of The Who, from his musical family background to his artistic and social influences, his musical achievements and his personal struggles. Find out how he became one of rock's most influential and articulate performers, a pioneer of the internet and a devotee of Meher Baba.
- Overview
- Early life
- The Who
- Solo career
- Personal life and honours
Pete Townshend (born May 19, 1945, Chiswick, London, England) British guitarist and singer-songwriter best known as the lead guitarist and principal songwriter for the British rock band the Who. Townshend’s evocative songwriting has earned him a reputation as an inventive and intellectual rock music composer.
Townshend was the first child of Cliff Townshend, who worked as a professional saxophonist, and Betty (née Dennis) Townshend, who was a singer with the Sidney Torch and Leslie Douglas orchestras. As a youth, he loved reading classic adventure novels, such as Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson. In the summer of 1956 he repeatedly watched the ...
Having added drummer Keith Moon in 1964, the Who released multiple singles between 1965 and 1966, including “I Can’t Explain,” “Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere,” “My Generation,” and “Substitute.” The band continued to attract attention in Britain with its 1967 album The Who Sell Out, a pioneering concept album devised by Townshend that criticized excessive commercialism.
The double album Tommy (1969) rocketed the Who to stardom, effectively originating the concept of the rock opera and bringing the band’s music to a wider audience. The concept album, which centres on a deaf, blind, and non-speaking protagonist named Tommy who undergoes trauma and founds a new religion, explores subjects that Townshend considered topical in the late 1960s, such as drug culture, sexuality, and the ephemeral nature of public attention. Townshend composed most of the songs on Tommy and sang lead vocals on some of the tracks, including “1921” and “The Acid Queen.” The album was the basis for the 1975 film Tommy and the musical stage production The Who’s Tommy, which premiered on Broadway in 1993.
Townshend has been cited as one of the first rock guitarists to intentionally use guitar amplifier feedback in his music. Though his technique was rudimentary in comparison to the feedback-laden styles of guitarists such as Jimi Hendrix, Townshend’s squealing feedback opened new doors for its use in rock. Performative aspects of Townshend’s music also drew attention. When he accidentally smashed his electric guitar at a 1964 concert, the audience’s enthusiastic response compelled him to repeat the stunt often. In 1967 he shattered more than 35 guitars. The iconic and often-imitated practice provided a visual and auditory symbol for the aggressive and rebellious spirit that fueled some of Townshend’s compositions.
The Who’s performance at the Woodstock Music and Art Fair in 1969 launched the band into rock music lore, although Townshend later professed his distaste for the experience. The band continued to achieve success throughout the 1970s, including with the critically acclaimed album Who’s Next (1971), which included the rock anthems “Won’t Get Fooled Again” and “Baba O’Riley,” and the double-album rock opera Quadrophenia (1973), featuring the tracks “The Real Me” and “Love, Reign o’er Me.” Townshend released his first solo album, Who Came First, in 1972, opening with the track “Pure and Easy,” which also appeared on the Who’s 1974 compilation album Odds & Sods. The band continued its run with the albums The Who by Numbers in 1975 and Who Are You in 1978. Moon died of an accidental drug overdose in 1978 and was replaced by drummer Kenney Jones. Although Townshend sought to honour Moon’s memory by remaining in the Who after his death, the band broke up in 1982.
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After the band’s dissolution, Townshend embarked on a solo career in music and other fields. He released several solo albums, including Empty Glass (1980), All the Best Cowboys Have Chinese Eyes (1982), White City: A Novel (1985), Pete Townshend’s Deep End Live! (1986), and The Iron Man: The Musical (1989). He also ventured into the publishing industry, taking a job as an acquisitions editor for the company Faber & Faber in 1983. Townshend released his own writing as well. His published work includes Horse’s Neck (1985), an anthology of short stories; Lifehouse (1999), a screenplay written with dramatist Jeff Young for BBC radio; Who I Am (2012), an autobiography; and The Age of Anxiety (2019), his first novel.
From 2005 to 2007, he cohosted a musical webcast series called In the Attic along with musician Rachel Fuller. In 2012 he announced that he had sold all the rights to his music to the publishing firm Spirit Music Group.
In 1968 he married fashion designer Karen Astley. The couple had three children, and they divorced in 2009. Townshend married Rachel Fuller, his In the Attic collaborator, in 2016. Throughout his career, he has amassed a number of awards and honours. In 1983 he earned a BRIT Award for outstanding contributions to music in recognition of his lifetim...
The Who are an English rock band formed in London in 1964. Their classic lineup (1964–1978) consisted of lead vocalist Roger Daltrey, guitarist Pete Townshend, bassist John Entwistle and drummer Keith Moon. They are considered one of the most influential rock bands of the 20th century.
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Feb 2, 2024 · During the golden age of rock ’n’ roll, Pete Townshend helped define and redefine both the electric and acoustic guitar several times over. As the Who’s guitarist, he pioneered an aggressive, almost punky approach to the guitar in the mid-1960s, at least a decade before punk was a genre.
