.

Pete Townshend is on tour again. For the first time since the start of the pandemic, the guitarist is once again hitting the road for a 17-date run across North America with Roger Daltrey. At age 80, touring as The Who is more bittersweet than ever. On the one hand, the group is grateful to have live performance opportunities, but as for what’s next for the band, both men are keeping their cards close to their chests.

“It can be lonely,” Townshend said recently. “I’ve thought, ‘Well, this is my job, I’m happy to have the work, but I prefer to be doing something else.’ Then, I think, ‘Well, I’m 80 years old. Why shouldn’t I revel in it? Why shouldn’t I celebrate?’”

Touring can be lonely for Townshend, but he also feels lucky to have work. The Who formed in the 1960s, so now, decades after their arrival, the group is not what it used to be. In fact, as Townshend explained to Rolling Stone, “It’s a brand rather than a band.” Because of their history and what the band means to music fans worldwide, he and Daltrey have “a duty to the music and the history” of The Who.

There’s also money at stake, in a way. The Who still sells records, and the families of late bandmates Moon and Entwistle have made millions from royalties. “We’re celebrating,” he concluded. “We’re a Who tribute band.”

Of course, a “tribute band” to the Who would not have Townshend and Daltrey as its drum and bass players. As his bandmate is all too aware, working up material and continuing to hit the stage night after night prompts its own existential questions. “It does whet an appetite to think about how we should bow out in our personal lives — what we do with our families and our friends and everything else at this age,” Townshend added. “We’re lucky to be alive. I’m looking forward to playing. Roger likes to throw wild cards out sometimes in the set, and we have learned and rehearsed a few songs that we don’t always play.”

So even after a half-century as one of the world’s most popular rock bands, The Who’s live shows still feel special to Townshend. In particular, there is always something novel about playing songs the group hasn’t rehearsed for years.

Roger Daltrey Reflects on Health, Touring, and the Future

Roger Daltrey has just as much love for and weariness with the road as his bandmate. In fact, Townshend was in the London audience for The Who’s June performance at the Teenage Cancer Trust charity concert when Daltrey broke down his health issues and current life to the crowd. “Fortunately, I still have my voice, because then I’ll have a full Tommy,” he said, referring to the title character of The Who’s 1969 rock opera. “Deaf, dumb and blind kid,” he sang, borrowing a lyric from the same song.

As he told The Times earlier this month, Daltrey has more to say about his health and what may or may not be next for The Who. The remarks, for long-time fans, seemed to signal a definitive end to the group as it has been known. “This is certainly the last time you will see us on tour,” he said. “It’s grueling.”

In particular, when he was in his 20s and 30s, Daltrey would frequently perform six nights a week, singing the band’s repertoire for three hours a night. “I was working harder than most footballers,” he recalled of his touring schedule. At 80, those kinds of demands are much harder to manage.

As for whether The Who will return for solo concerts when all of this is over, Daltrey was less definitive. “As to whether we’ll play [one-off] concerts again, I don’t know. The Who to me is very perplexing,” he admitted.

Still, fans can rest easy about one thing: Daltrey’s voice is still as good as ever, he says. That is one question the frontman has no concerns about, 80 years young or not.

Townshend and Daltrey aren’t hiding from the fact that this tour across North America may well be the last. For the band, there is a sense of satisfaction in returning to the stage in such a big way, but the performances also serve as reminders of everything the band has been through. We are lucky to be alive, Townshend concluded in his own interview. Lucky to have had the music, the families, and the friendships that they have had while creating it.