Roger Daltrey maintains that his and Who co-founder Pete Townshend's relationship is centered around the band and nothing more. In a new chat with Record Collector, Daltrey revealed, “Me and Pete don’t socialize at all. It’s a working relationship. We’re two different people, very much so. And may it remain that way.”
Despite the lack of connection apart from the group, the two bandmates — who met in middle school — have recently scored their first U.S. chart-topper with their latest concert collection, The Who Live With Orchestra At Wembley Stadium, which hit Number One on the Billboard Classical Album Chart.
Daltrey knew that upon hearing the raw tapes that the London concert needed to see an official release: “I listened back to the live recording and thought we should put this out there. Pete’s guitar tech, Alan Rogan, had just died the previous day, so it was a very traumatic time again for us. And the whole day just had an atmosphere about it. Mostly what I remember is that the audience were fantastic. We hadn’t played Wembley since 1979 and we were absolutely gobsmacked to have sold it out. It was the only show we played with the orchestra in the UK, and they were great.”
He went on to say, “I think the live recording is a memory of a particular pre-pandemic time in 2019, because we were due to bring that tour to the UK in 2020, but it was cancelled. I’m proud of that show. And you have to listen to it on vinyl, of course. Digital just won’t do it for you!”
Pete Townshend told us that his relationship with Roger Daltrey has finally bloomed into the partnership that eluded them during the Who's most turbulent periods: “I think Roger has grown in a whole number of different ways and one of the ways that he's grown is, in a sense, in learning to conduct a power struggle within a band. Because it's just he and I. It's not four people, he's not in a corner fighting to express himself — it's just him and me now. So, if he and I sit down to talk, if we sit to discuss music or projects, or albums, or songs that we might do, it's much more equal than it ever has been in the past. And I think for the both of us that means a complete reappraisal of the way that we work together.”
The Who kicks off its European tour on June 14th in Barcelona, Spain.
