Legendary classic rock guitarist says band will ‘certainly’ tour in 2025

The Who isn’t currently scheduled to perform live anywhere. But its co-founder and lead guitarist Pete Townshend thinks it’s just a matter of time before they hit the road again.

During an interview on the Jim Kerr Rock and Roll Morning Show for Q104.3 FM in New York City, Townshend said that while there’s still a lot of planning to do, he and lead singer Roger Daltrey hope to work out the details of a tour sometime later this year.
“We certainly will [tour], I don’t know when,” Townshend said. “Maybe later this year in ‘24, maybe early ‘25, but we will definitely be back.”

Townsend had reportedly turned down the opportunity to tour with The Who this year, but he said that was only because he was busy with other commitments, including a Broadway revival of the musical “Tommy.”

“Roger is out doing a few shows at the moment,” Townshend said. “We were offered a tour as a final tour by Live Nation in August and I turned it down. But I didn’t turn it down because they wanted it to be marked up as a ‘final tour.’ I turned it down because I’m involved in Tommy, I have some other projects that I’m working on, and my year is really busy so I turned it down. But there will be a tour soon, without question.”

Townshend added that he and Daltrey have different attitudes to performing live, as he personally tends to be more ambivalent about it.
“My feeling about performing is very different to [Roger’s], but very different to pretty much everybody that I know,” the “Empty Glass” songwriter admitted. “I don’t get much out of it. I don’t enjoy it that much. I’m not a natural-born performer, but when I look at myself on the stage after I’ve got an adrenaline rush, I have always managed to pull off some amazing stuff. But it’s never really fulfilled me in the same way that sitting in a studio does and writing a song, writing music or even writing words, lyrics.
“For me, there’s no drive to perform, no anxiety to get in front of an audience and be validated,” he continued. “I get that from people responding to my work as a writer and a composer and a recording artist. Some people just love being in front of an audience, and Roger is one of those people. He comes alive, you know. … He fronts the band in the most incredible way. I’m a little bit blasé.”