The Who

Acton to Maximum R&B

Roger Daltrey, Pete Townshend and John Entwistle grew up in Acton, west London, and went to Acton County Grammar School. Daltrey founded a band called the Detours in 1959. In 1964 it became the High Numbers under the manager Peter Meaden, then went back to the name Daltrey had chosen in February of that year: the Who. Keith Moon, who had replaced Doug Sandom, completed the line-up.

Their first hit, I Can't Explain, came out in Britain in January 1965 and peaked at number eight that April, with Shel Talmy producing and Jimmy Page playing on the B-side. Townshend called it straightforward Kinks copying. A dispute with Talmy sent the band to Robert Stigwood's Reaction label. My Generation, released on 29 October 1965, went to number two in Britain, still their highest British chart placing. The debut album, My Generation, followed in December, made fast and later judged by the band to miss their live sound.

Pop art, then opera

Singles such as Substitute, which reached number five in March 1966, I'm a Boy and Happy Jack filled the year, and A Quick One closed with a nine-minute mini-opera. In 1967 they played the Monterey Pop Festival and appeared on the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, where Moon's bass drum exploded at the end of My Generation. I Can See for Miles became their biggest American hit, and The Who Sell Out wrapped the songs in fake radio commercials and jingles.

Tommy, released in May 1969, told the story of a deaf, dumb and blind boy who becomes a pinball champion. It reached number two in Britain and number four in the United States, and produced Pinball Wizard. The band played it at Woodstock and the Isle of Wight, and in 1970 became the first rock act at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York. Live at Leeds, taped on 14 February 1970, is the one live album by the classic line-up.

Lifehouse and Quadrophenia

Townshend's next big idea, Lifehouse, was abandoned, but eight of the nine songs on Who's Next came from it. After unsatisfactory sessions in New York, they re-recorded with Glyn Johns in London. It is the only Who album to reach number one in Britain, and it holds Baba O'Riley, Behind Blue Eyes and Won't Get Fooled Again.

Quadrophenia, a double album from October 1973, reached number two on both sides of the Atlantic, closing with Love, Reign o'er Me. Bill Curbishley took over management from Kit Lambert and Chris Stamp. The Tommy film premiered in 1975, and Townshend was nominated for an Oscar for the score. The band set a record for the largest indoor concert at the Pontiac Silverdome that December, and a show at Charlton on 31 May 1976 made the Guinness book as the loudest concert.

After Moon

Moon played his last public gig with the band at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto on 21 October 1976. Who Are You came out on 18 August 1978, and Moon died on 7 September. Kenney Jones, formerly of the Small Faces, took over the drums and the band made Face Dances and It's Hard before splitting in 1983. They played Live Aid in 1985 and were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990 by U2.

Zak Starkey joined the drum stool for the 1996 Quadrophenia tour. Entwistle died in Las Vegas on 27 June 2002, the day before the band's first American date of a tour. Daltrey and Townshend carried on, releasing Endless Wire in 2006, receiving the Kennedy Center Honors in 2008, playing the Super Bowl halftime show in 2010 and releasing Who in 2019. In 2025 they toured North America under the title The Song Is Over, billed as their last.

The band is cited as an influence on hard rock, punk, power pop and mod bands. It is credited with pioneering feedback and power-chord technique, the rock opera format and the smashing of equipment on stage, and with helping to develop the Marshall stack and large PA systems. Its use of synthesizers on Baba O'Riley and Won't Get Fooled Again was early for rock. Introducing them at the Hall of Fame, U2 called them the window-breaking, earth-quaking, soul-shaking Who.