Roger Daltrey talks about new tour and future of The Who

As Roger Daltrey hits the road on a short solo tour this June, he’s unsure if fans will ever see another tour from The Who. “I don’t see it. I don’t know whether The Who’ll ever will go out again,” he told The Associated Press over Zoom. The 80-year-old rocker has a “use-it-or-lose it-mentality” when it comes to his singing voice, so he finds it necessary to perform as much as possible, with or without The Who. Recently, Daltry spoke on the future of the band, his solo tour and his feelings on the Broadway revival of The Who’s seminal rock opera, “Tommy.”

What do you think of the “Tommy” Broadway revival?

I’m glad the album is still out there; it means a lot to me. It’s the best opera ever written. I don’t particularly like it (the musical). It’s been altered and changed. I can’t imagine cutting some of the music in “Madame Butterfly,” or some other great operas.

So, you think of it as a straight-up opera, as opposed to a rock opera?

It’s a fabulous opera. It was tongue and cheek at the time that we called it an opera. We did take a lot of chances with it. But since living with it and playing it on stage, and having seen lots of grand opera, I saw I had one in my hands. So, I’ve come to conclusion that it’s the best opera ever written.Tell us about the tour.

I’m bringing a band over from the UK of eight people, a very different sounding band with different instrumentation. No synthesizers. It’s just about having a lot of fun playing different songs, and obviously some Who classics. But we do them different. So it’s just something I love to do. And people seem to like it when I take it out there. So, I’m just going to put my toe in the water.

So you’ll play solo material and The Who stuff?

Having a band like this gives me an opportunity to do a lot of things that I’ve done over the years with different artists, like the stuff I did with Wilko Johnson 10 years ago. I will do some solo stuff, plus some covers of other people that I really admire to make a night of entertainment and fun. So many people are retiring. All the good old boys are retiring and it’s very thin out there.

Is getting out there in front of an audience what keeps your voice intact?

That’s always been the impetus for me ever since I had my voice problems out. You’ve got to keep using it. Just like anything else in the body. You stop walking, you lose the muscles in your legs. The voice is a similar thing. If you stop using those muscles in the voice box and the vocal cords, they’ll go soft on you and you’ll lose your voice. Mine is remarkable for my age.

What’s the difference being touring with The Who and hitting the road solo?

It’s a lot less weight on my shoulders by myself. The Who feels like, I don’t know, heavier. It’s always much more relaxed and solo shows.

Mick Jagger is on the road with the Rolling Stones at 80 years old. Will The Who ever tour again?

I don’t see it. I don’t, I don’t know whether The Who will ever will go out again. I don’t know. I don’t think like that. If we’ve got something to do, something which was progressive and interesting and there was a reason to do it, then we would go out. But at the moment I can’t see it.

Associated Press