Page updated Jan. 1, 2025
January 2019
New music releases: "7 Rings" - Ariana Grande; "Middle Child" - J. Cole; "Going Bad" - Meek Mill featuring Drake; "A Lot" - 21 Savage featuring J. Cole
On the 11th, Rolling Stone prints a new interview with Pete. Pete reveals that when he was told of a lucrative offer from Live Nation for a 2019 Who tour, he said he would accept under one condition: "I said I was not going to sign any contracts unless we have new material. This has nothing to do with wanting a hit album. It has nothing to do with the fact that the Who need a new album. It’s purely personal. It’s about my pride, my sense of self-worth and self-dignity as a writer." Pete adds that he had some difficulty getting Roger to agree to recording his new songs: "I had to bully him to respond and then it wasn’t the response I wanted. He just blathered for a while and in the end, I really stamped my foot and said, ‘Roger, I don’t care if you really like this stuff. You have to sing it. You’ll like it in 10 years' time.’"
On the same day, Pete jumps online to declare "A New Who Year Ahead". In addition to the new tour and album, Pete loads praise on many new artists including Thundercat, Sia, and Kendrick Lamar.
February 2019
New Music Releases: "Pop Out" - Polo G featuring Lil Tjay; "Talk" - Khalid; "Close Friends" - Lil Baby; "Robbery" - Juice Wrld
On the 1st, the Florida steampunk band The Cog Is Dead release a cover of "Boris the Spider".
On the 2nd, as the recording of the new album WHO begins, Pete begins posting words and videos on Instagram under the handle @yaggerdang. On the 4th, he comments on reports that "most people only listen to the first two to five seconds of a track online before they move on." He jokes that he plans to start every track with the guitar intro from "Pinball Wizard".
On the 5th, Pete says they are working on a third track for the album and he has already recorded "Detour". As a side note, he declares #MeToo as "one of the most exciting things to happen in our business for years."
On the 6th, Pete reports that Zak Starkey and Pino Pallodino had been in the studio, laying bass and drum on the song "Beads on One String." By the 9th, he notes that drum and bass overdubs have been completed on seven tracks.
On the 14th, Roger sails off on the Rock Legends Cruise along with Kansas, Buddy Guy, Dave Davies, Foghat, The Outlaws, Nazareth, and Canned Heat. His voyage ends on the 18th.
On the 27th, Pete checks back in, saying that Roger is recording vocals for the new album in a studio near his Sussex home.
Also on the 27th, The Who loses their original drummer with the death of Doug Sandom. Pete pens memories of Doug the next day, praising him for his kindness when Pete was young and regetting the clumsiness with which he removed Doug from the band in 1964.
March 2019
New Music Releases: "bad guy" - Billie Eilish; "Sucker" - Jonas Brothers; When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? - Billie Eilish; "Location" - Dave featuring Burna Boy
Over three days during the first weekend of the month, Pete produces seven tracks with The Bookshop Band at his home studio.
On the 5th, Coronet announces that it has purchased the rights to Pete's new novel The Age of Anxiety and plans to publish it that November. Pete says it is part of a "magnum opus that would combine opera, art installation, and novel.". Publisher Mark Booth calls it "a great rock novel, but that is one of the less important things about it. The narrator is a brilliant creation – cultured, witty and unreliable."
Also on the 5th, Pete begins a second set of sessions for the WHO album at Metropolis Studios in London. Pete reports that Roger is currently recording his vocals when he can find time from coördinating the upcoming set of Teenage Cancer Trust concerts. Pete says they must get the album fully prepared to submit by May to have the release come out by the end of the year.
On the 7th, Roger is the subject of a keynote interview at the International Live Music Conference at the Royal Garden Hotel in Kensington. He goes into detail about the break between The Who and their 1960s managers Kit Lambert and Chris Stamp: "In 1971, after touring for a whole year, we came back to the great news that our debt, instead of being £1.3 million, had gone down to £650,000... In the end they ended up with nothing, and we lost two creative people that could have been part of our team. They were the best creative managers any band could ask for, but they were crooked."
On the 8th, Pete posts video of him working in the studio on the songs "Hero Ground Zero" and the bonus track "This Gun Will Misfire".
On the 13th, Pete and Roger hold a half-day press conference at an empty Wembley Stadium. It is meant to promote The Who's forthcoming "Movin' On" tour but the publicity derails after a reporter begins questioning Roger about his support for Brexit and the effect it might have on British artists' ability to perform in Europe. Roger answers back strongly as Pete, who is on the opposite side of the Brexit issue, steps away. The video becomes one of the most reposted items on social media for the next few years as Britain's battle over Brexit continues.
April 2019
New Music Releases: "Old Town Road (Billy Ray Cyrus Remix)" - Lil Nas X; "Inmortal" - Aventura; "Star Shopping" - Lil Peep; "Suge" - DaBaby
On the 10th, the press reports that Roger has won a battle to build a four-bedroom home on his trout farm. Neighbors had raised objections about a lack of privacy as the home would overlook their own.
On the 30th, Pete and Roger are interviewed by Mark Goodman for a SiriusXM Town Hall. It is held at the G Star School of the Arts in Palm Springs, Florida where the two have been rehearsing for their upcoming Who orchestral tour.
May 2019
New Music Releases: "Dance Monkey" - Tones and I; "Ransom" - Lil Tecca; "I Don't Care" - Ed Sheeran and Justin Bieber; "Before You Go" - Lewis Capaldi
On the 7th, The Who begin their "Movin' On!" tour in Grand Rapids, Michigan's Van Andel Arena. As with the other dates on this tour The Who perform part of the beginning and end of the show with a pick-up orchestra and violinist Katie Jacoby who comes out to play the ending of "Baba O'Riley." Orchestrations are written by David Campbell, father of musician Beck.
Subsequent dates are the KeyBank Center in Buffalo, New York (9th), Jiff Lube Live in Bristow, Virginia (11th), Madison Square Garden, New York (13th), Bridgestone Arena in Nashville (16th), Ruoff Home Mortgage Music Center in Noblesville, Indiana (18th), Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre in Chicago (21st), Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre St. Louis in Maryland Heights, Missouri (23rd), Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia (25th), Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, Michigan (28th), and PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh (30th).
On the 19th, Chris Charlesworth and Mike McInnerney's book Tommy at 50 is published.
June 2019
New Music Releases: "No Guidance" - Chris Brown featuring Drake; "Señorita" - Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello; "Panini" - Lil Nas X; "Money in the Grave" - Drake featuring Rick Ross
The first leg of The Who's "Movin' On" North American tour was supposed to finish at Toronto's Scotiabank Arena on the 1st, but the Raptors were in the playoffs so maybe later, eh.
On the 6th, Dr. Martens footwear gets around to saying thank you to Pete promotion of their brand in the 60s and 70s by putting out a line of boots, shoes and socks saluting The Who with roundel emblems.
On the 14th, Roger has a live album out from his 2018 performances of Tommy with orchestral accompaniment, The Who's Tommy Orchestral. It will hit #1 on Billboard's Classical Music chart.
On the 17th, Roger is interviewed in inews.co.uk. He says he has rejected one song Pete supplied for the new Who album. “I don’t like Pete’s lyric for it. It upset me so I’m hoping he can just get it right.”
On the 26th, the British rock band The Wild Things tweets "We’ve been in the studio all week making some casual sounds with rock legend Pete Townshend. How’s your Wednesday going?"
July 2019
New music releases: "I Hope" - Gabby Barrett; "Swervin" - A Boogie wit da Hoodie featuring 6ix9ine; "July" - Noah Cyrus; "Chasin' You" - Morgan Wallen
On the 1st, The Who's Tommy Orchestral enters and peaks on Billboard's Classical Music chart at #1.
On the 2nd, The Who's complete set from Woodstock (minus "Heaven and Hell") finally gets an official release along with many of the other Woodstock acts. However, it is only available as streaming music on Spotify and YouTube.
On the 5th, the album Stranger Things: Music from the Netflix Original Series, Season 3 starting with "Baba O'Riley" remixed by Confidential Music, a Los Angeles-based duo that makes music for movie trailers.
On the 6th, The Who play at Wembley Stadium with Eddie Vedder and the Kaiser Chiefs opening. In addition to hits, The Who premiere the live versions of "Hero Ground Zero" and "Ball and Chain" from their forthcoming album WHO. The latter is a renamed version of the song "Guantanamo" Pete released as a solo track in May. The concert is released commercially in 2023.
Earlier on the 6th, Roger is interviewed on radio and picks Robert Plant as his "Rock God."
On the 15th, The Who are on the cover of Uncut magazine with interviews inside with Pete and Roger.
On the 24th, Elton John holds a celebrity-packed gala in Cap D'Antibes, France that raises $6million to fight HIV/AIDS in Kenya. Pete is one of the celebrities hanging out with Chris Martin, Joan Collins, and Taron Egerton.
On the 27th, The Биты (The Baseball Bats) release the song "Другой" that is actually "The Kids Are Alright" with Ukrainian lyrics.
August 2019
New music releases: "Circles" - Post Malone; "Ballin'" - Mustard and Roddy Ricch; "Heartless" - Thomas Wesley featuring Morgan Wallen; "F.N" - Lil Tjay
On the 7th, Roger is interviewed about Woodstock in The New York Times. He recalls the endless waiting and how "the worst side of our natures came out."
Pete is interviewed on Playbill's TV program On Stage Across America about the return of The Who's Tommy to Broadway.
On the 19th, violinist Daisy Jopling releases her cover of "Baba O'Riley" on YouTube from her forthcoming album Who's Who.
On the 25th, Roger performs "Who Are You" with The Feeling at the conclusion of the three-day CarFest South at Laverstoke Park in Overton, Hampshire.
Also on the 25th, Brighton holds celebrations for the 40th anniversary of the movie Quadrophenia including a showing with Q&A by stars Gary Shail and Leslie Ash. The cast also receives a spot on the Brighton Walk of Fame on the pier.
September 2019
New music releases: "Memories" - Maroon 5; Hollywood's Bleeding - Post Malone; "Even Though I'm Leaving" - Luke Combs; "Slide" - H.E.R. featuring YG
On the 1st, The Who open the second leg of their "Movin' On" tour of North America at Madison Square Garden. The other dates this month are the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto (3rd), the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul (6th), the Alpine Valley Music Theatre in Elkorn, Wisconsin (8th), the Blossom Music Center in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio (10th), Fenway Park in Boston (13th), Northwell Health at Jones Beach Theater in Wantagh, New York (15th), the State Farm Arena in Atlanta (18th), the States BB&T Center in Sunrise, Florida (20th), the Amalie Arena in Tampa (22nd) and the Toyota Center in Houston (25th). Opening acts are Leslie Mendelson (1st), Moon vs. Sun (3rd), Reignwolf (6th, 15th through 25th), Dead Horses (8th), and Peter Wolf (10th, 13th). All shows feature a locally sourced orchestra playing with the band at the beginning and end of the concert.
On the 9th, Roger attends the ribbon cutting for a new Teen Cancer Center at Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital in Cleveland.
On the 12th, Pete and Roger perform a four-song acoustic set at the opening of the Pace Gallery's Chelsea flagship. Preceding their set is Questlove of The Roots spinning a DJ mix. Watching from the audience is artist Chuck Close in his last public appearance.
On the 13th, the first single from the Who's newly recorded album is released. The song is "Ball and Chain," having undergone a name change from "Guantanamo," its name when Pete performed it on his recent solo album. The name of the new Who album is publicly announced at the same time. It will be called WHO in all caps.
On the 14th, Pete and Roger attend the Banquet of the Golden Plate ceremony at the Achievement Summit in New York. Peter Gabriel presents the duo with a Golden Plate Award.
The show at the Toyota Center in Houston on the 25th is cancelled 45 minutes into the show due to Roger's inability to sing. He blames coming to Houston "during ragweed season". Subsequent shows in Dallas (27th) and Denver (29th) are also cancelled. A later announcement says these concerts are postponed until The Who's return in April. However, the Houston concert is not rescheduled and the Dallas and Denver concerts will not occur until 2022 for reasons neither the Who or the world could guess.
October 2019
New music releases: "Highest in the Room" - Travis Scott; "Don't Start Now" - Dua Lipa; "Roxanne" - Arizona Zervas; "10,000 Hours" - Dan + Shay and Justin Bieber
On the 3rd, the second single from the WHO album premieres on the BBC Radio 2 Breakfast Show. Also the lead-off song of the album, "All This Music Must Fade" is described by its author Pete as "A song dedicated to every artist who has ever been accused of ripping off someone else’s song. Seriously? Our musical palette is limited enough in the 21st Century without some dork claiming to have invented a common chord scheme." Jon Pareles in The New York Times calls is "as crafty as it is candid."
On the 7th, Roger is interviewed in Music Week about the new album. "He threw all these songs at me. At first, I listened to them and thought, ‘They’re really good songs, but it sounds like a Pete Townshend solo album, so how do I make an addition to it because his demos are so good?’ When I told him that – and I was very honest with him – he thought I was just being difficult, but I wasn’t. I was trying to be honest with my feelings. As it happens it’s a much better Who album than a solo album!”
On the 9th, The Who's orchestral tour resumes at the Chase Center in San Francisco. This is followed by two nights at the Hollywood Bowl (11th and 13th), The Viejas Arena at Aztec Bowl at San Diego State University (16th), T-Mobile Park in Seattle with special guest Eddie Vedder (19th), Rogers Arena in Vancouver (21st), and a return to the Hollywood Bowl (24th). The support act for these shows is Liam Gallagher of Oasis.
On the 14th, a charity performance of The Who's Tommy is presented at La Jolla Playhouse's Mandell Weiss Theatre. Several members of the 1993 Broadway production take part and Pete makes a special guest appearance.
On the 26th, The Who wrap up their performances for 2019 with a charity gig in a backyard in Santa Monica, California to raise funds for their charity Teen Cancer USA. Also performing are Kenny Loggins, P!nk, The Foo Fighters and Eddie Vedder. $5 million is raised.
On the 29th, a news report about how an unhoused woman, Emily Zamourka, who went viral after an LAPD officer saw her singing opera style in the Los Angeles subway, has lost a recording contract after not showing up for her paying gigs. She also rejected a paid offer to perform on stage with Pete.
On the 30th, Pete is interviewed in studio on the SiriusXM show Debatable about his new novel The Age of Anxiety.
On the 31st, an essay by Pete is included in A Love Letter to Europe published on this date in the U.K. The anti-Brexit book is a collection of writing by famous Britons about what they feel will be lost by cutting ties to Europe.
November 2019
New music releases: "Blinding Lights" - the Weeknd; What You See Is What You Get - Luke Combs; "Woah" - Lil Baby; "Into the Unknown" - Idina Menzel and Aurora
On the 1st, Roger presents a check for nearly $500,000 to the Lurie Cancer Center at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago to help expand its adolescent and young adult cancer program
Meanwhile, promoting his new book and a new Who album, Pete begins a series of interviews: the Sydney Morning Herald on the 1st, The Daily Express on the 2nd, on John Fugelsang's show Tell Me Everything on SiriusXM on the 4th, and Liz Kershaw's BBC Radio6 show on the 5th.
On the 3rd, The Big Issue prints a letter written by Pete to his younger self. "I was always pretty snobby about rock’n’roll. As the television went through the window, I would look at Keith Moon and go, what a fucking prat. What a waste of time. Then, two or three times I did the same thing and I would think, what a fucking prat! I was in it for the art. People still say that I should never have smashed instruments. Fuck off. It is how I got you to listen to me."
On the 5th, Pete's first (and only to date) novel The Age of Anxiety is published. Based on his work-in-progress Floss, it involves a host of London characters including an art dealer, a 60s rock star, a young rock star who hallucinates soundscapes and a murderous seductress.
Pete's parade of interviews continues after the publication and includes some book signings. On the 5th, he autographs at the Waterstones in Piccadilly, on the 6th he is interviewed on Steve Wright's Big Guests on BBC Radio 2 and by Tom Powers on CBC Radio Q. That evening he is in conversation with Mariella Frostup at Central Hall in Westminister. On the 7th, Chris Charlesworth talks to Pete at George's Church at Kemptown in Brighton. On the 8th, Pete is interviewed on Radio X. On the 12th is andother signing, this at The Kew Bookshop. On the 14th he is in conversation with Edward Hall at Foyles Bookstore in London.
On the 10th, a two-foot long silver model of a galleon that once belonged to John Entwistle is auctioned in Salisbury for £27,500. John had bought it in Harrods back in the 70s.
On the 19th, Pete and Roger appear together in a taxicab wrapped in the cover of the forthcoming WHO album cover to accept the first stone in the Music Walk of Fame in Camden, London outside the Camden Town tube station. Chris Entwistle also attends to represent his late father.
On the 20th, New Musical Express is the first to review the new Who album WHO giving it 4 out of 5 stars and declaring, "Keep denying that curtain, boys, we’ll tell you when you finally get old." On the 27th, Mojo puts WHO at #59 on their best albums of 2019. On the 28th, The Guardian also gives it 4 out of 5 stars. "There’s a strong chance this might be their last album. If it is, then they’re going out the way they came in: as cussed and awkward and troubled as ever." On the 29th, The Telegraph agrees with the 4 out of 5 stars and calls it "fierce and uncompromising, this is their best album in 40 years."
On the 25th, Pete and Roger are interviewed in Rolling Stone. Pete makes unfortunate headlines when, while discussing his joy working with the current Who band on the new album, that he is glad John and Keith Moon are dead. Pete later says on Facebook that he was laughing when he said it and reaches out to Chris Entwistle and Kim Moon to personally apologize.
On the 29th, Pete on Instagram says that a friend of the late Ronnie Lane, Big Bucks Burnett, chose the name "WHO" for the new album. He also congratulates Tina Turner on her 80th birthday and says he will get in touch so they can have lunch. Unfortunately, rapidly approaching world events stop him from arranging it before her death in 2023.
December 2019
New music releases: "Adore You" - Harry Styles; Fine Line - Harry Styles; "Jealous" - Eyedress; "Breaking Me" - Topic and A7S
On the 1st, Pete is interviewed on Scala Radio about his new novel The Age of Anxiety and his love of Purcell.
On the 3rd more reviews come in for the new WHO album. Rolling Stone Gives it 3 1/2 stars out of 5: "But even when Townshend, who wrote the majority of Who hits, is the one ripping himself off, it sounds as authentic as it does ironic. The fact that the song, and much of the record, feels like Classic Rock Comfort Food may be why the band tiled the album simply Who — their first, official self-titled record." Paul Moody in Uncut gives it 4 1/2 out of 5: "It’s spellbinding, shiver-down-the-spine stuff, and enough to have any self-respecting Quadropheniac dusting down their scooter for one last run down to Brighton." And Will Hodgkinson in The Times goes all the way to 5 stars out of 5.
On the 5th, Pete is interviewed on the PBS News Hour. He says, "If I'm absolutely honest, I'm really only working as hard as I am at the moment for money."
On the same day, Pete dissects the covers of six classic Who albums for Entertainment Weekly.
On the 6th, WHO is released by Polydor. It reaches #2 on the Billboard 200 chart, #3 in the U.K., #5 in Germany, #28 in Ireland, #35 in Italy, #51 in Japan, and #64 in Australia. The Deluxe Edition adds the bonus tracks "This Gun Will Misfire," "Got Nothing To Prove," and "Danny and My Ponies." The Japanese edition adds the song "Sand" as well.
Also on the 6th, Roger is interviewed in USA Today. He says he is fine after throat surgery.
And also on the 6th, is the release of a new Who book, The Last Four Years: A Rock Noir Romance: Living with Rock's Wildest Drummer of All Time as told by Anette Walter-Lax, Keith's girlfriend from 1974 until his death, to author Spencer Brown.
On the 9th, Jimmy Fallon gives out copies of WHO to everyone in the audience of The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon.
On the 12th, Pete posts on Instagram: "I was up until five. Six hours signing CDs. I hope it gets our new album back up to #1 as Rod Stewart just knocked us off, the c**t. Bless us. We old dudes are chucking our appliances at each other. I'm hoping mine will land on his head. At least Roger and I still pay tax in the UK. Vote for The Who today. Don't get fooled again. Don't vote again for Maggie or May. Bloomin' politicians."".
On the 13th, comes the news that The Who failed to beat Rod the Mod to #1. Rod Stewart tweets, also referring to Boris Johnson's recent re-election victory: "Well done Robbie, well done Boris, no hard feelings Pete Townshend!"
Pete responds on Instagram on the 14th: "My guitar gently weeps. Maybe not so gently. Well done Rod for number one and Robbie for number two. Thanks for the 'no hard feelings' Rod. I’ve always loved you since you fixed me up with a date with Julie Driscoll. I would complain about Christmas albums, do they need their own chart? But suddenly Christmas spirit is filling the air, and down the pub the Christmas songs are cheering me up. Rod, Robbie, you are above all amazing artists and long time friends. Now just p**s off and make some room at the top for an album that is almost as unexpected as the miracle of Christmas itself. LOVE IN ABUNDANCE and FELLOWSHIP. It’s all just music ......after all.... it will fade....."
On the 16th, Pete does more promotion on Sirius/XM radio.
On the 19th, WHO makes #27 on The Sun list of the Best Albums of 2019 and the following day it receives Silver certification from the BFI.
On the 21st, WHO opens at its U.S. peak of #2 on the Billboard 200 album chart. Beating it out at the #1 slot is Roddy Ricch's new release Please Excuse Me for Being Antisocial.