Pete Townshend has confirmed that he plans to hook up with Roger Daltrey to work together as The Who in 2025. The guitarist made the comments in an interview conducted to celebrate the opening of the Townshend Studio at the University of West London, where he was a student in the early 1960s, when it was the site of Ealing Art College.
"I met with Roger for lunch a couple of weeks ago," Townshend tells The Standard. "We're in good form. We love each other. We're both getting a bit creaky, but we will definitely do something next year."
Asked if the work might result in an album or a tour, Townshend was less certain, saying, "The album side of it… Roger’s not keen. But I would love to do another album and I may try to bully him on that.
"The last big tours that we’ve done have been with a full orchestra, which was glorious, but we’re now eager to make a noise and make a mess and make mistakes.”
The Who last performed live in March 2024, completing a pair of Teenage Cancer Trust shows at London's Royal Albert Hall as Daltrey's stewardship of the charity's annual live shows came to an end. Prior to that, The Who Hits Back tour played 46 shows in six countries in 2022/23, with full band and orchestra.
Elsewhere in the interview with The Standard, Townshend says he's disappointed by the Oasis reunion, and bemoans the lack of subsidies for the arts.
"Music is being undercut in normal schools [as is] dancing, writing, painting, poetry, everything," he says. "We’re in a crisis and I understand that we haven’t got any money but, you know, they should first fix the potholes then they can open some more universities."
Earlier this month, Townshend announced the release of a new orchestral work entitled The Seeker, based on Siddhartha, Herman Hesse’s classic tale of self-discovery and enlightenment.
The album and book will be released on November 7 and can be pre-ordered from theseekermusic.com. To celebrate the launch, a one-off performance will take place at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane in London on November 6, where Townshend will be joined by Sunidhi Chauhan, Layton Williams, Nakhane, Alfie Boe, the Royal Philharmonic and the London Chamber Choir.
