The Who’s Roger Daltrey says he hopes he has the wisdom to know when the time is right to call time on his career.
The frontman, 72, doesn’t know for sure if the band’s current The Who Hits 50 tour will be their last, but he is sure he doesn’t want to compromise on his lively onstage performances.
Daltrey tells Canoe: “In our heads we want to go on as long as we can. And our bodies, you kind of physically know you’re coming to the end of that type of show. That’s not to say you can’t play your music in different ways.
“But equally, our music, having got that energy and that kind of urgency that is within it, I’m not so sure whether I want to be involved with singing in that way. I don’t think it’s the kind of music you could ever cruise through.
“When you get to a certain age, that would be the only way you could do it. So I just hope I have the wisdom to stop when I feel that coming.”
Daltrey says he keeps himself fit by walking on average five miles a day and says the only way to keep his voice in top condition is by using it as often as possible.
He adds: “If you don’t use it, you lose it, simple as that. And too many of our generation they think they’ve made it and they come off the road for four or five years and don’t sing and before they know it the muscles that you need to be there for you, to hit the notes, have disappeared.
“And you can get them back, but sometimes you leave it too long and it’s gone forever.”
The Who Hits 50 tour continues in North America and the band headline this year’s Isle Of Wight festival on June 11, ahead of festival dates in France and Spain.
They are also said to part of a festival being planned by Coachella organisers Goldenvoice. The firm wants to have The Who, Paul McCartney, Bob Dylan, Roger Waters, Neil Young and the Rolling Stones take part in a three-day event at Southern California’s Indio Empire Polo Field in October.
No firm details have yet been confirmed, but Daltrey suggests that The Who and Roger Waters are being lined up to play on the same day.
The Who remaining tour dates 2016
Apr 26: Toronto Air Canada Centre, ON
Apr 29: Kansas City Sprint Center, MO
May 01: Minneapolis Target Center, MN
May 04: Winnipeg MTS Centre, MB
May 06: Saskatoon SaskTel Centre, SK
May 08: Edmonton Rexall Place, AB
May 10: Calgary Scotiabank Saddledome, AB
May 13: Vancouver Pepsi Live at Rogers Arena, BC
May 15: Seattle KeyArena at Seattle Center, WA
May 17: Portland Moda Center, OR
May 19: Oakland Oracle Arena, CA
May 22: Anaheim Honda Center, CA
May 25: Los Angeles Staples Center, CA
May 27: San Diego Valley View Casino Center, CA
May 29: Las Vegas Colosseum at Caesars Palace, NV
Jun 11: Isle Of Wight festival, UK
Jun 14: Zenith De Toulouse, France
Jun 16: Madrid Mad Cool Festival, Spain
Jun 18: Azkena Rock Festival, Spain
