Roger Daltrey, The Who frontman, going deaf and blind at 81
I hope I die before I get old.
Roger Daltrey of the rock band The Who has revealed that he is slowly going deaf and blind after turning 81 on March 1.
âThe joys of getting old mean you go deaf. I also now have got the joy of going blind,â Daltrey told the crowd at Londonâs Royal Albert Hall during a concert on Thursday, March 27, per Sky News.
âFortunately, I still have my voice,â he quipped, âbecause then Iâll have a full Tommy.â
Tommy is the name of the main character from The Whoâs 1969 album-turned-rock opera of the same name. He is not only deaf and blind but also mute.
This wasnât the first time Daltrey revealed heâs going âvery, very deaf,â blaming his condition as the result of his more than 60-year career as a rock and roll singer.
âTake your fâking earplugs with you to the gigs,â he told the crowd during another concert in Las Vegas in 2018, according to TMZ.
Daltrey has also discussed aging and death in more recent interviews, including one with The Times in January 2024.
âMy dreams came true so, listen, Iâm ready to go at any time,â he told the outlet at the time. âMy family are all great and all taken care of.â
âYouâve got to be realistic,â the âMy Generationâ singer continued. âYou canât live your life forever. Like I said, people my age, weâre in the way. There are no guitar strings to be changed on this old instrument.â
Daltreyâs fellow The Who bandmate Pete Townshend has also joked about being an aging rock star on the cusp of octogenarians.
âFour and a half weeks ago, I had my left knee replaced,â Townshend, 79, told the London crowd last week. âMaybe I should auction off the old one.â
According to the âBaba Oâ Rileyâ guitarist, he injured his knee after trying to dance around the stage like Rolling Stones star Mick Jagger, 81.
The news of their deteriorating health comes two years after Daltrey and Townshend suggested The Who might be retiring nearly 60 years after the band was first formed in 1964.
âI suppose Roger and l, at some point, will look ahead and try to work out whether or not we want to do an Elton John and end it in some way,â Townshend said in 2023 while referencing Elton Johnâs successful farewell tour.
âItâs difficult to make a decision going forward, to say weâre going to do this or that, because we donât know how well weâre going to be or how fit weâre going to be,â he continued.
Townshend also admitted that he and Daltrey were both getting âold.â
âThat in itself has a downside because, apart from what you can or canât do on the stage, when you finish touring, you come back to normal life,â the âMagic Busâ writer said. âWhatever it is that you decide to do to fill your time away from the road â and itâs harder and takes longer.â
Keith Moon, the bandâs original drummer, passed away in 1978 at the age of 32. The Whoâs original bassist, John Entwistle, died in 2002 at 57. Both deaths were related to drug use.
The Post has reached out to Daltreyâs reps for comment.
Source link