Pete Townshend teases "final tour" before The Who "crawl off to die"

27 March 2024, 10:42 | Updated: 28 March 2024, 17:02

The Who guitarist and songwriter has talked about what's next for the legendary band and whether he can see himself creating new music.

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Pete Townshend thinks The Who probably have one "final" thing left to do before they "crawl off to die".

The legendary rocker had an interview with The New York Times, where he was quizzed about the band's lack of new material and what he thought what was next for himself and Roger Daltrey.

The My Generation rocker told the outlet: "It feels to me like there’s a final tour where we play every territory in the world and then crawl off to die. I don’t get much of a buzz from performing with The Who. If I’m really honest, I’ve been touring for the money. My idea of an ordinary lifestyle is pretty elevated."

The Who have only released two albums since It's Hard in 1982, with Endless Wire released in 2006, followed by WHO in 2019, but Townshend insists he didn't want to make several records that sound the same like some of his contemporaries.

“AC/DC made 50 albums, but all their albums were the same," he said. "It wasn’t the way The Who worked. We were an ideas band.”

He went on: “The Who isn’t Daltrey and Townshend onstage at 80, pretending to be young. It’s the four of us in 1964, when we were 18 or 19. If you want to see The Who myth, wait for the avatar show. It would be good!"

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The Who co-founder and frontman Daltrey might disagree with his bandmate when it comes to new material, telling NME last year: "What’s the point? What’s the point of records? We released an album four years ago, and it did nothing. It’s a great album too, but there isn’t the interest out there for new music these days.

"People want to hear the old music. I don’t know why, but that’s the fact."

The rocker was also recently asked about the fate of band and suggested that it's completely up to his Townshend, but he would be happy saying the chapter was "over".

Asked if there's more to come from the Substitute rockers, he told The Times: "I can’t answer that. I don’t write the songs. I never did. We need to sit down and have a meeting, but at the moment I’m happy saying that part of my life is over."