Celebrate the legendary Pete Townshend birthday with 10 of the very best The Who songs
The influential guitarist and composer turns 79 today
Celebrate the legendary Pete Townshend birthday with 10 of the very best The Who songs
One of Rock’s most influential figures of all time, Pete Townshend was born on 19 May 1945, at Chiswick Hospital, Middlesex, now west London. He formed The Who in the early 1960’s, and with his groundbreaking guitar playing, stage antics, gimmicks, and compositions became a living legend still during the 1960’s. The Who were part of the so-called British Invasion, together with The Beatles and The Rolling Stones among others, however, their songs and stage attitude differentiate them from the rest of their peers. It was during the late 1970’s, when the Punk movement became popular, that The Who’s early records and songs were referred to as influential in the development of the style. The Who diversified music includes proto-punk, garage rock, psychedelic rock, hard rock and rock-opera, a style that was mainly created by Pete Townshend when he composed the 1969 groundbreaking double album “Tommy” and later with “Quadrophenia”. The band performed several seminal moments in Rock history, including their explosive performance at the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival, their infamous TV performance at The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour in 1967, the Woodstock Festival in 1969, the Isle Of Wight Festival in 1970 among many others. They remain one of the most appreciated Rock bands of all time, and years after the deaths of drummer Keith Moon and bassist John Entwistle, Pete and Roger Daltrey keep The Who alive and on tour, always with sold out concerts around the world. Before he turned into music, Pete studied art at the Ealing Art College, among his classmates were future Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood and future Queen lead singer Freddie Mercury (that later in his career claimed The Who as one of his biggest music influences). Among his achievements is the Brit Award for Lifetime Achievement, that he received in 1983, in 1990 he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Who, in 2001 received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award as a member of the Who, and in 2008 received Kennedy Center Honors. He and Daltrey received The George and Ira Gershwin Award for Lifetime Musical Achievement at UCLA on 21 May 2016. To celebrate his 79th birthday, we picked a list with 10 of the very best The Who songs.
01- “I Can’t Explain”, 1964
02 – “My Generation”, 1965
03 – “The Kids Are Alright” , 1965
04 – “Substitute”, 1966
05 – “I Can See for Miles”, 1967
06 – “Pinball Wizard”, 1969
07 – “Baba O’Riley”, 1971
08 – “Behind Blue Eyes”, 1971
09 – “Won’t Get Fooled Again””, 1971
10 – “Who Are You”, 1978
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