January 2009
New music releases: "Halo" - Beyoncé; "Right Round" - Flo Rida featuring Kesha; "Dead and Gone" - T.I. featuring Justin Timberlake; "You've Got the Love" - Florence and the Machine
On the 12th, Roger Daltrey and Pete Doherty perform together for the Teenage Cancer Trust at the Bristol Academy. They play "Substitute", "Magic Bus" and some Johnny Cash songs.
February 2009
New music releases: "Boom Boom Pow" - Black Eyed Peas; "Birthday Sex" - Jeremih; "Best I Every Had" - Drake; It's Not Me It's You - Lily Allen
On the 9th, a remixed The Who Live At The Isle Of Wight Festival 1970 CD and Blu-Ray DVD are released in the U.K. The U.S. release of both is on the 24th.
On the 13th, that a stage version of Quadrophenia, written by Tom Critchley, Jeff Young and John O'Hara and approved by Pete Townshend, is scheduled for British theatres that May.
On the 18th, Sing Along Steve releases the children's album Rock A My Baby featuring a cover of "The Kids Are Alright".
On the 22nd, Rachel Fuller posts two demos from her musical "Ash" on her blog. Pete Townshend provides part of the vocals on the tracks.
On the 25th, Mojo magazine does a cover story tribute to The Who Sell Out with two covers, one of Pete with Odorono, one of Roger Daltrey in the baked bean bath.
On the 26th, Roger performs at a private event at the Bloomsbury Ballroom in London attended by Arsenal's Manager Arsène Wenger and left-back Gael Clichy. Roger, a long-time Arsenal fan, performs a set of Who hits accompanied by Pete's brother Simon.
March 2009
New music releases: "The Climb" - Miley Cyrus; "People Are Crazy" - Billy Currington; "LoveGame" - Lady Gaga; "In for the Kill" - La Roux
On the 1st, The Bollock Brothers release their CD Last Will and Testament featuring a cover of "My Generation" and on the 3rd, Jerry Cortez releases his CD American Invasion featuring a cover of "The Kids Are Alright".
On the 4th, Roger Daltrey is presented with the James Joyce Award by UCD's Literary and Historical Society In Dublin. The award is in recognition of his work with the Teenage Cancer Trust.
On the 8th, Keith Moon is honored with an historical blue plaque at the site of the Marquee Club in Soho. The Heritage Foundation stepped in to post the plaque after English Heritage, the traditional award of blue plaques, refused saying Keith did not meet their criteria. The unveiling is attended by Roger and Keith's mother, Kit.
The Victoria and Albert Museum in London has a Pete Townshend-smashed guitar on display as part of their Theatre and Performance Galleries.
On the 16th, The Who Sell Out: Deluxe Edition is released. The 2-CD set includes both the stereo and mono mixes as well as the first official release of the oft-bootlegged Who instrumental "Sodding About and an alternate recording of "Rael 1 & 2".
On the 21st, The Who begin their third Antipodean tour performing at North Harbour Stadium in Auckland, New Zealand.
The following day Pete and Roger hold a press conference at the Crown Towers Hotel in Melbourne, Australia. When asked about The Who's disastrous first tour in 1968, Pete recalls: "I had a ball on the trip in '67 [sic; '68]...I met a girl I nearly married – I had a lovely time, and adds, "Yes – I deeply, deeply regret not coming back sooner.
On the 23rd, The Who: Maximum R&B Live video is re-released in the U.K. as a 2-DVD set. Video from the 1970 Tanglewood show is dropped in place of the 1981 Essen concert.
On the 24th, The Who start their tour of Australia, playing the Brisbane Entertainment Centre (24th), the Adelaide Entertainment Centre (26th), the Hope Estate Winery in Pokolbin, New South Wales (28th), Albert Park in Melbourne (29th) and Acer Arena in Sydney (31st).
April 2009
New music releases: "You Belong with Me" - Taylor Swift; "Knock You Down" - Keri Hilson featuring Kanye West and Ne-Yo; "Fire Burning" - Sean Kingston; "Alright" - Darius Rucker
The Who conclude their third tour down under at the Equity Stadium in Perth (4th).
On the 7th, Best Buy releases the exclusive 2CD-1DVD set Rachel Fuller Presents In The Attic with Pete Townshend and Friends. Coincidentally, on the same day, The Sun reports that Karen Astley has applied for divorce proceedings against Pete, ending their 40-year marriage.
On the 20th, Roger Daltrey appears on a Sky News spot "If I Were Chancellor" talking about help for the TCT within the NHS. The video shows him playing snooker with a teenage cancer victim.
On the 27th, The Pinball Wizards release their CD My Generation (The Ultimate Who Tribute) featuring 10 Who covers.
May 2009
New music releases: "Down" - Jay Sean featuring Lil Wayne; "Watcha Say" - Jason Derulo; Sunny Side Up - Paolo Nutini; "One Time" - Justin Bieber
On the 1st, Ed Roman releases his CD My Roman Empire ROCKS! featuring a cover of "I Can See for Miles".
On the 3rd, Pete Townshend makes The Sunday Times Rich List. He is considered the 1348th richest Briton valued at £40m. Roger Daltrey is listed at #1673 with £32m in wealth. The Who itself is considered to have earned "at least £100m".
On the 4th, Lisztomania is released on DVD for the first time, but only in the U.K..
On the 5th, The Smithereens release a one-CD performance of Tommy. They record it as part of a deal to get their record label to issue an album of new original music. The CD cover is by William Stout and done as a parody of his famous cover for the bootleg Tales of The Who.
On the 8th, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band cover "My Generation" during their show at University Park, Pennsylvania.
On the 9th, Quadrophenia: The Musical opens at Theatre Royal in Plymouth. Music, lyrics and concept by Pete Townshend. Stage adaptation by Jeff Young, John O'Hara and Tom Critchley.
On the 10th, the Sultans of String release their CD Yalla Yalla! featuring a cover of "Pinball Wizard" with Arabic lyrics and in part performed on an oud.
On the 13th, Roger meets Prince Charles at a health conference in Central London. Asked what he thinks of the 60-year-old Prince, Daltrey says: "The work Charles is doing is amazing. He's his own man." Roger also says to the Prince: "Don't let the bastards grind you down!"
On the 15th, Green Day includes a cover of "A Quick One While He's Away" as an iTunes bonus for their new album 21st Century Breakdown.
On the 16th, music industry veteran Angie Jenkison gets a surprise at her wedding at a castle in Bristol when Roger turns wedding singer, serenading the bride with "Substitute". Afterwards he wants to do more but the band hired for the event have only rehearsed the one song.
On the 19th, The Who Sell Out: Deluxe Edition is released in the U.S.
On the 21st, The Who perform a three-song acoustic set at Arsenal's end of season charity ball. Pete, currently suffering from the flu, soldiers on to help Roger salute Arsenal's support of the Teenage Cancer Trust.
June 2009
New music releases: "I Gotta Feeling" - The Black Eyed Peas; The E.N.D. - The Black Eyed Peas; "Bulletproof" - La Roux; "Sweet Dreams" - Beyoncé
On the 8th, Tony Klinger's book Twilight of the Gods: My Adventures with The Who is published by Blake Publishing in the U.K. The co-producer of The Kids Are Alright tells how he fought throughout the production with director Jeff Stein and was encouraged by Who manager Bill Curbishley to take over the movie.
On the 9th, The Who's "My Generation" is selected by the National Recording Registry of the U.S. Library of Congress as one of twenty-five culturally significant recordings selected for preservation in a special sound archive.
On the 14th, Roger Daltrey attends a charity cricket match at Carlton, near Newmarket, cheering on a Teenage Cancer Trust team of celebrities.
By the 19th, Roger is all the way over in Hollywood, California to perform at the Opening Night Gala at the Hollywood Bowl.
On the 25th, Roger appears at Cannes to talk about his career with impresario Harvey Goldsmith in the Debussy auditorium of the Palais des Festivals. He performs "I Walk the Line" and "Who Are You" on acoustic guitar and discusses how The Who "branded" their image at the beginning of their career.
On the 29th, Roger, Sarah, the Duchess of York, and Kelly Jones, of the Stereophonics are at Cardiff's University Hospital of Wales for the opening of the £3.3m specialist cancer unit for teenagers.
July 2009
New music releases: "Fireflies" - Owl City; "Paparazzi" - Lady Gaga; "Sexy Bitch" - David Guetta featuring Akon; "Monster" - Skillet
On the 1st, Bloomberg News reports that three traders have started a government-bond hedge fund called 5:15 Capital Management LLC in honor of The Who song from Quadrophenia. The fund closes less than four years later.
On the 4th The Klone Orchestra releases the CD Substituted featuring ten Who covers.
On the 5th, the audience at a Paul Weller concert at the Hop Farm Festival in Paddock get a surprise when Roger Daltrey comes on stage to join him in a performance of "Magic Bus".
August 2009
New music releases: "Party in the U.S.A." - Miley Cyrus; "TiK ToK" - Kesha; "Hey, Soul Sister" - Train; "Need You Now" - Lady A
On the 3rd, Roger Daltrey is interviewed in Billboard. He announces that he will soon be touring with a new solo band made up of keyboardist Loren Gold, bassist Jon Button, drummer Scott Devours and guitarist and musical director Frank Simes. The tour, in reference to Roger's voice, will be called the Use It Or Lose It tour.
On the 11th, Pete Townshend writes a love letter to the people at the Theatre Royal in Plymouth in their quarterly journal, praising them for their work on the stage version of Quadrophenia. "All the time I have been working there I have had the pleasure of seeing young people rolling in and out on educational programmes, all of them glancing sideways at what is going on in TR2 where actors only a few years older than they are singing and dancing like young gods."
On the 18th, Rhino Records releases the CD boxset Woodstock – 40 Years On: Back To Yasgur's Farm. It contains the first official releases of "Amazing Journey" and the complete "We're Not Gonna Take It" from that performance.
On the 25th, Pete pens an entry at thewho.com announcing that he is working on a new musical to be called Floss. The story is: "Walter, a straight-cut pub rock musician, is able to retire when one of his songs becomes the TV anthem of a big car company. He becomes a house-husband while his wife Floss devotes herself to a riding stables and stud. When he tries to return to music after a fifteen year hiatus, he finds that what he hears and what he composes evoke the ecologically rooted, apocalyptic mindset of his generation. Shaken by this and torn by personal difficulties, he and Floss become estranged. A series of dramatic events in a hospital emergency ward bring them both to their senses.". Pete claims some of the songs will be on a new Who album coming out in 2010 and the entire work will premiere in concert in 2011. The work will eventually become the basis of his 2019 novel The Age of Anxiety and inspire some of the songs on the 2019 album WHO.
Also on the 25th, Roger Daltrey in interviewed on BBC Radio 5. He says The Who would have failed if they had competed on The X Factor.
On the 31stThe Daily Mail prints paparazzi photos of Pete riding a 50cc Vespa around his neighborhood, then parking it in his home.
September 2009
New music releases: "Break Your Heart" - Taio Cruz; "Meet Me Halfway" - The Black Eyed Peas; "3" - Britney Spears; "Cowboy Casanova" - Carrie Underwood
On the 8th, the FX series Sons of Anarchy starts its second season with a special performance of "Slip Kid" by the heavy metal group Anvil.
On the 10th, Pete Townshend drops by the Theatre Royal in Plymouth to meet the cast of the musical Quadrophenia. "To hear my songs sung by new young people is a thrill. I enjoy working in music theatre and feel at ease. It is humbling and exciting at the same time."
On the 18th, Heinz Rudolf Kunze releases his live album Räuberzivil featuring a cover of "My Generation".
On the 28th, Pete is interviewed on the programme Night Waves on the U.K.'s classical music station BBC Radio 3. A major topic is the influence of auto-destructive artist Gustav Metger who currently has a retrospective of his six-decade artistic career in London.
October 2009
New music releases: "Bad Romance" - Lady Gaga; "Empire State of Mind" - Jay-Z featuring Alicia Keys; Crazy Love - Michael Bublé; Sigh No More - Mumford & Sons
On the 2nd, Roger Daltrey performs "I Can See For Miles" on the U.S. talk show Ellen!
On the 6th, Roger previews his upcoming tour with a performance at An Evening For Kids benefit with Simon Townshend and the Eurythmics' Dave Stewart at a private residence in Pacific Palisades, California.
Roger's "Use It Or Lose It" tour officially opens at the Commodore Ballroom in Vancouver on the 10th where he sings "Happy Birthday" to Simon. Eddie Vedder pops in for the show at the Showbox SoDO in Seattle on the 12th, as the two perform "Better Man", "The Real Me" and "Bargain". These dates are followed by concerts at the San Manuel Indian Casino in Highland, California (15th), the Orpheum Theatre in Los Angeles (17th), Humphrey's in San Diego (18th), the Paramount Theatre in Denver (20th), the Winstar Casino in Thackerville, Oklahoma (22nd), the Hard Rock Café in Biloxi, Mississippi (24th), the Florida Theatre in Jacksonville (25th), the Durham PAC in Durham, North Carolina (28th), the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville (30th), and the Horseshoe Southern in Elizabeth, Indiana (31st). In addition, Roger and his band perform at a private function at Treasure Island in San Francisco on the 14th for the Oracle Corporation's "OpenWorld" conference, also appearing with the CEO at the conference's opening presser.
The Last Rock 'N' Roll Band with Honest John Plain and Casino Steel release a cover of "I'm A Boy".
On the 21st, Roger takes a break from the tour to be the guest lecturer at the University of Central Oklahoma's Academy of Contemporary Music.
On the 27th, Pete Townshend is interviewed on BBC Radio 4 about the influence of the early English composer Henry Purcell on his music. Former Who manager Kit Lambert introduced him to the composer's music and Pete says that from the song "The Kids Are Alright" on "there has always been a Purcellian presence."
November 2009
New music releases: I Dreamed a Dream - Susan Boyle; "BedRock" - Young Money featuring Lloyd; My World - Justin Bieber; The Fame Monster - Lady Gaga
On the 2nd, Roger Daltrey continues his solo tour at the House of Blues in Chicago. The other shows this month are the House of Blues, Cleveland (3rd), the Casino Rama Entertainment Centre in Orilla, Ontario (5th), the MGM Grand at Foxwoods in Mashantucket, Connecticut (7th), the House of Blues, Boston (8th), the Wellmont Theatre in Montclair, New Jersey (11th), the Music Box in the Borgata, Atlantic City (13th & 14th), the Count Basie Theatre in Red Bank, New Jersey (17th), the Chrysler Hall Theatre in Norfolk, Virginia (18th), the Nokia Theatre in Times Square (20th), the North Charleston Coliseum in North Charleston, South Caroilina (24th), the House of Blues in Buena Vista, Florida (25th), the Barbara B. Mann Performing Arts Hall in Fort Myers, Florida (27th), the Hard Rock Live at Seminole Hard Rock in Hollywood, Florida (29t) and ending the tour at the Ruth Eckerd Hall in Clearwater, Florida (30th).
A problem appears for Roger during this extensive tour. He loses his voice in the middle of the Cleveland show and cancels a gig in Baltimore due to "a sore throat". It is much more than that. Roger is suffering from pre-cancerous nodes on his vocal chords and he is on the tour as possibly his last if a planned operation in December fails to recover his voice.
On the 2nd, Pete Townshend gives Ronnie Wood an Outstanding Contribution honour at the Classic Rock Awards at the Park Lane Hotel in London.
On the 5th, Roger tells the press he did not okay the script for the Keith Moon biopic prepared by Mike Myers and the Mike Myers as Keith Moon movie is cancelled.
On the 12th, NFL officials announce that The Who will be the half-time show at Super Bowl XLIV.
On the 21st, Roger takes part in Michael J. Fox's charity concert A Funny Thing Happened on the Way To Cure Parkinson's at New York's Waldorf-Astoria. Also performing are Steven Tyler, Gregg Allman, Elvis Costello and comedian Denis Leary.
On the 2nd, James Whild Lea releases a cover of "Substitute" on his album Therapy and on the 13th, the Japanese band The Gathers release a CD single with a cover of "I'm a Boy".
December 2009
New music releases: "Nothin' On You" - B.o.B. featuring Bruno Mars; "In My Head" - Jason Derulo; "Naturally" - Selenz Gomez & The Scene; "Imma Be" - The Black Eyed Peas
On the 12th, a blue plaque is placed at the site of the Railway Hotel in Harrow commemorating where Pete Townshend first smashed a guitar. Members of the Harrow Council place the plaque on the site of a public housing block erected on the site of the Railway Hotel that burned down in 2000. The housing block's name is "Daltrey House".
On the 20th, the Italian rock group Sista releases their album Rock and Roll Juice featuring a cover of "My Generation".
On the 21st, Geffen Records releases Greatest Hits, the latest Who compilation. It reaches #12 in the U.K. and #56 on the U.S. Billboard charts.
Shortly before Christmas, Roger Daltrey secretly enters the Mass General Voice Center in Boston for surgery. Dr. Steven Zeitels who performs the surgery had discovered pre-cancerous growths on Roger's vocal chords. Using an experimental technique, Dr. Zeitels rebuilds Roger's vocal chords but afterwards Roger goes through a terrible two weeks before he is allowed to try them out and see if he can still speak, much less sing. "I had two weeks of silence. Silence and no drinking. How's that for a good Christmas?" Naturally, a planned appearance by Roger on Jools Holland's New Year's Hootenanny is cancelled.