January 2011
New music releases: 21 - Adele; "Party Rock Anthem" - LMFAO featuring Lauren Bennett and GoonRock; "Someone Like You" - Adele; "S&M" - Rihanna
On the 13th, The Who headline a "Killing Cancer" charity gig at the HMV Hammersmith Apollo in London. At one point in their set, Jeff Beck replaces Pete Townshend for a cover of "I'm A Man". Opening acts Bryan Adams and Debbie Harry join The Who at the end for a performance of "Join Together".
That weekend Roger Daltrey jets to New York to participate in a Rock 'n Roll Fantasy Camp. The camp ends on the 17th with Roger performing with the attendees on stage at B.B. King's in Times Square. The show is a benefit for co-guest Mark Farner whose son had been recently injured.
On the 16th, Roger receives an award for his charity work at the Orthodox West Side Institutional Synagogue in New York. The temple presents him with an inscribed silver and cherrywood bread plate.
February 2011
New music releases: "E.T." - Katy Perry featuring Kanye West; "The Lazy Song" - Bruno Mars; "Look at Me Now" - Chris Brown featuring Lil Wayne and Busta Rhymes; "Born This Way" - Lady Gaga
On the 7th, Roger Daltrey presents a Musician of the Year award to Andy Cutting at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards in London.
On the 10th, Roger is a guest on the ITV morning show Loose Women.
More presentation duties for Roger on the 15th as he presents the MasterCard Best British Album of the Year to Mumford and Sons at the 2011 BRIT Awards. He adds, "It's good to see the British music industry still has enough money for a good booze up."
On the 17th, Roger is interviewed on BBC Radio 2's The Steve Wright Show.
Back to the awards show on the 23rd as Roger presents the "Godlike Genius" award to Dave Grohl at the NME Awards in London. Afterwards he joins the Grohl's band The Foo Fighters to sing "Young Man Blues".
March 2011
New music releases: "Give Me Everything" - Pitbull featuring Ne-Yo, Afrojack and Nayer; "Country Girl (Shake It For Me)" - Luke Bryan; "Till the World Ends" - Britney Spears; "Crazy Girl" - Eli Young Band
On the 12th, Roger receives a Steiger award in Bochum, Germany. The award is given to individuals who are notable for accomplishments in charity, music, film, media, sports, the environment and building of the European community.
Uncut magazine releases a special all-Who issue with a forward by Pete Townshend: "What would I have done differently? I would never have joined a band. Even though I am quite a good gang member and a good trooper on the road, I am bad at creative collaboration. I would have made a much more effective solo performer and producer working the way Brian Eno has worked.".
On the 16th, Roger Daltrey and Mick Jones of The Clash perform together at the opening of the W Hotel in Leicester Square, London. Kate Moss and Jade Jagger are among audience members.
On the 17th, at Austin's SXSW festival, an article by Pete is sold along with a map of Pete Townshend's Mod London. On the same day, Pete posts a diary entry about the recent tsunami destruction in Japan, pledging his financial support.
On the 19th, Roger previews his upcoming live Tommy performance at the O2 Academy in Bournemouth. Oddly enough, this is Roger's first solo concert in the U.K. other than at a Who convention.
On the 24th, Roger performs Tommy as part of his week of Teenage Cancer Trust concerts. Pete comes out to perform "The Acid Queen" on solo acoustic guitar, then rejoins the band at the end for "Baba O'Riley".
April 2011
New music releases: "Super Bass" - Nicki Minaj; "Run the World (Girls)" - Beyoncé; "Dirt Road Anthem" - Jason Aldean; "Honey Bee" - Blake Shelton
On the 1st Pete Townshend appears with many other celebrities in a video appealing for aid for victims of the earthquake in Christchurch, New Zealand.
On the 5th, UGC releases The Who ICON (Greatest Hits) as one and two CD sets.
On the 12th, the press reports that Roger Daltrey is fronting an online petition to maintain herbal remedies against an EU ban.
On the 21st, former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson announces his run for the U.S. Presidency. "I look at the rest of the field running for President, and that song by The Who comes to mind. Meet the new boss. Same as the old boss."
On the 26th, Roger announces that he will be touring Tommy with a solo band. Pete says he won't be coming along but "will be there in spirit."
May 2011
New music releases: Born This Way - Lady Gaga; "How to Love" - Lil Wayne; "The Edge of Glory" - Lady Gaga; "Best Thing I Never Had" - Beyoncé
On the 1st, Pete Townshend makes #47 in The Sunday Times Fifty Richest British People in music. They estimate his personal wealth at £40m.
On the 8th, Pete's literary agent, Ed Victor, begins shopping Pete's autobiography to publishers. The proposed title is Pete Townshend: Who He? On the 17th, Harper Collins is declared the victor.
On the 13th, Roger Daltrey gives in impromptu concert aboard the Queen Mary 2 during its passage from England to New York City. From a stool on the stage of the Royal Court Theatre, Roger performs songs by Hank Williams and Johnny Cash while telling the audience of his origins as a musician. The hour-long show is part of a seagoing songwriting seminar led by Chris Difford of Squeeze.
Billy Iuso releases the album Trippin' featuring a New Orleans-style cover of "Magic Bus".
On the 27th, Pete is interviewed in Intelligent Life magazine. He says he is one-third of the way through writing his autobiography and it is already 80,000 words long.
June 2011
New music releases: "Moves Like Jagger" - Maroon 5 featuring Christina Aguilera; "The A Team" - Ed Sheeran; "Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)" - Katy Perry; 4 - Beyoncé
On the 1st, Pete Townshend checks in with the fans on thewho.com: "I am shut away in my home studio at the moment working to restore the demos of Quadrophenia. Bob Pridden is doing surround-sound mixes of selected tracks...You are going to love it. I hope so, because I am missing this summer shunshine to get it completed on time."
On the 14th, Pete's 1972/73 Gibson Les Paul Deluxe Goldtop sells for £30,750 at auction at Christie's.
On the 15th, Roger Daltrey is interviewed in a CNBC Europe profile on publisher Richard Desmond.
On the 23rd and 27th, Roger is interviewed on rollingstone.com "I've been suffering for quite a few of the previous tours. I never understood that if you sweat as much as I used to every night, you drain your body of salts. So I got very, very, seriously ill. I got to the stage where I was almost hospitalized with serious problems."
Roger is again interviewed by The Telegraph on the 30th where he admits he joined the Countryside Alliance but quit when it became dominated by the single agenda of allowing fox hunting.
July 2011
New music releases: "Somebody That I Used to Know" - Gotye featuring Kimbra; "Set Fire to the Rain" - Adele; "Glad You Came" - Wanted; "God Gave Me You" - Blake Shelton
On the 3rd, Roger Daltrey sets off with his own solo band performing the entirety of Tommy (minus "Underture") at the Civic Hall in Wolverhampton. His musical director and keyboardist is Loren Gold who will subsequently become The Who's new primary keyboardist in their subsequent tours. Following dates of the tour are the Sage in Gateshead (4th), Clyde Auditorium in Glasgow (6th), Bridgewater Hall in Manchester (7th), the Royal Centre in Nottingham (9th), Newport Centre (10th), Colston Hall in Bristol (12th), Cliffs Pavillion in Southend (13th), Guilfest (15th), Broadlands in Hampshire (16th), the Hull City Hall (19th), Indigo O2 in London (21st), Blickling Hall in Norwich (22nd), Indigo2 at the O2, London (24th), Marlay Park in Dublin (26th), the Royal Hall in the Villa Marina, Douglas on the Isle of Man (28th), the Lokerse Festival in Belgium (30th) and Valdemar's Castle in Svendborg, Denmark (31st).
Roger is interviewed for The Daily Mail on the 15th. He says, "Pete is almost stone deaf. He deafened himself in the recording studio, and when we last performed he had to stand right next to the speakers to hear anything. I don't know what Pete will do. I don't want to do a tour and have him end up completely deaf."
On the 19th, Pete Townshend posts a response on thewho.com: "My hearing is actually better than ever because after a feedback scare at the O2 Indigo in December 2008 I am taking good care of it. ...I'm 66, I don't have perfect hearing, and if I listen to loud music or go to gigs I do tend to get tinnitus. DON'T WE ALL????"
On the 23rd, British tabloids publish recent clandestine photos of Pete outside his house wearing hearing aids.
August 2011
New music releases: "Can't Hold Us" - Macklemore & Ryan Lewis featuring Ray Dalton; "Headline" - Drake; "Good Feeling" - Flo Rida; "Marry You" - Bruno Mars
On the 1st, the Daily Mail reports that Roger Daltrey recently drove a Lotus T125 formula 1 racer at the test track in Hethel, Norfolk. He reached speeds of 160 mph and his lunch almost went faster as he had to stop at one point due to becoming car sick. "Never eat a sausage before being thrown around in one of these." Roger was at Lotus HQ to inspect proposed designs for an Evora sports car 'pimped' out with Who logos. The car is to be displayed then auctioned online to benefit the Teenage Cancer Trust.
On the 23rd, BBC Radio Two has part one of a special with Pete Townshend discussing his history. Part two airs on the 30th.
On the 28th, the Mirror and Daily Mail report that The Who will be closing the 2012 London Olympics. The Who quickly deny it although apparently, minds are later changed.
September 2011
New music releases: "We Found Love" - Rihanna featuring Calvin Harris; "Call Me Maybe" - Carly Rae Jepsen; "We Are Young" - fun. featuring Janelle Monáe; "Ni**as in Paris" - Jay-Z & Kanye West
On the 6th, BBC Radio 2 has the hour long documentary I'm Keith Moon, What's Your Excuse? Keith Altham and Dougal Butler participate, Phil Daniels narrates. On the same evening, Roger Daltrey performs "Pinball Wizard" on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.
On the 13th, Roger begins his North American tour of Tommy at the Seminole Hard Rock in Hollywood, Florida. Other dates are the Verizon Wireless Pavilion in Alpharetta, Georgia (15th), the Agganis Arena in Boston (17th), the Prudential Center in Newark (18th), the Mann Center in Philadelphia (21st), the Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, New York (23rd), XL Center in Hartford, Connecticut (24th), Place des Arts in Montreal (27th), Scotiabank Place in Ottawa (28th), and the Sony Centre for the Performing Arts in Toronto (30th).
October 2011
New music releases: Christmas - Michael Bublé; "A Thousand Years" - Christina Perri; "Young, Wild & Free" - Snoop Dogg and Wiz Khalifa featuring Bruno Mars; Mylo Xyloto - Coldplay
Roger Daltrey spends the month on the second month of his North American tour performing Tommy. This month's dates are at The Colosseum at Caesars Windsor in Windsor, Ontario (1st), the U.S. Bank Theater at Target Center in Minneapolis (4th), the Horseshoe Casino in Hammond, Indiana (7th), the Peabody Opera House in St. Louis (8th), The Cedar Park Center in Cedar Park, Texas (11th), the Verizon Theatre at Grand Prairie in Grand Prairie, Texas (12th), The Midland Theatre in Kansas City, Missouri (14th), the 1STBANK Center in Broomfield, Colorado (16th), the NOKIA Theatre in Los Angeles (19th), the City National Civic in San Jose (21st), The Joint in Las Vegas (22nd), the Rose Quarter-Theatre of The Clouds in Portland, Oregon (24th), the Key Arena at Seattle Center in Seattle (25th), Rogers Arena in Vanvouver (27th), Rexall Place in Edmonton (29th), and SK Credit Union Centre in Saskatoon.
Who covers of the month: The Sweet release an online single, a cover of "Join Together" on the 7th. On the 11th, Redundant has a cover of "My Generation" on their album TV Reality, On the 14th, The Oppressed release their album Antifa Hooligans with a track called "Substitute AFA", a cover of "Substitute" with new anti-Fascist lyrics.
On the 27th, Liam Gallagher's Carnaby Street clothing store Pretty Green hosts an exhibition inspired by the album Quadrophenia. It features a specially made parka for the event along with Pete Townshend's notes, desk diaries, photos and original lyric sheets related to the album. The exhibit runs through 31 January.
On the 31st, Pete delivers the first John Peel Memorial Lecture at the Lowry Theatre in Salford. Asked to speak on the subject of music in the age of the digital download, Pete makes press by slamming iTunes and Apple for failing to use its streaming music profits to find and promote new artists. At one point he refers to Apple as a "digital vampire".
November 2011
New music releases: Take Care - Drake; "The Motto" - Drake featuring Lil Wayne; Up All Night - One Direction; Talk That Talk - Rihanna
Roger Daltrey was to have performed Tommy with his touring band in Saskatoon on the 1st and Winnipeg on the 2nd but both are cancelled for "unforseen circumstances".
On the 2nd, Pete Townshend appears on Late With Jools Holland performing "I'm One" with Jools.
On the 3rd, Roger is in Los Angeles doing publicity for the Quadrophenia: Director's Cut release.
On the 4th, Roger Daltrey and Robert Plant join to open the UCLA Daltrey/Townshend Teen & Young Adult Cancer Program at the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center. The ward, the first of its kind in the United States, is inspired by the similar wards Teenage Cancer Trust had opened in the U.K. and marks the beginning of The Who's personal push to bring cancer care to teenagers and young adults in the U.S.
On the 5th, Roger and his solo band perform at a private party in Los Angeles raising money for the new ward. Plant and Dave Grohl also play. Howie Mandel leads the festivities.
On the 9th, Pete plays an intimate show for invited guests at Bush Hall in London and talks about how it felt to make the soon to be re-released Quadrophenia. "It felt to me like it was the end. The reason I've spent so much time working on this new edition is because it's an epochal record, the last great album by The Who."
That evening, he and Roger accept the Classic Album award for Quadrophenia at the Classic Rock Roll of Honour at The Roundhouse in London.
On the 11th, Pete and Roger are photographed with Who fan Jeremy Clarkson alongside the Lotus Evora designed by Roger for an auction benefiting the Teenage Cancer Trust.
On the 14th (U.K.) and 15th (U.S.) Quadrophenia (Deluxe Edition) and Quadrophenia (Super Deluxe Edition) are released. The latter includes a 5.1 remix of part of the album, the first time in a surround format as Pete had intended the original album to be released in 1973.
On the 17th, Roger comes out in defense of Cliff Richard after the U.K. radio station Absolute Radio 60s bans his work as a publicity stunt.
On the 18th, Pete prints an interview on his site where he gives the music he listens to: "Sufjan Stevens, Sigur Ros, Neil Young, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Martha Wainwright, Willy Mason, Yo Yo Ma, Edgar Meyer, Alison Krauss, Bach, Mark Mothersbaugh, Keith Jarrett - all kinds of stuff."
On the 23rd, Pete headlines the 35th anniversary show of The Prince's Trust at the Royal Albert Hall. He performs five songs on acoustic guitar.
On the 28th, French singer Laurent Voulzy releases his album Lys and Love featuring a duet with Roger on the song "Ma seule amour". The two had met backstage at a Who concert in Monoco.
On the 29th, Bonafide releases a cover of "I Can't Explain" as a single. The Catalan girl group Macedònia releases their album Els nens dels altres featuring a cover of "I'm A Boy".
December 2011
New music releases: "Titanium" - David Guetta featuring Sia; "Little Talks" - Of Monsters and Men; "Wild Ones" - Flo Rida featuring Sia; "Everybody Talks" - Neon Trees
On the 1st, a Lotus Evora designed by Roger Daltrey and with his signature etched into the hood is auctioned off to benefit the Teenage Cancer Trust.
On the 3rd, Quadrophenia (Deluxe Edition) hits its U.S. chart peak at #110 on the Billboard charts.
On the 8th, BBC Radio 4 broadcasts a new radio play, Burning Both Ends: When Oliver Reed Met Keith Moon starring Sean Pertwee as Oliver Reed and Arthur Darvill as Keith Moon. It is written by Matthew Broughton.
On the 11th, MCA Japan reissues A Quick One, Odds and Sods, Tommy/Original Soundtrack, The Who By Numbers, Who Are You, The Kids Are Alright, Quadrophenia/Original Soundtrack, Face Dances, It's Hard, The Singles, Who's Missing, Two's Missing, and BBC Sessions as cardboard sleeve mini-LP's. Several of them feature new mixes and re-masters and bonus tracks unavailable elsewhere.
On the 12th, Maxene, John Entwistle's second wife, appears on the reality show Pawn Stars with a sterling silver Tiffany Walkman formerly owned by John.
On the 13th, the Gaslight Album releases iTunes Session: The Gaslight Anthem featuring a cover of "Baba O'Riley".
On the 30th, Roger narrates the BBC Radio 6 documentary The Wicked Pickett: The Life and Times of Wilson Pickett.