January 2013
New music releases: "When I Was Your Man" - Bruno Mars; "Demons" - Imagine Dragons; "Pompeii" - Bastille; "Wagon Wheel" - Darius Rucker
On the 15th, Pete Townshend, on behalf of The Who, presents six brand new Laser Pico sailing dinghies to representatives of Antigua's National Sailing Academy. The dinghies are fully rigged with sails branded with The Who logo.
On the 24th, Roger Daltrey joins with Steven Tyler to perform at the Raise Your Voice benefit in Los Angeles. The event is in honor of Dr. Steven Zeitels whose techniques gave new life to both singers' voices.
On the 25th, Pete receives the Les Paul Award at the 28th Annual Technical Excellence & Creativity Awards held in Anaheim, California. On hand to perform Pete's music are Eric Burdon, Tenacious D, Phil Chen, Julia Fordham, David Pack, Narada Michael Walden and Tal Wilenfeld. Pete performs "Let My Love Open the Door" with Eric Burdon.
On the 28th, the second leg of The Who's live production of Quadrophenia begins at the Honda Center in Anaheim. The second show of the month is at the Staples Center in Los Angeles on the 30th.
On the 29th, Pete and Roger are interviewed on both BBC One Breakfast and in The Sun.
On the 30th, before the Staples Center show, Pete has a book signing for his autobiography at the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles.
February 2013
New music releases: "Started from the Bottom" - Drake; "My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark (Light Em Up)" - Fall Out Boy; "Lay Me Down" - Sam Smith; "Just Give Me a Reason" - Pink featuring Nate Ruess
The 2012/2013 touring edition of Quadrophenia spends its last month of touring North America starting off at The Oracle Arena in Oakland (1st) and the Reno Events Center in Reno (2nd).
On the 4th, Pete Townshend posts a blog on Huffington Post. The subject is his dual personality; the person who worries about the world and the performer where a "battle commences for ownership of the boards."
On the 5th, the Quadrophenia tour continues at the Valley View Casino Center in San Diego. Due to an injury, Zak Starkey steps down as drummer to be replaced by Scott Devours. The next night is at the Jobing.com Arena in Glendale, Arizona.
The 8th and 10th find The Who back at The Joint in Las Vegas. Pete again slices his hand open doing windmills during "5:15" and the show is paused while he gets bandaged. During the encore, Roger Daltrey cuts two songs because audience members down front will not stop smoking even after Roger curses them out.
From the land of smoke and high-rollers, The Who continue to the Pepsi Center in Denver (12th), the BOK Bank of Oklahoma Center in Tulsa (14th), the KFC Yum! Arena in Louisville, Kentucky (16th), the Schottenstein Center in Columbus, Ohio (17th), and the Copps Coliseum in Hamilton, Ontario (19th). At the last show a father holds up his daughter throughout Quadrophenia with a sign reading "Smash your guitar Pete!". Pete berates the father and mouths "fuck off!" in their direction. This earns Pete some tut-tutting in the next day's Toronto Sun.
On the 22nd is the release of the CD 12-12-12 The Concert for Sandy Relief feauring three live Who songs from the event.
The North American tour wraps up at Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, New York (21st), Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City (22nd), the Verizon Wireless Arena in Manchester, New Hampshire (24th) and the Dunkin' Donuts Center in Providence, Rhode Island (26th). Before heading back home, The Who play a high-ticket charity show at The Theater at Madison Square Garden with opening act Elvis Costello and the Imposters. Both performances are short, greatest hits selections although Elvis finishes his set by covering "Substitute". Proceeds benefit Teenage Cancer America and Sloan-Kettering.
March 2013
New music releases: "Blurred Lines" - Robin Thicke featuring T.I. and Pharrell Williams; "Habits (Stay High)" - Tove Lo; "Best Day of My Life" - American Authors; "On Top of the World" - Imagine Dragons
On the 1st, Roger Daltrey is interviewed on Fox 5 New York's morning program, mostly about the Teen Cancer USA initiative.
Also on the 1st the Toronto Sun reports that Pete Townshend has sent a letter of apology to a father and daughter he had cursed at during the Hamilton, Ontario show of February 19th.
On the 4th, the Manchester group Monkeys in Love releases their album The Monkeys in Love will Pet & Cuddle You featuring the song "The Man in the Keith Moon T-shirt".
On the 15th, the British and Irish Modern Music Institute (BIMM) announces that Roger has been appointed the first-ever Patron of BIMM Brighton.
On the 18th, the German electronic act Atom™ releases the album HD with an electronica cover of "My Generation".
On the first night (20th) of the Teenage Cancer Trust concerts, this year organized by Noel Gallagher, Roger comes out to start off that evening's festivities.
Also on the 20th, Brazilian singer Blubell appears on the show Estúdio Showlivre performing an acoustic cover of "My Generation". It is later released on the album Estúdio Showlivre: Blubell.
May 2013
New music releases: "Riptide" - Vance Joy; "Treasure" - Bruno Mars; "La La La" - Naughty Boy featuring Sam Smith; "Cool Kids" - Echosmith
On the 15th, Roger visits the SiriusXM studios in New York and is interviewed on The Howard Stern Show. On the same day an official Who message is released announcing that due to a recent injury, Zak Starkey will be taken a sabbatical from the drummer's chair. Scott Devours will replace him on the upcoming European tour.
On the 16th, Pete attends the revival of The Who's Tommy at the Stratford Festival in Stratford, Ontario, Canada. He joins the cast for the curtain call. Earlier in the day he is interviewed on 91.7 GIANT FM by Mike Tyler
On the 17th, Roger is interviwed on the American morning television show The View.
While he is in New York, Roger appears with teen heartthrob Cody Simpson at the Guitar Centre in New York and is interviewed by Dan Rather for the new cable show Dan Rather Reports.
June 2013
New music releases: "Wake Me Up" - Avicii; "Royals" - Lorde; "Counting Stars" - OneRepublic; "Do I Wanna Know" - Arctic Monkeys
On the 8th, the European leg of the new Quadrophenia tour opens at the O2 in Dublin. After the show U2's The Edge meets with Pete and Roger and suggests they change theiir onstage clothing.
Also on the 8th, Pete and Roger participate in a half-hour television show about their tour for the BBC World Service.
On the 11th, The Who are on the front cover of New Musical Express for the last time. Inside is an interview with Roger.
The tour continues to Belfast (10th), Glasgow SECC (12th), The O2 in London (15th-16th), Sheffield Motorpoint (18th), Newcastle Metro Radio Arena (20th), Manchester Arena (23rd), Cardiff Motorpoint (25th), Birmingham LG Arena (28th), and Liverpool Echo (30th).
After the Liverpool show, young musicians from the Livewire Youth Music charity in Saltash get to meet with Pete backstage. Pete had been a heavy contributor to the charity for the past 13 years. "Pete was a perfect host and a genuinely humble and all-round nice guy. It really was a life-changing experience for the young people - and this not-so-young youth worker! It was a great opportunity to meet Pete and finally get the chance to thank him in person."
July 2013
New music releases: "Burn" - Ellie Goulding; "Holy Grail" - Jay-Z featuring Justin Timberlake; "Propuesta Indecente" - Romeo Santos; Magna Carta... Holy Grail - Jay-Z
The Who's European leg of their Quadrophenia multi-media tour continues on the 3rd at Bercy Arena in Paris. From there they go to Ziggo Dome in Amsterdam (5th) and finish with Wembley Arena in London (8th), a concert benefitting the Double O charity.
On the 6th, actor-playwright Mick Berry launches his one-man play Keith Moon: The Real Me at the Eureka Theater in San Francisco. The Who's current musical director Frank Simes fulfills the same function during the play's run.
On the 22nd the British Phonographic Industry awards a number of certifications to The Who. Then and Now receives 2-times Platinum, The Ultimate Collection gets Platinum as does the videos for The Kids Are Alright. The Who Live at the Isle of Wight 1970, and Live at the Royal Albert Hall. Gold certifications go to Tommy, Live at Leeds, Who's Next, and Quadrophenia / Original Soundtrack as well as the videos for Thirty Years of Maximum R&B Live, The Vegas Job, Quadrophenia / Tommy Live, and Amazing Journey - The Story of The Who. The Who Sell Out, Who's Last, and Greatest Hits & More are all awarded Silver.
On the 23rd, Pete Townshend is one of 100 top international musicians who sign an Amnesty International petition calling for the release of two members of the Russian feminist punk rock group Pussy Riot, put in a prison camp the previous year for criticizing Vladimir Putin. The pleas are ignored and the two women are kept in prison until December.
On the 28th, the press reports that Roger Daltrey has been given permission to turn a former cattle-shed on his 400-acre estate in Burwash, East Sussex, into holiday lets for people seeking the tranquility of the countryside.
August 2013
New music releases: "All of Me" - John Legend; "Roar" - Katy Perry; "Hold On, We're Going Home" - Drake featuring Majid Jordan; "Wrecking Ball" - Miley Cyrus
On the 6th, Pete Townshend's autobiography Who I Am is released in paperback in the United States featuring a new 6-page afterword by Pete.
On the 9th, Mauro Porcu delivers a hour-long lecture called "Mad on the Moon: La via e l'arte di Keith Moon" at the Centro di Servizi Culturali in Macomer, Sardinia.
On the 10th, Roger Daltrey and his solo touring band take the place of the scheduled but recently deceased Ray Manzarek at the Orange County Fair in Costa Mesa, California. Proceeds goes to The Who's charity Teen Cancer America.
On the 12th, Roger receives a $5,000 check for Teen Cancer America at the Fremont Street Experience in downtown Las Vegas. FSE president Jeff Victor announces that the street will soon feature a 3D Viva Vision Show with a seven-minute light show playing three Who songs on the giant LED screens over the street.
On the 15th, Pete responds to a brewing Twitter storm over the resemblance of the group One Direction's new song "Best Song Ever" to his own "Baba O'Riley": "One Direction are in my business, with a million fans, and I'm happy to think they may have been influenced a little bit by The Who... Why would I not be happy about this kind of tribute?"
September 2013
New music releases: "Take Me to Church" - Hozier; AM - Arctic Monkeys; Nothing Was the Same - Drake; "Team" - Lorde
On the 2nd, a Spanish-language website reports that Pete Townshend has lost a yacht race in Menorca.
Also on the 2nd, Necton releases their album Retrodelica featuring an acid-house track called "My Generation" that samples audio from the movie The Kids Are Alright.
On the 3rd, mod clothing designer Ben Sherman announces a limited run of "Roger Daltrey" shirts as part of an "Icons" series to raise money for the Teenage Cancer Trust.
Also on the 3rd, Roger receives GQ Editor's Choice Award at the GQ Men of the Year Awards held at the Royal Opera House in London.
On the 5th, Roger, Melanie C, Alfie Boe, and Al Murray take the stage at One Mayfair in London to perform for the Queen AIDS Benefit for The Mercury Phoenix Trust. The event marks the occasion of Freddie Mercury's 67th birthday.
On the 7th, a two-day Who convention is held at Bush Hall in Shepherd's Bush, London. Chris Charlesworth, Keith Altham, and 'Dougal' Butler are interviewed. Simon Townshend and his band close the second night.
On the 9th, Roger, The Strypes, Josh McClory, Evan Walsh, Pete O'Hanlon, and Ross Farrelly visit a specialist Teenage Cancer Trust unit at University College Macmillan Cancer Centre in London.
On the 13th, a press release announces that Roger will be touring in a year's time with a multimedia talk and performance about his history in The Who. The tour is cancelled when The Who come calling again.
On the 15th, the HBO series The Newsroom concludes its second season. It features a cover of "Let My Love Open the Door" by Luminate.
On the 17th, Iggy Pop replaces Roger as The Caterpillar in ABC-TV's Once Upon a Time in Wonderland. Roger was not available to continue the series' spinoff.
Also on the 17th, Tommy Keene releases his album Excitement At Your Feet: The Tommy Keene Covers Album. It contains a Who cover but, despite the album's title, it is "Much Too Much".
On the 18th, guitarist Wilko Johnson of Dr. Feelgood, who has told he only has a few months to live, announces that he is teaming up with Roger to record a final album. The two had met at an awards show (probably the GQ Awards above) and Wilko had proposed the album which Roger accepted.
On the 18th, Roger makes a surprise appearance at the BIMM Brighton graduation ceremony at the Hilton Brighton Metropole. Roger is the first ever patron of the music education group and tells the graduates that they will have to fight for new ways to make a living in music citing, as has Pete, that iTunes control of the music industry will be their primary problem.
On the 23rd, Roy Harper releases his album Man and Myth featuring Pete playing on the song "Cloud Cuckooland".
Alson on the 23rd, the AXS Channel in the U.S. plays an episode of The Big Interview consisting of Roger being interviewed by U.S. newsman Dan Rather.
October 2013
New music releases: "Timber" - Pitbull featuring Kesha; "Rude" - Magic!; "The Monster" - Eminem featuring Rihanna; "Rap God" - Eminem
On the 15th, Pete again receives a BMI Award for having written the Who songs used as the themes to the internationally famous CSI series.
Also on the 15th, Artist Legacy Group issues a press release stating that they are "seeking out and developing new opportunities to leverage [Keith] Moon's intellectual property."
And also on the 15th, the band Notokens releases a cover of "My Generation" as a single.
On the 19th, The Connection releases their EP First Time featuring a cover of "The Kids Are Alright".
On the 22nd, Roger Daltrey and Pete attend the showing of new documentary Sensation: The Story of The Who's Tommy in London. Pete tells the press The Who will retire after a 2015 50th Anniversary tour. The documentary airs on BBC Four on the 25th.
On the 28th, Pete publishes a blog post called "Storms and People Passing... " Pete speaks of people he knew that recently passed away including Lou Reed.
On the 29th, Roger clarifies Pete's final tour statement of the 22nd in Billboard: "We cannot keep going on doing these month-after-month, long, extended tours... but it's not going to be the last thing The Who will do."
On the 30th, Roger appears at the United States Capitol to sing after the unveiling of a bust of Winston Churchill. Roger was invited to the event by House Speaker John Boehner.
November 2013
New music releases: "Happy" - Pharrell Williams; Frozen - Original Soundtrack; "Say Something" - A Great Big World and Christina Aguilera; Midnight Memories - One Direction
On the 1st, Roger Daltrey takes part in a photoshoot for the British edition of GQ magazine. He joins Ray Davies, Elton John, Bryan Ferry, and Paul Weller in being dressed up in custom-made wool suits for a feature called "Savile Row Is Rock 'n' Roll".
On the 5th, Pete Townshend's Jukebox, a CD of songs that "inspired" Pete, is released by Chrome Dreams.
On the 7th, BandMerch sets up a "pop-up" shop and pinball arcade at 19 Foubert's Place in London. The contents of the shop are a range of Who and Tommy-branded merchandise to celebrate the coming Deluxe and Super Deluxe editions of the rock opera.
On the 10th, Exclusive Media and Da Vinci Media Ventures announce they are going to make Roger's Keith Moon biopic as the first title in a newly announced multi-picture agreement. To date it has not appeared.
On the 11th, the Deluxe and Super Deluxe editions of The Who's original Tommy are released. The Super Deluxe includes the original version along with a new 5.1-audio mix, outtakes and demos and a collection of live versions of the songs from The Who's 1969 and 1976 tours.
On the 12th, Roger attends the press night after party of the London play Jeeves and Wooster in Perfect Nonsense.
On the 14th, the Fremont Street Experience in Las Vegas debuts its newest Viva Vision show "The Who - Miles Over Vegas". Images of The Who are projected edited to "I Can See For Miles", "Pinball Wizard" and "My Generation".
During this month, Roger records the album Going Back Home with guitarist Wilko Johnson who has been told he is dying of pancreatic cancer. The recording takes a week and uses Wilko's touring band of bassist Norman Watt-Roy and drummer Dylan Howe. The studio is Yellow Fish in Uckfield (Roger: "Unfortunate name for a place, but a great studio.")
On the 17th, Roger announces his political move to the right in The Sunday Times Magazine. He denounces the Labour party, claiming they allowed mass immigration and by doing so undermined British workers. "I will never forgive them for destroying the jobs of my mates, because they allowed their jobs to be undercut with stupid thinking on Europe, letting them all in, so they can live 10 to a room working for Polish wages." He says he will not rule out voting for Nigel Farage of UKIP in the next election.
On the 22nd, the Who compilation album Greatest Hits & More receives Gold certification from the BPI.
December 2013
New music releases: "Dark Horse" - Katy Perry featuring Juicy J; "Budapest" - George Ezra; "Turn Down for What" - DJ Snake and Lil Jon; "Loyal" - Chris Brown featuring Lil Wayne and Tyga
On the 3rd, Rocksmith Edition 2014 for XBox 360 and PS4 grows with the addition of five multitracks from The Who: "Pinball Wizard", "Who Are You", "The Seeker", "Baba O'Riley", and "Behind Blue Eyes".
Also on the 3rd, Roger Daltrey performs at the SeriousFun gala at the Camden Roundhouse, a children's charity event. Kate Nash also performs and Keira Knightley is among the celebrities in the audience.
On the 11th, Roger attends The Sun Military Awards in London.
On the 20th, The Who compilation Pinball Wizard - The Collection receives Gold certification from the British Phonographic Industry.