The Who are an English rock band, founded in 1961 under the name The Detours. When the band changed their name to The Who in 1964, the band's classic line-up was founders Roger Daltrey (vocals), Pete Townshend (guitar), John Entwistle (bass) and new drummer Keith Moon.[1] Founding members Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend have been the band's only constant members throughout its history.[2]
History
The band was first founded by Roger Daltrey under the name The Detours in 1959, the first line-up in mid 1961, included Pete Townshend on lead guitar, Daltrey on rhythm guitar, John Entwistle on bass, Harry Wilson on drums, and Colin Dawson on vocals.[3] Wilson was fired in mid-1962 and replaced by Doug Sandom.[4]
Dawson left after frequently arguing with Daltrey[5] and was briefly replaced by Gabby Connolly, before Daltrey moved to lead vocals. Townshend, with Entwistle's encouragement, became the sole guitarist. Sandom was fired after an argument with Townshend in 1964, the band continued with stand-in drummers, until Keith Moon joined in April of that year.
Moon was the band's drummer, until his death on 7 September 1978,[6][7] the band decided to continue without Moon.[8] He was replaced by Kenney Jones, who had previously played with the Small Faces and Faces, who joined that November.[9] Joining alongside Jones were keyboardist John "Rabbit" Bundrick and a four piece horn section consisting of Dick Parry and Howie Casey (saxophone), David Caswell (trumpet), and Reg Brooks (trombone). The horn section departed in 1980 and Bundrick departed in 1981. The latter was replaced by Tim Gorman for the band's final tour in 1982. The Who broke up in 1983.[10]
The who reunited at Live Aid in 1985, with Jones and Bundrick reprising their roles.[11] The band reunited again in 1988,[12] which the same personnel.[13] In 1989, the band embarked on a 25th-anniversary The Kids Are Alright reunion tour with Simon Phillips on drums, Steve "Boltz" Bolton on second guitarist, Jody Linscott on percussion, Simon Clarke and Tim Sanders on saxophone, Roddy Lorimer and Simon Gardner on trumpet, Neil Sidwell on trombone, and Chyna Gordon, Cleveland Watkiss and Billy Nicholls on backing vocals.
The band reformed again, at their Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction[14] with Paul Shaffer and The World's Most Dangerous Band as backup band.
The band tour again in 1996,[15] with an expanded band, consisting of, John "Rabbit" Bundrick on keyboards, Zak Starkey on drums, Simon Townshend on second guitar, Jon Carin on keyboards Jody Linscott on percussion, Dennis Farias, Nick Lane and Roy Wiegand on horns, Simon Gardner on trumpet, Neil Sidwell on trombone, and Billy Nicholls on backing vocals, and as musical director.
In late 1999, The Who performed as a five-piece for the first time since 1985, with Bundrick on keyboards and Starkey on drums. The band toured the US and UK from June to October 2000,[16] with Simon Townshend returning as second guitarist. The Who played concerts in the UK in early 2002 in preparation for a full US tour. On 27 June, the day before the first date,[17] Entwistle, 57, was found dead of a heart attack at the Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas. Cocaine was a contributing factor.[18]
Entwistle's son, Christopher, gave a statement supporting The Who's decision to carry on. The US tour began at the Hollywood Bowl with touring bassist Pino Palladino. Bundrick took hiatus from the band to tend terminally ill wife between November 2006 and March 2007 and was substituted for by his keyboard tech Brian Kehew.[19]
The band played at the 2012 Summer Olympics closing ceremony, with Chris Stainton on keyboards and Morgan Nicholls on bass.[20] The Quadrophenia and More tour started in November 2012 in Ottawa[21] with keyboardists John Corey, Loren Gold and Frank Simes, the last of whom was also musical director,[22] second guitarist Simon Townshend, and J. Greg Miller and Reggie Grisham on brass. Miller and Grisham both departed in 2013. Corey and Simes both departed in 2017.
The band started touring with an orchestra in 2019,[23] Billy Nichols returned as musical director and backing vocalist, Keith Levenson joined as conductor, Katie Jacoby on lead violin, Audrey Q. Snyder on lead cello, Emily Marshall on second keyboards. Randy Landau joined as lead contrabassist in 2022.
Members
Current members
| Image | Name | Years active | Instruments | Release contributions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roger Daltrey |
|
| All releases | |
| Pete Townshend |
|
.jpg)
Former members
| Image | Name | Years active | Instruments | Release contributions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| John Entwistle |
|
| All releases from My Generation (1965) to Live at the Royal Albert Hall (2003) | |
| Colin Dawson | 1961–1963 | lead vocals | none | |
| Harry Wilson | 1961–1962 | drums | ||
| Doug Sandom | 1962–1964 (died 2019) | |||
| Gabby Connolly | 1963 | lead vocals | ||
| Keith Moon |
|
| All releases from My Generation (1965) to Quadrophenia soundtrack (1979) | |
| Kenney Jones |
| drums | All releases from Quadrophenia soundtrack (1979) to Who's Last (1984) |
.jpg)
Touring members
Current touring members
| Image | Name | Years active | Instruments | Release contributions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zak Starkey | 1996–present |
| All current releases from Live At The Royal Albert Hall (2001) to present | |
| Simon Townshend |
|
| ||
| Loren Gold | 2012–present |
| All current releases from 12-12-12 The Concert for Sandy Relief (2013) to present except Who (2019) | |
| Jon Button | 2017–present |
| Tommy - Live At The Royal Albert Hall (2017) | |
| Billy Nicholls |
| backing vocals |
| |
| Keith Levenson | 2019–present |
| none | |
| Katie Jacoby | violin | |||
| Audrey Q. Snyder | cello | |||
| Emily Marshall |
| |||
| Randy Landau | 2022–present | contrabass |
.jpg)
Former touring members
| Image | Name | Years active | Instruments | Release contributions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| John "Rabbit" Bundrick |
|
|
| |
| Howie Casey | 1979–1980 | saxophone | none | |
| Dick Parry | ||||
| David Caswell | trumpet | |||
| Reg Brooks | trombone | |||
| Tim Gorman | 1982 |
|
| |
| Chyna Gordon | 1989 | backing vocals | Join Together (1990) | |
| Cleveland Watkiss | ||||
| Simon Clarke | saxophone | |||
| Tim Sanders | ||||
| Roddy Lorimer | trumpet | |||
| Simon Philips | drums | |||
| Steve Bolton | rhythm and lead guitar | |||
| Jody Linscott |
| percussion | ||
| Simon Gardner | trumpet | Join Together (1990) | ||
| Neil Sidwell | trombone | |||
| Jon Carin |
| keyboards |
| |
| Dennis Farias | 1996–1997 | trumpet | none | |
| Roy Wiegand | ||||
| Nick Lane | trombone | |||
| Pino Palladino | 2002–2016 | bass | ||
| Frank Simes | 2012–2017 |
|
| |
| John Corey |
| |||
| J. Greg Miller | 2012–2013 | brass | ||
| Reggie Grisham |
.jpg)
Substitutes
| Image | Name | Years active | Instruments | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scot Halpin | 1973 (died 2008) | drums | Moon lost consciousness during a show in San Francisco on 20 November 1973, and was substituted for by audience member Halpin.[39] | |
| Peter Huntington | 2004–2006 | Due to Starkey's touring commitments with Oasis, Huntington was the main drummer on Endless Wire.[40] | ||
| Steve White | 2005 | Starkey and Palladino were not able to join the band at Live8 in 2005, and were substituted for by White and Minchella.[41] | ||
| Damon Minchella | bass | |||
| Brian Kehew | 2006–2007 | keyboards | Bundrick was tending to his terminally ill wife between November 2006 and March 2007 and was substituted for by his keyboard tech Kehew.[19] | |
| J.J. Blair | 2006 | Kehew was unable to join the band on 8 November 2006, and was substituted for by Blair.[42] | ||
| Chris Stainton | 2012 | Nicholls and Stainton performed with the band at the 2012 Summer Olympics closing ceremony.[20] | ||
| Morgan Nicholls | bass | |||
| Scott Devours | 2013 | drums | Starkey was unable to join the band from 5–14 February and from 8 June – 8 July 2013, and was substituted for by Scott Devours.[43][44] |
.jpg)
Session musicians
| Image | Name | Years active | Instruments | Release contributions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jimmy Page | 1965 |
|
| |
| The Ivy League | backing vocals | |||
| Perry Ford | 1965 (died 1999) | piano | My Generation (1965)[47] | |
| Nicky Hopkins |
|
| ||
| Speedy Keen | 1967 (died 2002) | vocals | The Who Sell Out (1967)[52] | |
| Al Kooper |
| organ | ||
| Dave Arbus | 1971 | violin | Who's Next (1971)[49] | |
| Leslie West | 1971 (died 2020) | lead guitar | ||
| Jon Curle | 1972–1973 | voice | Quadrophenia (1973)[53] | |
| Chris Stainton | 1972–1974 |
| ||
| Arthur Brown | 1974 | vocals | Tommy (soundtrack) (1975)[50] | |
| Tina Turner | 1974 (died 2023) | |||
| Eric Clapton | 1974 |
| ||
| Elton John |
| |||
| Mick Ralphs | guitar | |||
| Caleb Quaye | ||||
| Ronnie Wood | ||||
| Davey Johnstone | ||||
| Alan Ross | acoustic guitar | |||
| Gerald Shaw | organ | |||
| Phil Chen | 1974 (died 2021) | bass | ||
| Dave Wintour | 1974 | |||
| Tony Stevens | ||||
| Dee Murray | 1974 (died 1992) | |||
| Fuzzy Samuels | 1974 | |||
| Mike Kellie | drums | |||
| Tony Newman | ||||
| Graham Deakin | ||||
| Nigel Olsson | ||||
| Ray Cooper | percussion | |||
| Rod Argent | 1977–1978 |
| Who Are You (1978)[54] | |
| Ted Astley | string arrangements | |||
| Andy Fairweather-Low |
|
|
| |
| Greg Lake | 2003–2004 (died 2016) | bass guitar | "Real Good Looking Boy" (2004) | |
| Jolyon Dixon | 2004–2006 | acoustic guitar | Endless Wire (2006)[56] | |
| Lawrence Ball | electronics | |||
| Stuart Ross | bass | |||
| Peter Huntington | drums | |||
| Gill Morley | violin | |||
| Brian Right | ||||
| Ellen Blair | viola | |||
| Vicky Matthews | cello | |||
| Rachel Fuller |
|
| ||
| Mick Talbot | 2014 | keyboards | "Be Lucky" (2014)[57] | |
| Andrew Synowiec | 2019 | acoustic guitar | Who (2019)[35] | |
| Gordon Giltrap | ||||
| Benmont Tench |
| |||
| Dave Sardy |
| |||
| Martin Batchelar |
| |||
| Peter Rotter | orchestra fixer | |||
| Bruce Dukov | orchestra leader | |||
| Gus Seyffert | bass | |||
| Joey Waronker | drums | |||
| Carla Azar | ||||
| Matt Chamberlain | ||||
| Josh Tyrrell | handclaps | |||
| Rowan McIntosh |
.jpeg)
_-_4935198456.jpg)
.jpg)
_(cropped).jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
Timeline
Official members[58]
Touring members timeline
Line-ups
| Period | Members | Studio and live releases |
|---|---|---|
| The Detours (1962 – January 1963) |
| |
| The Detours (January–December 1963) |
| |
| The Detours / The Who[A] (December 1963 – April 1964) |
| |
| The Who[B] (April 1964 – September 1978) |
|
|
| Death of Keith Moon (7 September 1978) | ||
| The Who Who Are You Tour (1979–1980) |
with
|
|
| The Who Face Dances Tour (1981) |
with
|
|
| The Who It's Hard Tour (1982) |
with
|
|
| Hiatus (1983–1988) | ||
| One-off performances at Live Aid (1985) and the BPI Awards Ceremony (1988) |
with
| |
| The Who 25th Anniversary Tour (1989) |
with
|
|
| One-off performance at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony (1990) |
with
| |
| Hiatus (1990–1995) | ||
| The Who Quadrophenia Tour (1996–1997) |
with
| |
| The Who (1999 – February 2002) |
with
|
|
| The Who (February–June 2002) |
with
| none – This line-up rehearsed for the 2002 tour, but did not actually perform in concert, as John Entwistle died shortly before the first show of the tour. |
| Death of John Entwistle (27 June 2002) | ||
| The Who (July 2002 – 2011) |
with
|
|
| One-off performance at the 2012 Summer Olympics closing ceremony (2012) |
with
| |
| The Who Quadrophenia and More Tour (2012–2013) |
with
|
|
| The Who (2014–2016) |
with
|
|
| The Who (2017) |
with
|
|
| The Who (2019–present)[59] |
with
|
|
References
Bibliography
- Marsh, Dave (1983). Before I Get Old: The Story of The Who. Plexus Publishing Ltd. ISBN 978-0-85965-083-0.
- Neill, Andrew; Kent, Matthew (2009). Anyway Anyhow Anywhere: The Complete Chronicle of The Who 1958–1978. Sterling Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7535-1217-3.
- Townshend, Pete (2012). Who I Am: A Memoir. HarperCollins. ISBN 978-0-06-212726-6.