No one can accuse 78-year-old Pete Townshend — co-founder, guitarist and primary songwriter of the legendary rock band The Who — of letting life pass him by.
Along with iconic hits such as “My Generation,” “Behind Blue Eyes” and “Baba O’Riley,” Townshend’s 1969 rock opera “Tommy” opened to success on Broadway in 1993 and is returning for a new run this month at the Nederlander Theatre opening on March 28.
Townshend spoke with the New York Times in an extensive interview to promote the “Pinball Wizard” rock opera, where he spoke about how it was “probably” a memoir in which he works out childhood trauma.
He also hinted at a farewell tour with The Who.
“It feels to me like there’s one thing The Who can do, and that’s a final tour where we play every territory in the world and then crawl off to die,” Townshend said in the interview.
He added that performing with the band doesn’t give him much of a “buzz” these days.
“If I’m really honest, I’ve been touring for the money,” he said. “My idea of an ordinary lifestyle is pretty elevated.”
In an interview with Record Collector last year, Townshend said he and bandmate Roger Daltrey needed to “have a chat” about what was next for the band.
“It’s a question of, really, what is feasible, what would be lucrative, what would be fun?” he said. “So, I wrote to Roger and said, ‘Come on, let’s have a chat and see what’s there.’”
