The Who are a British rock group from London, regarded among the greatest rock and roll bands of all time, with over 100 million records sold.
They were among the most influential groups in rock music: many artists measured themselves against their progressive approach to album writing and their thrilling concerts; the hard rock style they drew from the UK music scene was able to open the stage for groups like Led Zeppelin, Queen and The Clash.
The historic lineup of The Who
Pete Townshend on guitar and writer of most of the songs.
A guitarist, composer and singer, multi-instrumentalist and the band’s second voice. He also plays keyboards, accordion, ukulele, mandolin, violin, synthesizer, bass and drums. He is one of the greatest guitarists of all time and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of The Who.
Roger Daltrey on vocals
He is a singer, actor, guitarist and harmonica player with decent success as a solo artist, chosen by Ken Russell for the starring role in Tommy, the film inspired by the rock opera of the same name. He is the prototype of a rock band frontman: cheekiness, energy and great ability to interpret romantic ballads with intensity, an unmistakable and very powerful voice, one of the greatest and most charismatic singers in rock history.
John Entwistle on electric bass
In The Who, Pete Townshend preferred the rhythm parts, leaving others the solo roles, so John had to develop a more elaborate and complex technique; his bass was not a purely rhythmic instrument but melodic, so much so that Pete and John often swapped roles, with Pete marking the rhythm and John playing the solos—an innovative use of the bass for the time. One of the most important bassists in history.
Keith Moon on drums
A genius, together with John Bonham one of the best rock drummers of all time in my opinion (I don’t forget Neil Peart among them), and rightly inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of The Who. He started playing drums very young and was self-taught. He could neither read nor write music and learned to play by listening to records by jazz drumming giants like Gene Krupa and Buddy Rich.
He had a more creative than technical style, one of the first rock drummers to introduce the use of the double bass drum, long used in Jazz. In his kit the hi-hat was absent, except when he played in the studio, and he used crash cymbals more, to give more punch to his sound. He played unusual fills and often didn’t play a straight groove. He played flams with the double bass drum. His style influenced many of the greatest drummers.
The current lineup is made up of
Roger Daltrey – vocals (1964-1983; 1985; 1988; 1989; 1996-present), rhythm guitar (1982-1983; 1989; 1996-present)
Pete Townshend – lead guitar, keyboards, vocals (1964-1983; 1985; 1988; 1989; 1996-present)
These are the touring musicians
Simon Townshend – rhythm and lead guitar, backing vocals (1996-1997;2000-present)
Mick Talbot – keyboards (2004-present)
Pino Palladino – bass (2002-present)
Zak Starkey – drums (2000-present)
These are the former members
Doug Sandom - drums (1964)
Keith Moon - drums (1964-1978)
John Entwistle - bass, backing vocals (1964-1983; 1985; 1988; 1989; 1996-2002)
Kenney Jones - drums (1979-1983)
These are the former touring musicians
Steve Bolton - guitar (1981-1983; 1988-1990)
Simon Phillips - drums (1981-1983; 1988; 1989)
John Bundrick - keyboards, backing vocals (1979-1983)
Jon Carin - keyboards (1996-1997)
.jpeg "Tommy by The Who")
