Roger Daltrey
Encyclopedia
Roger Harry Daltrey, CBE
(born 1 March 1944), is an English singer and actor, best known as the founder and lead singer of English rock band The Who
. He has maintained a musical career as a solo artist and has also worked in the film industry, acting in a large number of films, theatre and television roles and also producing films. In 2008 he was ranked number 61 on Rolling Stone
magazine's list of the 100 greatest singers of all time.
area of London, but was brought up in Acton
, the same working class
suburban district that produced fellow Who members Pete Townshend
and John Entwistle
. He was one of three children born to parents Irene and Harry Daltrey, and grew up with two sisters, Gillian and Carol. Harry Daltrey worked for a water closet manufacturer, and Irene Daltrey was told she would be unable to have children because of losing a kidney
in 1937. Nevertheless, she went into labour during a World War II
air raid and gave birth to her son at the nearby Hammersmith Hospital
, West London. At the age of three, the young Roger swallowed a rusty nail which had to be surgically removed, leaving a visible scar. At the age of five, the rust from the nail caused an ulcer
in his stomach which required him to be hospitalised.
Daltrey attended Victoria Primary School and then Acton County Grammar School for Boys
along with Pete Townshend and John Entwistle. He showed academic promise in the English state school system, ranking at the top of his class on the eleven plus examination that led to his enrollment at the Acton County Grammar School. His parents hoped he would eventually continue on to study at the university, but Daltrey turned out to be a self-described "school rebel" and developed a dedicated interest in the emerging rock and roll music scene instead.
He made his first guitar from a block of wood, a cherry red Strat copy, and joined an existing skiffle
band called the Detours in need of a lead singer. They told him he had to bring a guitar, and within a few weeks he showed up with it—and he could play it too. When his father bought him an Epiphone
guitar in 1959, he became the lead guitarist for the band and soon afterwards was expelled from school for smoking. Describing the post-war times, Pete Townshend wrote in his autobiography, "Until he was expelled, Roger had been a good pupil. Then he heard Elvis and transmogrified into a Teddy Boy
with an electric guitar and a dress-sneer. Was it simply rock ‘n’ roll? It was obvious to a young man as intelligent as Roger that there was no future in conforming any more."
Daltrey became a sheet metal worker during the day, while practising and performing nights with the band at weddings, pubs and working men's club
s. He invited schoolmate John Entwistle
to play bass in the band, and on the advice of Entwistle, invited Pete Townshend
to play guitar. At that time, the band consisted of Daltrey on lead guitar, Pete Townshend on rhythm guitar, John Entwistle on bass, Doug Sandom
on drums and Colin Dawson on lead vocals. After Colin Dawson left the band, Daltrey switched to vocals and played harmonica
as well, while Townshend became the lead guitarist. In 1964 drummer Doug Sandom left the band, eventually being replaced by Keith Moon
.
Early on, Daltrey was the band's leader, earning a reputation for using his fists to exercise control when needed, despite his small stature (his height is reportedly 5 feet 7 inches (1.70 m)). According to Townshend, Roger "ran things the way he wanted. If you argued with him, you usually got a bunch of fives
." He generally selected the music they performed, including songs by The Beatles
, various Motown artists, James Brown, and other rock standards.
In 1964 the group discovered another band working as the Detours and discussed changing their name. Pete Townshend suggested "The Hair" and Townshend's roommate Richard Barnes suggested "The Who." The next morning, Daltrey made the decision for the band, saying "It's The Who, innit?"
During 1964, band manager Peter Meaden
renamed the band the High Numbers as part of a move to establish the band as Mod favourites. The name was a reference to the T-shirts with "numbers" that the Mods used at the time. Pete Meaden composed Mod songs for them (in fact, the songs were almost copies of Mod hits at the time, with changed lyrics) and they released one single, "I'm The Face/Zoot Suit", on Fontana Records
. The single was unsuccessful.
After Kit Lambert
and Chris Stamp
discovered the High Numbers at the Railway Hotel, the band quickly changed their name back to the Who, since neither Lambert nor Stamp liked the name the "High Numbers".
The other members of the Who expelled Daltrey from the band in late 1965 after he beat up drummer Keith Moon for supplying drugs to Townshend and Entwistle, causing him to re-examine his methods of dealing with people. A week later, Daltrey was admitted back to the band, but was told he'd be on probation. He promised there would be no more violent outbursts or assaults. Daltrey recalled, "I thought if I lost the band I was dead. If I didn't stick with the Who, I would be a sheet metal worker for the rest of my life."
The band's second single, "Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere
" was the only song on which Daltrey and Townshend collaborated, and Daltrey only wrote two other songs for the band during these years. As Townshend developed into one of rock's most accomplished composers, Daltrey's vocals became the vehicle through which Townshend's visions were expressed, and he gained an equally vaunted reputation as a powerful vocalist and riveting frontman. The Who's stage act was highly energetic, and Daltrey's habit of swinging the microphone around by its cord on stage became his signature move
.
Daltrey's Townshend-inspired stuttering expression of youthful anger, frustration and arrogance in the band's breakthrough single, "My Generation", captured the revolutionary feeling of the 1960s for many young people around the world and became the band's trademark. Later, his scream near the end of "Won't Get Fooled Again
" became a defining moment in rock and roll.
By 1973, he was experiencing considerable success with his solo projects and acting roles. While others of the band worked on recording the music for Quadrophenia, Daltrey used some of this time to check the Who's books. He found they had fallen into disarray under the management of Kit Lambert
and Chris Stamp
. Kit Lambert was also Pete Townshend's artistic mentor and challenging him led to renewed tension within the band. During a filming session (in an incident that Daltrey claimed was overblown) Townshend and Daltrey argued over the schedule. Townshend whacked the singer over the head with his guitar and Daltrey responded by knocking Townshend unconscious, again with a single blow.
With each of the Who's milestone achievements, Tommy
, Who's Next
, and Quadrophenia
, Daltrey was the face and voice of the band as they defined themselves as the ultimate rebels in a generation of change. When Ken Russell
's adaptation of Tommy
appeared as a feature film in 1975, Daltrey played the lead role, was nominated for a Golden Globe Award
for "Best Acting Debut in a Motion Picture" and appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone
magazine on 10 April 1975. Afterward, Daltrey worked with Russell again, starring as Franz Liszt
in Lisztomania. He worked with Rick Wakeman
on the soundtrack to this film, writing the lyrics to three songs and also performing these, as well as others.
The Who went on after the death of Keith Moon in 1978, but tension continued as Daltrey felt new drummer Kenney Jones
was the wrong choice for the Who. In 1980 Daltrey completed a major project for The Who Films, Ltd., a dramatic film called McVicar
about British bank robber John McVicar
. Daltrey produced and starred in the film, and completed a striking soundtrack with other members of the band. This success, along with other stresses, contributed to a deterioration of relations with Townshend, and the Who retired from active touring in 1982 when Townshend felt he was no longer able to write for the band. The band continued to work together sporadically, reuniting for the Live Aid
concert and recording songs for Daltrey's solo album Under a Raging Moon
and Townshend's solo album Iron Man
.
Daltrey turned to working as an actor, completing such high profile projects as The Beggar's Opera
and The Comedy of Errors
for the BBC. He also appeared in several film, television and stage productions during this period, including Mike Batt
's The Hunting of the Snark
(1987), The Little Match Girl
(1987), Buddy's Song (1990), which he also produced, and Mack the Knife
(1990). In 1991 he received a Grammy Award
with The Chieftains
for An Irish Evening: Live at the Grand Opera House, Belfast
.
The Who returned in 1989 with their 25th Anniversary Tour, which was also the 20th anniversary of the rock opera Tommy. The tour featured a large backing band and guest appearances by Steve Winwood
, Patti LaBelle
, Phil Collins
, Elton John
, and Billy Idol
. Although Daltrey experienced severe health problems due to an abdominal hemangioma
, he managed to complete the tour. He continued to work on stage and screen during this period, completing projects such as The Wizard of Oz in Concert: Dreams Come True
(1995) appearing as the Tin Woodman
alongside Nathan Lane
, Joel Grey
, Natalie Cole
, and Jewel Kilcher as Dorothy. During this time, he also began to appear in U.S. television shows.
In 1994 Daltrey celebrated his 50th birthday by performing a two-night spectacular at Carnegie Hall
titled A Celebration: The Music of Pete Townshend and The Who
, and popularly called Daltrey Sings Townshend. The show was produced by Daltrey's manager at the time, Richard Flanzer. The Who's music was arranged for orchestra by Michael Kamen
, who conducted The Juilliard Orchestra for the event. Bob Ezrin
, who produced Pink Floyd
's The Wall
CD, among other famous albums, produced the live CD. Pete Townshend, John Entwistle, Eddie Vedder
(who performed a special acoustic tribute), Sinéad O'Connor
, Lou Reed
, David Sanborn
, Alice Cooper
, Linda Perry
, The Chieftains
and others performed as special guests. Michael Lindsay-Hogg
directed the telecast, which was aired on satellite TV. The concert, at the time, was the fastest sell out in the famed venue's history. The event was followed by a major tour financed by Daltrey and including John Entwistle on bass, Zak Starkey
on drums and Simon Townshend
on guitar. Although the tour was considered an artistic success, it failed to make a profit due to the expense of providing extraordinary musicians and orchestras in every city to replicate the Carnegie Hall event. Significantly, the tour did attract attention to songs from The Who's rock opera Quadrophenia and gathered support for a staging and major tour of the rock opera in 1996-1997.
In 1996 Pete Townshend was approached to produce Quadrophenia for The Prince's Trust
concert at Hyde Park, London
. He at first planned to perform the opera as a solo acoustic piece using parts of the film on the screens, but after receiving offers of financing decided on a full-out production. When he first contacted Daltrey to request a collaboration, Daltrey refused, but after some discussion, he agreed to help produce a one-off performance. The opera was performed with a large backing band, including John Entwistle on bass, Pete Townshend on acoustic guitar and vocals, Zak Starkey on drums, Rabbit Bundrick and Jon Carin
on keyboards, Simon Townshend on guitar and special guests including David Gilmour
, Adrian Edmondson
, Trevor McDonald
and Gary Glitter
. A horn section and backing vocalists were added, along with other actors. On the night before the show, Daltrey was struck in the face by a microphone stand swung by Gary Glitter. The accident fractured his eye socket
and caused considerable concern that he might not be able to perform safely, but Daltrey donned an eye-patch to cover the bruises and completed the show as scheduled. Afterward, Townshend decided to take the production on tour in 1996-1997 as The Who.
After their Quadrophenia tour was successful, the band returned as The Who in a stripped-down, five-piece lineup for tours in 1999-2000. The band continued to work together, making a major impact at The Concert for New York City
. After Entwistle's death in June 2002, both Daltrey and Townshend decided to continue with an already planned tour as The Who. Bassist Pino Palladino
was chosen to fill Entwistle's place. The band also completed a brief tour in 2004. In 2006, they released their first studio album of new material in twenty-four years, Endless Wire
, leading some fans and critics to say that the highly acclaimed artistic tension within The Who lay between the two principals Daltrey and Townshend. The band completed a world tour in 2006-2007 to support this album.
In February 2010, Townshend and Daltrey, headlining as The Who, performed the halftime show at Super Bowl XLIV
in front of 105.97 million viewers across the globe. In March 2010, Townshend and Daltrey, along with an extensive backing band, performed Quadrophenia at the Royal Albert Hall
in London as a tenth anniversary charity benefit for the Teenage Cancer Trust
. Eddie Vedder
of Pearl Jam
sang the part of the Godfather, and Tom Meighan
of Kasabian sang the part of Aceface, and Tom Norris
, London Symphony Orchestra
Co-Principal Second Violin, played violin for the production.
The Who first toured North America in 1967, appearing at the Monterey Pop Festival
, and Daltrey brought back new experiences in dealing with larger venues and stages. 1968 proved a pivotal year with Townshend's movement beyond the quick three-minute single towards his goal of writing a rock opera
. Beginning with "A Quick One (While He's Away)", a nine-minute mini-opera, Daltrey’s performance in The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus
showed him with a new confidence in dealing with Townshend’s material. In 1969, The Who’s first major rock opera Tommy
was released, and Daltrey found a voice for the lead character that carried The Who to world stardom at such music venues as Woodstock and the Isle of Wight Festival
, and in opera houses around the world during the next two years. Townshend later remarked in the film Amazing Journey
, that with Tommy, and with Daltrey's adaptation to portraying the character on-stage, the singer evolved from what was essentially a tight, tough guy to one who outstretched his arms, bared his body to the audiences, and began to truly engage them. "With this change, the band was at last complete," he summed up. "It was a marriage," Townshend emphasised, "but it was a good marriage. Those were glorious years". Daltrey confirmed this, saying, he felt at last accepted, displaying a newly energetic role and sound during live performances.
Daltrey has long been known as one of the most charismatic of rock’s frontmen. According to Pete Townshend, "He almost invented the pseudo-messianic role taken up later by Jim Morrison and Robert Plant." His persona has earned him a position as one of the “gods of rock and roll” He developed a trademark move of swinging and throwing his microphone through a complex sequence, matching these sequences with the tempo of the song that was being played at the moment, although Daltrey reduced the athleticism of his performances in later years.
Wilshire solidbody electric guitar which he later sold to Pete Townshend on an easy payment plan. After he took over vocals for the band in the sixties and during the seventies, Daltrey rarely played guitar on stage; however, he played a Martin
acoustic guitar for appearances to promote his solo album Daltrey. He began playing guitar with The Who again during the band's tours in the eighties, and used a Fender Esquire
to play a second guitar part for the song "Eminence Front
" on The Who's 1982, 1989 and later tours. During the 1989 tour, he played a Gibson Chet Atkins SST
guitar for the song "Hey Joe." During The Who's 1996-97 Quadrophenia tour, Daltrey played a Gibson J-200
acoustic guitar.
After 1999, it became more common for Daltrey to play guitar during both The Who and solo shows. He ordered a Versoul Buxom 6 handmade acoustic guitar that he played on The Who's 2002 tour. Daltrey owns a Gibson Everly Brothers Flattop
acoustic guitar which he played on The Who and solo tours in the late first decade of the 21st century. On his 2009 tour with No Plan B, Daltrey played Pete Townshend's "Blue, Red and Grey" on an Ashbury cutaway tenor EQ ukulele
.
Roger Daltrey is known as one of the harmonica players who brought the instrument out of blues
and into popular music. Although the mouth harps that Daltrey uses have varied over the years, brands he has used include Hohner
and Lee Oskar
harmonicas. Daltrey plays using the blues harp (2nd position) or cross harp technique which originated in blues music.
Daltrey uses Shure
microphones with cords which he tapes to reinforce the connection and avoid cutting his hands when he swings and catches the microphone. He commonly uses a standard Shure SM58, but has also used Shure SM78 (in 1981), Shure model 565D Unisphere 1, and Shure model 548 Unidyne IV. Daltrey also uses a hybrid monitoring system with one in-ear monitor supplemented by floor wedges.
for "Best Acting Debut in a Motion Picture" for his starring role in the film version of The Who's rock opera Tommy. He also performed as a guest on the Chieftains' recording of Irish Evening: Live at the Grand Opera House
which won a Grammy Award for Best Traditional Folk Album
in 1993. With The Who, Daltrey received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award
in 2001 for outstanding artistic significance in music.
In 1990 Daltrey was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
in Cleveland, Ohio
as a member of The Who. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame also included three songs that Daltrey recorded with The Who on the list of 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll, including: "My Generation", "Go to the Mirror Boy
", and "Baba O'Riley
". In 2005 Daltrey received a British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors
Gold Badge Award for special and lasting contributions to the British entertainment industry.
In 2003, Daltrey was honoured by Time magazine as a European Hero for his work with the Teenage Cancer Trust
and other charities. In the New Year's Honours List published on 31 December 2004, he was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire
for services to Music, the Entertainment Industry, and Charity.
As a member of The Who, Daltrey was inducted in 2005 into the UK Music Hall of Fame
. In December 2008, he and Pete Townshend were honoured with America's most prestigious cultural awards as recipients of the 31st annual Kennedy Center Honors
in Washington, D.C. by then-President of the United States, George W. Bush
. On 4 March 2009, three days after his 65th birthday, Daltrey accepted the James Joyce Award
from the Literary and Historical Society of University College Dublin
for outstanding success in the music field.
On 12 March 2011, he received the Steiger Award
(Germany) for excellence in music. Daltrey and Pete Townshend received the Classic Album Award for Quadrophenia from The Classic Rock Roll Of Honour at The Roundhouse, November 9, 2011, in London, England.
in Glasgow
, Scotland. An audience of 35,000 attended and a sum of over £100,000 was donated to charity. He sang "Rock and Roll" on a charity single released as McEnroe & Cash with The Full Metal Rackets for Rock Aid Armenia
in 1986, and performed with The Who at Concert for Kampuchea
in 1979 and Live Aid
in 1985.
Daltrey appeared in The Wizard of Oz in Concert: Dreams Come True
in 1995 for The Children's Defense Fund
, and at the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert to benefit AIDS
research in 1992. Roger Daltrey's 1994 Celebration raised funds to support Babies and Children Hospital in New York City, as well.
With The Who, he performed for the Robin Hood Foundation
at The Concert for New York City
and other benefits in 2001; at Neil Young
's Bridge School Benefit
in 1999; and in the Quadrophenia
Concert for The Prince's Trust
in Hyde Park
, 1996. In addition, Daltrey performed at benefits in Vail, Colorado
, in 1999, and attended a PETA
benefit with Sarah McLachlan
and Chrissie Hynde
in the same year.
All The Who's Encore Series
profits go to young peoples' charities. Roger Daltrey was instrumental in starting the Teenage Cancer Trust
concert series in 2000, with The Who actually playing in 2000, 2002, 2004, 2007 and 2010 and Daltrey playing solo in 2011. Daltrey played benefits with The RD Crusaders
in 2003, 2004, 2006, 2008; performed with The Who at Live 8
in 2005, for the Nordoff-Robbins Silver Clef benefit in 2005, and for the Los Angeles area City of Hope
benefit in 2001 and 2004. The Who played with special guest Michael J. Fox
at the 2008 "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Cure Parkinson's" benefit.
Daltrey performed at the first ChildLine Rocks concert at London's IndigO2 on 13 March 2008. In 2009 Daltrey was a judge for the 8th annual Independent Music Awards
to support independent artists. In the same year, he appeared again on stage with Michael J. Fox for the "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Cure Parkinson's" benefit. In April 2010, he headlined the Imagine A Cure II show honouring the legacy of John Lennon
, which raised money for the Puget Sound Affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure
breast cancer charity. In 2011, Daltrey became a patron of the Children's Respite Trust for children with disabilities.
In 2011, Daltrey, Steven Tyler
and Julie Andrews
provided funding for Bob Langer
's research at Massachusetts Institute of Technology
into vocal chord repair for victims of cancer and other disorders. On November 4, 2011, Daltrey and Pete Townshend launched the Daltrey/Townshend Teen and Young Adult Cancer Program at the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center
in Los Angeles, to be funded by The Who's charity Who Cares. The launch, followed on November 5 by a fund-raising event, was also attended by Robert Plant
and Dave Grohl
. Daltrey also announced that a portion of ticket sales from his solo tours would go to fund the teen cancer centers.
Daltrey owns a farm at Holmshurst Manor
, a country estate near Burwash, East Sussex
built in 1610, as well as his parents' old home in London. He designed and built Lakedown trout fishery near Burwash, documented in the film Underwater World of Trout, Vol. 1. He bought a home in Los Angeles
in the early 2000s.
Daltrey is a supporter of Arsenal F.C.
.
Daltrey claims to have never tried hard drugs and unlike his fellow band mates, has stayed straight and free from addiction problems.
and has played concerts to raise funds for the organisation. Daltrey is a supporter of the Labour Party
in Britain, but has been strongly critical of its policy of "mass immigration"
, arguing that the current immigration policies undermine the British working class. He has also expressed his admiration for Queen Elizabeth II.
which was published in Britain's Daily Express
.
Daltrey also wrote a song called "Crossroads Now" for The Who which grew out of an onstage jam in 1999 after the song "My Generation." Another Daltrey song, entitled "Certified Rose," was rehearsed by The Who shortly before the death of John Entwistle. The band had planned on playing it (as well as Townshend's "Real Good Looking Boy") during their 2002 tour, but plans were halted after Entwistle's death. Although it was rumoured that a studio version was recorded during the Endless Wire
sessions (and might feature Entwistle's basslines from 2002), Townshend later stated that no such recording was made.
"Early Morning Cold Taxi", a song recorded during The Who Sell Out
sessions in 1967 and released in 1994 on the Thirty Years of Maximum R&B
boxset, is credited to Roger Daltrey and Who roadie Dave "Cy" Langston. Some sources report that the song was solely written by Langston. At the time Daltrey and Langston were planning to form a writing-partnership, where all songs written by either of them would be credited as Daltrey/Langston. The partnership produced only one other song—an unreleased demo titled "Blue Caravan." Langston went on to play guitar on John Entwistle's first solo album, Smash Your Head Against the Wall
, in 1970.
Daltrey has released eight solo albums. The first was the self-titled Daltrey
in 1973, recorded during a hiatus in The Who's touring schedule. The top single off the album, "Giving It All Away", reached number five in the UK and the album, which introduced Leo Sayer
as a songwriter, made the Top 50 in the United States. The inner sleeve photography shows a trompe-l'œil in reference to the Narcissus
myth, as Daltrey's reflection in the water differs from his real appearance. He also released a single in 1973, "Thinking" with "There is Love" on the B-side. Bizarrely, the UK release, with considerable airplay of "Giving it all away" (first lines "I paid all my dues so I picked up my shoes, I got up and walked away") coincided with news reports of the Who being sued for unpaid damage to their hotel on a recent tour, including a TV set being thrown out of the window.
Daltrey's second album, Ride a Rock Horse
, was released in 1975 and is his second most commercially successful solo album. Its cover, photographed by Daltrey's cousin Graham Hughes, is remarkable for depicting the singer as a rampant centaur
.
When Sayer launched his own career as an artist, Daltrey called on a widening group of friends to write for and perform on his albums. Paul McCartney
contributed the new song "Giddy" to One of the Boys
, where the band included Hank Marvin
, Eric Clapton
, Alvin Lee
and Mick Ronson
. On this cover, another visual trick is played with Daltrey's mirror image, with reference to Magritte's famous painting Reproduction Interdite
.
McVicar
was billed as a soundtrack album for the film of the same name, in which Daltrey starred and also co-produced. It featured all the other members of The Who (Townshend, Entwistle and Kenney Jones
). McVicar included two hit singles, "Free Me" and "Without Your Love
", and is Daltrey's best-selling solo recording.
The title track to Under a Raging Moon
was a tribute to Who drummer Keith Moon
, who died in 1978. Each of the album's tracks, including "Let Me Down Easy" by Bryan Adams
, expresses the frustration of growing older as only a man who sang "Hope I die before I get old" can. Daltrey is credited as co-writer on "Don't Talk to Strangers," "The Pride You Hide," "Move Better in the Night" and "It Don't Satisfy Me."
On Can't Wait to See the Movie
, Daltrey is credited as co-writer on the tracks "Balance on Wires" and "Take Me Home." On Rocks in the Head
, Daltrey is credited (along with Gerard McMahon
) for co-writing seven of the eleven tracks, including: "Times Changed," "You Can't Call It Love," "Love Is," "Blues Man's Road," "Days of Light," "Everything A Heart Could Ever Want" and "Unforgettable Opera." On this album, Daltrey's voice ranges from a powerful bluesy growl à la Howlin' Wolf
to the tender vocals shared with his daughter Willow on the ballad 'Everything A Heart Could Ever Want". This was his first major effort as a song-writer for his own solo albums.
For his compilation album Moonlighting
, Daltrey co-wrote the song "A Second Out" with Steve McEwan
of the band UnAmerican
. The recording features Daltrey's vocals backed by McEwan on acoustic guitar.
In 1992, Daltrey appeared in The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert
, singing the hard rock
song "I Want It All
", to pay homage to his longlife friend Freddie Mercury
, who died the previous year one day after a public announcement that he suffered from AIDS
.
Daltrey celebrated his fiftieth birthday in 1994 by performing at Carnegie Hall
in two shows (23 and 24 February ) later issued on CD and video called A Celebration: The Music of Pete Townshend and The Who
, sometimes called Daltrey Sings Townshend, accompanied by The Juilliard Orchestra, Pete Townshend, John Entwistle, Irish dancers and other special guests. The success of these two shows led to a U.S. tour by the same name, featuring Pete Townshend's brother Simon on lead guitar with Phil Spalding taking bass duties for the first half of each show and John Entwistle playing for the second half. An Australian leg was considered but eventually scrapped.
Daltrey took on a number of other solo projects, including a tour with the British Rock Symphony in 1998, and the Night of the Proms
in 2005. Daltrey also worked with the Rock 'n Roll Fantasy Camp
, raising money for charities during the final concert.
Besides the songs Daltrey co-wrote for his solo albums, he is credited for co-writing others, including: "Child O Mine" with Gerard McMahon
, used on the soundtrack for The Banger Sisters
and on the TV show Witchblade
. On the soundtrack
for Lisztomania, Daltrey is credited with "Love's Dream", "Orpheus Song" and "Peace at Last."
In 2005, Daltrey had a short weekly series on BBC Radio 2
, presenting a personal choice of rock'n'roll favourites. In 2006, he wrote and performed a specially commissioned song, "Highbury Highs", for Highbury Farewell ceremony following the final football match on 7 May at Arsenal Stadium
between Arsenal
and Wigan
, in which Arsenal celebrated the previous 93 years at Highbury, preparing for their move to the Emirates Stadium
, Ashburton Grove, the following season.
on rhythm guitar and vocals, Frank Simes
on lead guitar, Jon Button
on bass, Loren Gold
on keyboards, and Scott Devours
on drums. Eddie Vedder
made a guest appearance at the Seattle, WA show on 12 October. In 2010, Daltrey and No Plan B appeared for several dates with Eric Clapton
, including Summerfest
at Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The band also scheduled additional dates in 2010 without Clapton.
In 2011 the band performed the rock opera Tommy and other songs at a warm-up show in Bournemouth
at the O2 Academy 19 March in preparation for a show scheduled at Royal Albert Hall
to benefit the Teenage Cancer Trust on 24 March. Pete Townshend played and sang as a guest at the TCT show. Later in 2011, the band scheduled the "Tommy Reborn" tour of the UK and Europe, followed by a tour of the US and Canada. Additional dates were booked in Australia for 2012. Downloads from the tour were made available through the Internet.
, sharing the lead vocal. The following year, he appeared in Barbra Streisand
's music video for her single "Emotion", playing Streisand's emotionally uninterested husband.
In 1992, he appeared on The Chieftains
' Grammy Award
-winning album, An Irish Evening: Live at the Grand Opera House
. He also released an album with the Boys Choir of Harlem
in 1998 with selections from A Christmas Carol
. Also in 1998, Daltrey performed two songs with the Jim Byrnes
Blues Band at the Los Angeles Highlander Convention. He borrowed a guitar to play for the songs, after reassuring the owner that he would not break it. Daltrey taught thirteen-year-old Drake Bell
how to play the guitar in 1999. Drake later starred in Drake and Josh and released two albums.
In 2001, Daltrey provided backing vocals for the title track of the Joe Strummer
and The Mescaleros
album Global a Go-Go
. In 2003, he provided backing vocals for thrash-metal band Anthrax
on the song "Taking the Music Back" from their album We've Come for You All
. The collaboration came about through Anthrax guitarist Scott Ian
's girlfriend, Pearl Aday, daughter of Meat Loaf
, whose mother was a friend of Daltrey and his wife. In 2005, Daltrey collaborated with the British pop band, McFly to sing his hit song "My Generation".
On 12 January 2009, Daltrey headlined a one-off concert along with Babyshambles
at the O2 Academy Bristol for Teenage Cancer Trust
. On Sunday 5 July 2009, Daltrey joined Paul Weller
onstage at Hop Farm Festival in Kent for an encore of "Magic Bus
". In 2011 Daltrey recorded a duet on the song "Ma seule amour" with French singer and composer Laurent Voulzy
for his album Lys and Love.
, as "deaf, dumb and blind boy" Tommy Walker in 1975; Lisztomania, as Hungarian composer Franz Liszt
in 1975, and McVicar
, as British armed-robber-turned-journalist John McVicar
in 1980.
In 2003, Roger Daltrey starred as the voice of Argon the Dragon Bus Driver in the children's DVD called The Wheels on the Bus: Mango and Papaya's Animal Adventure
from Armstrong Moving Pictures. The DVD featured Daltrey as a costumed children's dragon, who drove a bus for two lost puppets trying to return to their home at the zoo. Daltrey provided vocals for children's classics, such as "The Wheels on the Bus Go Round and Round
," in addition to songs written specifically for the home video. He later appeared in two other videos for this series.
as both Dromios in The Comedy of Errors
, the police drama series The Bill
, the science fiction series Sliders
as Col. Angus Rickman, the VH1 series Strange Frequency 2, Witchblade
as the devil, and was a recurring guest star in Highlander: The Series
as Immortal Hugh Fitzcairn
, one of the closest friends of lead character Duncan MacLeod
. In 1983, he played Macheath, the outlaw hero of BBC TV's production of John Gay
's 1728 ballad opera, 'The Beggar's Opera
'.
In 1986 he acted in the TV series Buddy. In 1993, He guest-starred (along with Steve Buscemi
) in an episode of Tales From The Crypt
entitled "Forever Ambergris". Daltrey appeared as a villain in a 1996 episode of Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman
. He also played Nobby Clegg, a character named after the band Nobby Clegg and the Civilians, in the Showtime series Rude Awakening
.
Daltrey appeared in an episode of The Simpsons
, "A Tale of Two Springfields
", as himself along with John Entwistle (Pete Townshend was replaced by his brother Paul for the episode). The Who helped Homer break down a wall he had built through the town of Springfield.
A self-described history buff, Daltrey often involves himself in history research related media including television documentaries. Pirate Tales from 1997, is a documentary/action show about the age of piracy
in the 18th century, in which Daltrey impersonated English buccaneer William Dampier
in a main role as the narrator throughout the series. In 2003 he hosted the History Channel's Extreme History with Roger Daltrey talking about historical events and explaining the survival techniques the civilisations treated had available.
He also appeared in "That '70s Musical", the 100th episode of That '70s Show
as Fez's musical director.
Daltrey guest starred in a 7 November 2006 episode of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation ("Living Legend") as Mickey Dunn, a prominent Las Vegas 1970s mob boss who returns to Las Vegas to avenge his attempted murder. The Who's music, and Daltrey's singing, provide the themes for all three of the series in the CSI franchise every week ("Who Are You
" for the original show, "Won't Get Fooled Again
" for CSI: Miami
and "Baba O'Riley
" for CSI: NY
).
In 2005, Daltrey had a cameo appearance as himself in the episode "The Priest and the Beast" in Series 2 of The Mighty Boosh
. He is found by the main characters vacuuming a desert, presumably as a "karmic" consequence of leaving Woodstock early and not helping to clean up. Also in 2005, he played the part of loblolly boy in the TV drama Trafalgar Surgeon.
Daltrey has also performed on the soundtrack of a number of films and television shows, most notably CSI. He also appeared in the music video for "Emotion
" by Barbra Streisand
, although neither he nor The Who were the featured act.
's The Hunting of the Snark
in 1987 as The Barrister, and also in Batt's Philharmania with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
in 1998. He appeared in The Wizard of Oz in Concert: Dreams Come True
in 1995 as the Tin Man. Also in 1995 he starred in a three part Bert Coules
BBC radio dramatisation of the Mutiny on the Bounty
novels of Charles Nordhoff
and James Norman Hall
, and in 1996 he starred in a BBC Radio 2
production of Jesus Christ Superstar
as Judas
. In 1998, Daltrey played the part of Scrooge
in the Radio City Music Hall
production of A Christmas Carol
in New York City. In 2003, he starred as Alfred P. Doolittle in a production of My Fair Lady
at the Hollywood Bowl
alongside John Lithgow
and Melissa Errico
.
(1980), Quadrophenia
(1979) and a an untitled Keith Moon film project in development.
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
(born 1 March 1944), is an English singer and actor, best known as the founder and lead singer of English rock band The Who
The Who
The Who are an English rock band formed in 1964 by Roger Daltrey , Pete Townshend , John Entwistle and Keith Moon . They became known for energetic live performances which often included instrument destruction...
. He has maintained a musical career as a solo artist and has also worked in the film industry, acting in a large number of films, theatre and television roles and also producing films. In 2008 he was ranked number 61 on Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
magazine's list of the 100 greatest singers of all time.
Early life
Roger Harry Daltrey was born in the HammersmithHammersmith
Hammersmith is an urban centre in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in west London, England, in the United Kingdom, approximately five miles west of Charing Cross on the north bank of the River Thames...
area of London, but was brought up in Acton
Acton, London
Acton is a district of west London, England, located in the London Borough of Ealing. It is situated west of Charing Cross.At the time of the 2001 census, Acton, comprising the wards of East Acton, Acton Central, South Acton and Southfield, had a population of 53,689 people...
, the same working class
Working class
Working class is a term used in the social sciences and in ordinary conversation to describe those employed in lower tier jobs , often extending to those in unemployment or otherwise possessing below-average incomes...
suburban district that produced fellow Who members Pete Townshend
Pete Townshend
Peter Dennis Blandford "Pete" Townshend is an English rock guitarist, vocalist, songwriter and author, known principally as the guitarist and songwriter for the rock group The Who, as well as for his own solo career...
and John Entwistle
John Entwistle
John Alec Entwistle was an English bass guitarist, songwriter, singer, horn player, and film and record producer who was best known as the bass player for the rock band The Who. His aggressive lead sound influenced many rock bass players...
. He was one of three children born to parents Irene and Harry Daltrey, and grew up with two sisters, Gillian and Carol. Harry Daltrey worked for a water closet manufacturer, and Irene Daltrey was told she would be unable to have children because of losing a kidney
Kidney
The kidneys, organs with several functions, serve essential regulatory roles in most animals, including vertebrates and some invertebrates. They are essential in the urinary system and also serve homeostatic functions such as the regulation of electrolytes, maintenance of acid–base balance, and...
in 1937. Nevertheless, she went into labour during a World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
air raid and gave birth to her son at the nearby Hammersmith Hospital
Hammersmith Hospital
Hammersmith Hospital is a major teaching hospital in West London. It is part of Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, and is associated with the Imperial College Faculty of Medicine...
, West London. At the age of three, the young Roger swallowed a rusty nail which had to be surgically removed, leaving a visible scar. At the age of five, the rust from the nail caused an ulcer
Peptic ulcer
A peptic ulcer, also known as PUD or peptic ulcer disease, is the most common ulcer of an area of the gastrointestinal tract that is usually acidic and thus extremely painful. It is defined as mucosal erosions equal to or greater than 0.5 cm...
in his stomach which required him to be hospitalised.
Daltrey attended Victoria Primary School and then Acton County Grammar School for Boys
Acton High School
Acton High School & Centre For Media Arts is a state school located in Acton, London specialising in Media Arts.-Admissions:...
along with Pete Townshend and John Entwistle. He showed academic promise in the English state school system, ranking at the top of his class on the eleven plus examination that led to his enrollment at the Acton County Grammar School. His parents hoped he would eventually continue on to study at the university, but Daltrey turned out to be a self-described "school rebel" and developed a dedicated interest in the emerging rock and roll music scene instead.
He made his first guitar from a block of wood, a cherry red Strat copy, and joined an existing skiffle
Skiffle
Skiffle is a type of popular music with jazz, blues, folk, roots and country influences, usually using homemade or improvised instruments. Originating as a term in the United States in the first half of the twentieth century, it became popular again in the UK in the 1950s, where it was mainly...
band called the Detours in need of a lead singer. They told him he had to bring a guitar, and within a few weeks he showed up with it—and he could play it too. When his father bought him an Epiphone
Epiphone
The Epiphone Company is a musical instrument manufacturer founded in 1873 by Anastasios Stathopoulos. Epiphone was bought by Chicago Musical Instrument Company, which also owned Gibson Guitar Corporation, in 1957. Epiphone was Gibson's main rival in the archtop market...
guitar in 1959, he became the lead guitarist for the band and soon afterwards was expelled from school for smoking. Describing the post-war times, Pete Townshend wrote in his autobiography, "Until he was expelled, Roger had been a good pupil. Then he heard Elvis and transmogrified into a Teddy Boy
Teddy Boy
The British Teddy Boy subculture is typified by young men wearing clothes that were partly inspired by the styles worn by dandies in the Edwardian period, styles which Savile Row tailors had attempted to re-introduce in Britain after World War II...
with an electric guitar and a dress-sneer. Was it simply rock ‘n’ roll? It was obvious to a young man as intelligent as Roger that there was no future in conforming any more."
Daltrey became a sheet metal worker during the day, while practising and performing nights with the band at weddings, pubs and working men's club
Working men's club
Working men's clubs are a type of private social club founded in the 19th century in industrial areas of the United Kingdom, particularly the North of England, the Midlands and many parts of the South Wales Valleys, to provide recreation and education for working class men and their families.-...
s. He invited schoolmate John Entwistle
John Entwistle
John Alec Entwistle was an English bass guitarist, songwriter, singer, horn player, and film and record producer who was best known as the bass player for the rock band The Who. His aggressive lead sound influenced many rock bass players...
to play bass in the band, and on the advice of Entwistle, invited Pete Townshend
Pete Townshend
Peter Dennis Blandford "Pete" Townshend is an English rock guitarist, vocalist, songwriter and author, known principally as the guitarist and songwriter for the rock group The Who, as well as for his own solo career...
to play guitar. At that time, the band consisted of Daltrey on lead guitar, Pete Townshend on rhythm guitar, John Entwistle on bass, Doug Sandom
Doug Sandom
Doug Sandom is a British drummer who was the original drummer for the English rock band The Who. During the infancy of the band's career, while they were playing as The Detours , Sandom, a bricklayer, joined as drummer...
on drums and Colin Dawson on lead vocals. After Colin Dawson left the band, Daltrey switched to vocals and played harmonica
Harmonica
The harmonica, also called harp, French harp, blues harp, and mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used primarily in blues and American folk music, jazz, country, and rock and roll. It is played by blowing air into it or drawing air out by placing lips over individual holes or multiple holes...
as well, while Townshend became the lead guitarist. In 1964 drummer Doug Sandom left the band, eventually being replaced by Keith Moon
Keith Moon
Keith John Moon was an English musician, best known for being the drummer of the English rock group The Who. He gained acclaim for his exuberant and innovative drumming style, and notoriety for his eccentric and often self-destructive behaviour, earning him the nickname "Moon the Loon". Moon...
.
Early on, Daltrey was the band's leader, earning a reputation for using his fists to exercise control when needed, despite his small stature (his height is reportedly 5 feet 7 inches (1.70 m)). According to Townshend, Roger "ran things the way he wanted. If you argued with him, you usually got a bunch of fives
Punch (strike)
A punch is a striking blow with the fist. It is the most commonly used attack in hand to hand combat. It is used in some martial arts and combat sports, most notably boxing where it is the only type of technique allowed...
." He generally selected the music they performed, including songs by The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
, various Motown artists, James Brown, and other rock standards.
In 1964 the group discovered another band working as the Detours and discussed changing their name. Pete Townshend suggested "The Hair" and Townshend's roommate Richard Barnes suggested "The Who." The next morning, Daltrey made the decision for the band, saying "It's The Who, innit?"
During 1964, band manager Peter Meaden
Peter Meaden
Peter Alexander Edwin Meaden was a publicist for various musicians and the first manager for The Who. He was a prominent figure in the English mod subculture of the early 1960s....
renamed the band the High Numbers as part of a move to establish the band as Mod favourites. The name was a reference to the T-shirts with "numbers" that the Mods used at the time. Pete Meaden composed Mod songs for them (in fact, the songs were almost copies of Mod hits at the time, with changed lyrics) and they released one single, "I'm The Face/Zoot Suit", on Fontana Records
Fontana Records
Fontana Records is a record label which was started in the 1950s as a subsidiary of the Dutch Philips Records; when Philips restructured its music operations it dropped Fontana in favor of Vertigo Records. In the seventies PolyGram acquired the dormant label....
. The single was unsuccessful.
After Kit Lambert
Kit Lambert
Christopher "Kit" Sebastian Lambert was a record producer and the manager for The Who.-Early life:Kit Lambert was the son of noted composer, Constant Lambert...
and Chris Stamp
Chris Stamp
Christopher Stamp is a British psychodrama therapist based in the state of New York. Stamp is also known for co-founding the now defunct Track Records and for co-managing and producing such musical acts as The Who and Jimi Hendrix in the 1960s and '70s.-Childhood:Born into a working-class family,...
discovered the High Numbers at the Railway Hotel, the band quickly changed their name back to the Who, since neither Lambert nor Stamp liked the name the "High Numbers".
The Who years
With the band's first hit single and record deal in early 1965, Townshend began writing original material and Daltrey's dominance of the band began to decline.The other members of the Who expelled Daltrey from the band in late 1965 after he beat up drummer Keith Moon for supplying drugs to Townshend and Entwistle, causing him to re-examine his methods of dealing with people. A week later, Daltrey was admitted back to the band, but was told he'd be on probation. He promised there would be no more violent outbursts or assaults. Daltrey recalled, "I thought if I lost the band I was dead. If I didn't stick with the Who, I would be a sheet metal worker for the rest of my life."
The band's second single, "Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere
Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere
"Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere" was a single released by The Who in 1965. It features call-and-response lyrics and some of the first ever recorded guitar feedback. The song was composed by guitarist Pete Townshend and vocalist Roger Daltrey, the only time they wrote together...
" was the only song on which Daltrey and Townshend collaborated, and Daltrey only wrote two other songs for the band during these years. As Townshend developed into one of rock's most accomplished composers, Daltrey's vocals became the vehicle through which Townshend's visions were expressed, and he gained an equally vaunted reputation as a powerful vocalist and riveting frontman. The Who's stage act was highly energetic, and Daltrey's habit of swinging the microphone around by its cord on stage became his signature move
Signature move
A signature move is a move or ability that is almost analogous to the person or character that uses it. This may infer that the move is usually a staple of the user's repertoire, and on most occasions was invented by the performer.-Usage:...
.
Won't Get Fooled Again
"Won't Get Fooled Again" is a song by the rock band The Who which was written by Pete Townshend The original version of the song appears as the final track on the album Who's Next...
" became a defining moment in rock and roll.
By 1973, he was experiencing considerable success with his solo projects and acting roles. While others of the band worked on recording the music for Quadrophenia, Daltrey used some of this time to check the Who's books. He found they had fallen into disarray under the management of Kit Lambert
Kit Lambert
Christopher "Kit" Sebastian Lambert was a record producer and the manager for The Who.-Early life:Kit Lambert was the son of noted composer, Constant Lambert...
and Chris Stamp
Chris Stamp
Christopher Stamp is a British psychodrama therapist based in the state of New York. Stamp is also known for co-founding the now defunct Track Records and for co-managing and producing such musical acts as The Who and Jimi Hendrix in the 1960s and '70s.-Childhood:Born into a working-class family,...
. Kit Lambert was also Pete Townshend's artistic mentor and challenging him led to renewed tension within the band. During a filming session (in an incident that Daltrey claimed was overblown) Townshend and Daltrey argued over the schedule. Townshend whacked the singer over the head with his guitar and Daltrey responded by knocking Townshend unconscious, again with a single blow.
With each of the Who's milestone achievements, Tommy
Tommy (rock opera)
Tommy is the fourth album by English rock band The Who, released by Track Records and Polydor Records in the United Kingdom and Decca Records/MCA in the United States. A double album telling a loose story about a "deaf, dumb and blind boy" who becomes the leader of a messianic movement, Tommy was...
, Who's Next
Who's Next
Who's Next is the fifth studio album by English rock band The Who, released in August 1971. The album has origins in a rock opera conceived by Pete Townshend called Lifehouse. The ambitious, complex project did not come to fruition at the time and instead, many of the songs written for the project...
, and Quadrophenia
Quadrophenia
Quadrophenia is the sixth studio album by English rock band The Who. Released on 19 October 1973 by Track and Polydor in the UK, and Track and MCA in the US, it is a double album, and the group's second rock opera...
, Daltrey was the face and voice of the band as they defined themselves as the ultimate rebels in a generation of change. When Ken Russell
Ken Russell
Henry Kenneth Alfred "Ken" Russell was an English film director, known for his pioneering work in television and film and for his flamboyant and controversial style. He attracted criticism as being obsessed with sexuality and the church...
's adaptation of Tommy
Tommy (film)
Tommy is a 1975 British musical film based upon The Who's 1969 rock opera album musical Tommy. It was directed by Ken Russell and featured a star-studded cast, including the band members themselves...
appeared as a feature film in 1975, Daltrey played the lead role, was nominated for a Golden Globe Award
Golden Globe Award
The Golden Globe Award is an accolade bestowed by the 93 members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association recognizing excellence in film and television, both domestic and foreign...
for "Best Acting Debut in a Motion Picture" and appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
magazine on 10 April 1975. Afterward, Daltrey worked with Russell again, starring as Franz Liszt
Franz Liszt
Franz Liszt ; ), was a 19th-century Hungarian composer, pianist, conductor, and teacher.Liszt became renowned in Europe during the nineteenth century for his virtuosic skill as a pianist. He was said by his contemporaries to have been the most technically advanced pianist of his age...
in Lisztomania. He worked with Rick Wakeman
Rick Wakeman
Richard Christopher Wakeman is an English keyboard player, composer and songwriter best known for being the former keyboardist in the progressive rock band Yes...
on the soundtrack to this film, writing the lyrics to three songs and also performing these, as well as others.
Kenney Jones
Kenneth Thomas "Kenney" Jones is a veteran English rock drummer best known for his work in Small Faces, Faces, and The Who.-Small Faces to the Faces:...
was the wrong choice for the Who. In 1980 Daltrey completed a major project for The Who Films, Ltd., a dramatic film called McVicar
McVicar (film)
McVicar is a British drama film released in 1980 by The Who Films, Ltd., starring Roger Daltrey of The Who in the title role of John McVicar...
about British bank robber John McVicar
John McVicar
John McVicar is a British journalist and one-time convicted armed robber.-Career:In the 1960s, he was an armed robber who was tagged "Public Enemy No. 1" by Scotland Yard. He was apprehended and given a 23-year jail sentence. He escaped from prison on several occasions and after his final...
. Daltrey produced and starred in the film, and completed a striking soundtrack with other members of the band. This success, along with other stresses, contributed to a deterioration of relations with Townshend, and the Who retired from active touring in 1982 when Townshend felt he was no longer able to write for the band. The band continued to work together sporadically, reuniting for the Live Aid
Live Aid
Live Aid was a dual-venue concert that was held on 13 July 1985. The event was organized by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure to raise funds for relief of the ongoing Ethiopian famine. Billed as the "global jukebox", the event was held simultaneously in Wembley Stadium in London, England, United Kingdom ...
concert and recording songs for Daltrey's solo album Under a Raging Moon
Under a Raging Moon
Under a Raging Moon is Roger Daltrey's sixth solo album issued in September, 1985, which includes several drummers' tributes to Keith Moon, former drummer of The Who who died in 1978. The album reached number 42 on the U.S. charts, and the single "After the Fire" written by Pete Townshend reached...
and Townshend's solo album Iron Man
The Iron Man: A Musical
The Iron Man: The Musical by Pete Townshend, released in 1989, is an adaptation of Ted Hughes' story The Iron Man, produced and largely composed and performed by Pete Townshend of The Who...
.
Daltrey turned to working as an actor, completing such high profile projects as The Beggar's Opera
The Beggar's Opera
The Beggar's Opera is a ballad opera in three acts written in 1728 by John Gay with music arranged by Johann Christoph Pepusch. It is one of the watershed plays in Augustan drama and is the only example of the once thriving genre of satirical ballad opera to remain popular today...
and The Comedy of Errors
The Comedy of Errors
The Comedy of Errors is one of William Shakespeare's earliest plays. It is his shortest and one of his most farcical comedies, with a major part of the humour coming from slapstick and mistaken identity, in addition to puns and word play. The Comedy of Errors is one of only two of Shakespeare's...
for the BBC. He also appeared in several film, television and stage productions during this period, including Mike Batt
Mike Batt
Michael Philip "Mike" Batt is a British songwriter, musician, producer and Deputy Chairman of the British Phonographic Industry...
's The Hunting of the Snark
The Hunting of the Snark
The Hunting of the Snark is usually thought of as a nonsense poem written by Lewis Carroll in 1874, when he was 42 years old...
(1987), The Little Match Girl
The Little Match Girl
The Little Match Girl is a short story by Danish poet and author Hans Christian Andersen. The story is about a dying child's dreams and hope, and was first published in 1845. It has been adapted to various media including animated film, and a television musical.-Plot summary:On a cold New Year’s...
(1987), Buddy's Song (1990), which he also produced, and Mack the Knife
Mack the Knife
"Mack the Knife" or "The Ballad of Mack the Knife", originally "Die Moritat von Mackie Messer", is a song composed by Kurt Weill with lyrics by Bertolt Brecht for their music drama Die Dreigroschenoper, or, as it is known in English, The Threepenny Opera. It premiered in Berlin in 1928 at the...
(1990). In 1991 he received a Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
with The Chieftains
The Chieftains
The Chieftains are a Grammy-winning Irish musical group founded in 1962, best known for being one of the first bands to make Irish traditional music popular around the world.-Name:...
for An Irish Evening: Live at the Grand Opera House, Belfast
An Irish Evening
An Irish Evening: Live at the Grand Opera House, Belfast is an album by The Chieftains. The album is a live recording of a concert in Belfast, Northern Ireland...
.
The Who returned in 1989 with their 25th Anniversary Tour, which was also the 20th anniversary of the rock opera Tommy. The tour featured a large backing band and guest appearances by Steve Winwood
Steve Winwood
Stephen Lawrence "Steve" Winwood is an English international recording artist whose career spans nearly 50 years. He is a songwriter and a musician whose genres include soul music , R&B, rock, blues-rock, pop-rock, and jazz...
, Patti LaBelle
Patti LaBelle
Patricia Louise Holte-Edwards , better known under the stage name, Patti LaBelle, is a Grammy Award winning American singer, author and actress who has spent over 50 years in the music industry...
, Phil Collins
Phil Collins
Philip David Charles "Phil" Collins, LVO is an English singer-songwriter, drummer, pianist and actor best known as a drummer and vocalist for British progressive rock group Genesis and as a solo artist....
, Elton John
Elton John
Sir Elton Hercules John, CBE, Hon DMus is an English rock singer-songwriter, composer, pianist and occasional actor...
, and Billy Idol
Billy Idol
William Michael Albert Broad , better known by his stage name Billy Idol, is an English rock musician. A member of the Bromley Contingent of Sex Pistols fans, Idol first achieved fame in the punk rock era as a member of the band Generation X...
. Although Daltrey experienced severe health problems due to an abdominal hemangioma
Hemangioma
A hemangioma of infancy is a benign self-involuting tumor of endothelial cells, the cells that line blood vessels. It usually appears during the first weeks of life and sometimes resolves by age 10. In more severe case hemangioma may have permanency, if not treated by a physician...
, he managed to complete the tour. He continued to work on stage and screen during this period, completing projects such as The Wizard of Oz in Concert: Dreams Come True
The Wizard of Oz in Concert: Dreams Come True
The Wizard of Oz in Concert: Dreams Come True was a 1995 musical performance based on the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz . The book and score of the film were performed on stage at Lincoln Center to benefit the Children's Defense Fund...
(1995) appearing as the Tin Woodman
Tin Woodman
The Tin Woodman, sometimes referred to as the Tin Man or the Tin Woodsman , is a character in the fictional Land of Oz created by American author L. Frank Baum...
alongside Nathan Lane
Nathan Lane
Nathan Lane is an American actor of stage and screen. He is best known for his roles as Mendy in The Lisbon Traviata, Albert in The Birdcage, Max Bialystock in the musical The Producers, Ernie Smuntz in MouseHunt, Nathan Detroit in Guys and Dolls, Pseudolus in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to...
, Joel Grey
Joel Grey
Joel Grey is an American stage and screen actor, singer, and dancer, best known for his role as the Master of Ceremonies in both the stage and film adaptation of the Kander & Ebb musical Cabaret. He has won the Academy Award, Tony Award and Golden Globe Award...
, Natalie Cole
Natalie Cole
Natalie Maria Cole , is an American singer, songwriter and performer. The daughter of jazz legend Nat King Cole, Cole rode to musical success in the mid-1970s as an R&B artist with the hits "This Will Be ", "Inseparable" and "Our Love"...
, and Jewel Kilcher as Dorothy. During this time, he also began to appear in U.S. television shows.
In 1994 Daltrey celebrated his 50th birthday by performing a two-night spectacular at Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
titled A Celebration: The Music of Pete Townshend and The Who
A Celebration: The Music of Pete Townshend and The Who
A Celebration: The Music of Pete Townshend and The Who, also known as Daltrey Sings Townshend, is a music event and later album documenting a two-night concert at Carnegie Hall in 1994. It broke Carnegie Hall's two day box office gross record, and was the fastest sell-out in the historic venue's...
, and popularly called Daltrey Sings Townshend. The show was produced by Daltrey's manager at the time, Richard Flanzer. The Who's music was arranged for orchestra by Michael Kamen
Michael Kamen
Michael Arnold Kamen was an American composer , orchestral arranger, orchestral conductor, song writer, and session musician.-Background:...
, who conducted The Juilliard Orchestra for the event. Bob Ezrin
Bob Ezrin
Robert Alan "Bob" Ezrin is a Canadian music producer and keyboardist, known for his work with artists including Alice Cooper, Kiss and Pink Floyd. He was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 2004.-Biography:...
, who produced Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd were an English rock band that achieved worldwide success with their progressive and psychedelic rock music. Their work is marked by the use of philosophical lyrics, sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate live shows. Pink Floyd are one of the most commercially...
's The Wall
The Wall
The Wall is the eleventh studio album by English progressive rock group Pink Floyd. Released as a double album on 30 November 1979, it was subsequently performed live with elaborate theatrical effects, and adapted into a feature film, Pink Floyd—The Wall.As with the band's previous three...
CD, among other famous albums, produced the live CD. Pete Townshend, John Entwistle, Eddie Vedder
Eddie Vedder
Eddie Vedder is an American musician and singer-songwriter who is best known for being the lead singer and one of three guitarists of the alternative rock band Pearl Jam. He is widely considered a cultural icon of alternative rock.He is also involved in soundtrack work and contributes to albums...
(who performed a special acoustic tribute), Sinéad O'Connor
Sinéad O'Connor
Sinéad Marie Bernadette O'Connor is an Irish singer-songwriter. She rose to fame in the late 1980s with her debut album The Lion and the Cobra and achieved worldwide success in 1990 with a cover of the song "Nothing Compares 2 U"....
, Lou Reed
Lou Reed
Lewis Allan "Lou" Reed is an American rock musician, songwriter, and photographer. He is best known as guitarist, vocalist, and principal songwriter of The Velvet Underground, and for his successful solo career, which has spanned several decades...
, David Sanborn
David Sanborn
David Sanborn is an American alto saxophonist. Though Sanborn has worked in many genres, his solo recordings typically blend jazz with instrumental pop and R&B. He released his first solo album Taking Off in 1975, but has been playing the saxophone since before he was in high school...
, Alice Cooper
Alice Cooper
Alice Cooper is an American rock singer, songwriter and musician whose career spans more than four decades...
, Linda Perry
Linda Perry
Linda Perry is an American rock musician, songwriter, and record producer. Once best known as the lead singer and primary songwriter of 4 Non Blondes, Perry has founded two record labels and has become a major songwriter and producer...
, The Chieftains
The Chieftains
The Chieftains are a Grammy-winning Irish musical group founded in 1962, best known for being one of the first bands to make Irish traditional music popular around the world.-Name:...
and others performed as special guests. Michael Lindsay-Hogg
Michael Lindsay-Hogg
Sir Michael Edward Lindsay-Hogg, 5th Baronet is a British television and stage director and an occasional writer and actor.-Background and early work:...
directed the telecast, which was aired on satellite TV. The concert, at the time, was the fastest sell out in the famed venue's history. The event was followed by a major tour financed by Daltrey and including John Entwistle on bass, Zak Starkey
Zak Starkey
Zak Starkey is an English rock drummer. He is the son of Beatles drummer Ringo Starr and Starr's first wife Maureen Starkey Tigrett. He is also well known for his unofficial membership in the English rock band The Who, with whom he has performed and recorded since 1996. He is also the third...
on drums and Simon Townshend
Simon Townshend
Simon Townshend is a British guitarist, singer and songwriter. He is the younger brother of The Who's Pete Townshend, and is most associated with The Who and the various side projects of its original members, despite many other musical ventures in his career....
on guitar. Although the tour was considered an artistic success, it failed to make a profit due to the expense of providing extraordinary musicians and orchestras in every city to replicate the Carnegie Hall event. Significantly, the tour did attract attention to songs from The Who's rock opera Quadrophenia and gathered support for a staging and major tour of the rock opera in 1996-1997.
In 1996 Pete Townshend was approached to produce Quadrophenia for The Prince's Trust
The Prince's Trust
The Prince's Trust is a charity in the United Kingdom founded in 1976 by Charles, Prince of Wales to help young people. They run a range of training programmes, provide mentoring support and offer financial grants to build the confidence and motivation of disadvantaged young people...
concert at Hyde Park, London
Hyde Park, London
Hyde Park is one of the largest parks in central London, United Kingdom, and one of the Royal Parks of London, famous for its Speakers' Corner.The park is divided in two by the Serpentine...
. He at first planned to perform the opera as a solo acoustic piece using parts of the film on the screens, but after receiving offers of financing decided on a full-out production. When he first contacted Daltrey to request a collaboration, Daltrey refused, but after some discussion, he agreed to help produce a one-off performance. The opera was performed with a large backing band, including John Entwistle on bass, Pete Townshend on acoustic guitar and vocals, Zak Starkey on drums, Rabbit Bundrick and Jon Carin
Jon Carin
Jon Carin is a producer, artist and musician best known for his association with Pink Floyd, and more specifically its guitarist David Gilmour and former member Roger Waters over the last twenty five years. In the early eighties, he gained fame as the front-man for the band Industry...
on keyboards, Simon Townshend on guitar and special guests including David Gilmour
David Gilmour
David Jon Gilmour, CBE, D.M. is an English rock musician and multi-instrumentalist who is best known as the guitarist, one of the lead singers and main songwriters in the progressive rock band Pink Floyd. In addition to his work with Pink Floyd, Gilmour has worked as a producer for a variety of...
, Adrian Edmondson
Adrian Edmondson
Adrian Charles "Ade" Edmondson is an English comedian. He is probably best known for his comedic roles in the television series The Young Ones and Bottom , for which he also wrote together with his long-time collaboration partner Rik Mayall.-Early life:Edmondson, the second of four children, was...
, Trevor McDonald
Trevor McDonald
Sir Trevor McDonald OBE is a Trinidadian-British newsreader and journalist. He had a long career as a news presenter with ITN...
and Gary Glitter
Gary Glitter
Gary Glitter is an English former glam rock singer-songwriter and musician.Glitter first came to prominence in the glam rock era of the early 1970s...
. A horn section and backing vocalists were added, along with other actors. On the night before the show, Daltrey was struck in the face by a microphone stand swung by Gary Glitter. The accident fractured his eye socket
Orbit (anatomy)
In anatomy, the orbit is the cavity or socket of the skull in which the eye and its appendages are situated. "Orbit" can refer to the bony socket, or it can also be used to imply the contents...
and caused considerable concern that he might not be able to perform safely, but Daltrey donned an eye-patch to cover the bruises and completed the show as scheduled. Afterward, Townshend decided to take the production on tour in 1996-1997 as The Who.
After their Quadrophenia tour was successful, the band returned as The Who in a stripped-down, five-piece lineup for tours in 1999-2000. The band continued to work together, making a major impact at The Concert for New York City
The Concert for New York City
The Concert for New York City was a benefit concert, featuring many famous musicians, that took place on October 20, 2001 at Madison Square Garden in New York City in response to the September 11, 2001 attacks...
. After Entwistle's death in June 2002, both Daltrey and Townshend decided to continue with an already planned tour as The Who. Bassist Pino Palladino
Pino Palladino
Pino Palladino is a Welsh bass guitarist who gained fame playing primarily rock and roll, blues rock, and rhythm and blues music, although he has been lauded for his ability to play most genres of popular music, including jazz, neo soul, and funk...
was chosen to fill Entwistle's place. The band also completed a brief tour in 2004. In 2006, they released their first studio album of new material in twenty-four years, Endless Wire
Endless Wire (The Who album)
Endless Wire is the eleventh album by the English rock band The Who released on 30 October 2006, through Polydor Records and the following day in the United States by Universal Republic. It was their first new album of original material in twenty-four years following the release of It's Hard in 1982...
, leading some fans and critics to say that the highly acclaimed artistic tension within The Who lay between the two principals Daltrey and Townshend. The band completed a world tour in 2006-2007 to support this album.
In February 2010, Townshend and Daltrey, headlining as The Who, performed the halftime show at Super Bowl XLIV
Super Bowl XLIV
Super Bowl XLIV was an American football game between the American Football Conference champion Indianapolis Colts and the National Football Conference champion New Orleans Saints to decide the National Football League champion for the 2009 season. The Saints defeated the Colts by a score of...
in front of 105.97 million viewers across the globe. In March 2010, Townshend and Daltrey, along with an extensive backing band, performed Quadrophenia at the Royal Albert Hall
Royal Albert Hall
The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall situated on the northern edge of the South Kensington area, in the City of Westminster, London, England, best known for holding the annual summer Proms concerts since 1941....
in London as a tenth anniversary charity benefit for the Teenage Cancer Trust
Teenage Cancer Trust
Teenage Cancer Trust is a charity that focuses on the needs of teenagers and young adults with cancer, leukaemia, Hodgkin’s and related diseases by providing specialist teenage units in NHS hospitals. The units are dedicated areas for teenage patients, who are involved in their concept and creation...
. Eddie Vedder
Eddie Vedder
Eddie Vedder is an American musician and singer-songwriter who is best known for being the lead singer and one of three guitarists of the alternative rock band Pearl Jam. He is widely considered a cultural icon of alternative rock.He is also involved in soundtrack work and contributes to albums...
of Pearl Jam
Pearl Jam
Pearl Jam is an American rock band that formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1990. Since its inception, the band's line-up has included Eddie Vedder , Jeff Ament , Stone Gossard , and Mike McCready...
sang the part of the Godfather, and Tom Meighan
Tom Meighan
Thomas Peter Meighan is an English musician, best known as the lead vocalist for Indie Rock band Kasabian.-Career:Meighan has been the lead vocalist of Kasabian since the band's inception in Leicester in 1999...
of Kasabian sang the part of Aceface, and Tom Norris
Tom Norris (musician)
Tom Norris is an English musician, composer, ensemble leader and songwriter who plays classical violin with the London Symphony Orchestra and also manages a solo pop music career.-Life:...
, London Symphony Orchestra
London Symphony Orchestra
The London Symphony Orchestra is a major orchestra of the United Kingdom, as well as one of the best-known orchestras in the world. Since 1982, the LSO has been based in London's Barbican Centre.-History:...
Co-Principal Second Violin, played violin for the production.
Rock persona
When Colin Dawson left The Detours, Roger Daltrey took over as lead vocalist, giving up his guitar. The band as a whole acknowledged Moon and Entwistle's innovation and talent on their instruments, and Pete Townshend had begun writing hit songs, but Daltrey struggled to find a voice to present their new music. His expression carried Townshend’s material well enough in recordings, and at the time his live persona suited the small club scene where The Who made their beginnings. However, this presentation lacked the confidence of later years, and he was arguably still a singer seeking a voice.The Who first toured North America in 1967, appearing at the Monterey Pop Festival
Monterey Pop Festival
The Monterey International Pop Music Festival was a three-day concert event held June 16 to June 18, 1967 at the Monterey County Fairgrounds in Monterey, California...
, and Daltrey brought back new experiences in dealing with larger venues and stages. 1968 proved a pivotal year with Townshend's movement beyond the quick three-minute single towards his goal of writing a rock opera
Rock opera
A rock opera is a work of rock music that presents a storyline told over multiple parts, songs or sections in the manner of opera. A rock opera differs from a conventional rock album, which usually includes songs that are not unified by a common theme or narrative. More recent developments include...
. Beginning with "A Quick One (While He's Away)", a nine-minute mini-opera, Daltrey’s performance in The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus
The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus
The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus is a film released in 1996 of an 11 December 1968 event put together by The Rolling Stones. The event comprised two concerts on a circus stage and included such acts as The Who, Taj Mahal, Marianne Faithfull, and Jethro Tull...
showed him with a new confidence in dealing with Townshend’s material. In 1969, The Who’s first major rock opera Tommy
Tommy (rock opera)
Tommy is the fourth album by English rock band The Who, released by Track Records and Polydor Records in the United Kingdom and Decca Records/MCA in the United States. A double album telling a loose story about a "deaf, dumb and blind boy" who becomes the leader of a messianic movement, Tommy was...
was released, and Daltrey found a voice for the lead character that carried The Who to world stardom at such music venues as Woodstock and the Isle of Wight Festival
Isle of Wight Festival
The Isle of Wight Festival is a music festival which takes place every year on the Isle of Wight in England. It was originally held from 1968 to 1970. These original events were promoted and organised by the Foulk brothers under the banner of their company Fiery Creations Limited...
, and in opera houses around the world during the next two years. Townshend later remarked in the film Amazing Journey
Amazing Journey: The Story of The Who
Amazing Journey: The Story of The Who is a 2007 documentary by Murray Lerner and Paul Crowder of English rock and roll band The Who. The film features new interviews with band members Roger Daltrey, John Entwistle, Kenney Jones, and Pete Townshend, as well as Sting, The Edge, Noel Gallagher, Eddie...
, that with Tommy, and with Daltrey's adaptation to portraying the character on-stage, the singer evolved from what was essentially a tight, tough guy to one who outstretched his arms, bared his body to the audiences, and began to truly engage them. "With this change, the band was at last complete," he summed up. "It was a marriage," Townshend emphasised, "but it was a good marriage. Those were glorious years". Daltrey confirmed this, saying, he felt at last accepted, displaying a newly energetic role and sound during live performances.
Daltrey has long been known as one of the most charismatic of rock’s frontmen. According to Pete Townshend, "He almost invented the pseudo-messianic role taken up later by Jim Morrison and Robert Plant." His persona has earned him a position as one of the “gods of rock and roll” He developed a trademark move of swinging and throwing his microphone through a complex sequence, matching these sequences with the tempo of the song that was being played at the moment, although Daltrey reduced the athleticism of his performances in later years.
Musical equipment
Roger Daltrey hand-built his first guitar from a piece of plywood, and also built guitars for the band in the early days when they had little money to buy equipment. As lead guitarist for the Detours, Daltrey played a 1961 EpiphoneEpiphone
The Epiphone Company is a musical instrument manufacturer founded in 1873 by Anastasios Stathopoulos. Epiphone was bought by Chicago Musical Instrument Company, which also owned Gibson Guitar Corporation, in 1957. Epiphone was Gibson's main rival in the archtop market...
Wilshire solidbody electric guitar which he later sold to Pete Townshend on an easy payment plan. After he took over vocals for the band in the sixties and during the seventies, Daltrey rarely played guitar on stage; however, he played a Martin
C. F. Martin & Company
C.F. Martin & Company is a US guitar manufacturer established in 1833 by Christian Frederick Martin. Martin is highly regarded for its steel-string guitars, and is a leading mass manufacturer of flattop acoustics with models that retail for thousands of dollars and vintage instruments that often...
acoustic guitar for appearances to promote his solo album Daltrey. He began playing guitar with The Who again during the band's tours in the eighties, and used a Fender Esquire
Fender Esquire
The Fender Esquire is a solid body electric guitar manufactured by Fender, and was the first guitar sold by Fender in 1950. Shortly after its introduction a two-pickup version named the Broadcaster was introduced while the single pickup version retained the Esquire name...
to play a second guitar part for the song "Eminence Front
Eminence Front
"Eminence Front" is a song written and sung by Pete Townshend of The Who. It appears as the sixth track on the group's 1982 studio album, It's Hard. The single reached #68 on the Billboard Hot 100. It is the only song from the album that the band has opted to play live after the initial...
" on The Who's 1982, 1989 and later tours. During the 1989 tour, he played a Gibson Chet Atkins SST
Gibson Chet Atkins SST
The Gibson Chet Atkins SST was a revolutionary design that combined the best of Gibson's acoustic and electric guitar technology. The SST was a solid body acoustic-electric designed by the late legendary country artist Chet Atkins. The steel-string model was introduced in 1987 and was discontinued...
guitar for the song "Hey Joe." During The Who's 1996-97 Quadrophenia tour, Daltrey played a Gibson J-200
Gibson J-200
Gibson J-200 is an acoustic guitar model produced by the Gibson Guitar Corporation.Gibson entered into production of this model in 1938 as its top-of-the-line flat top guitar, initially called the Super Jumbo, changing the name in 1939 to the Super Jumbo 200. It was made at the Gibson Factory in...
acoustic guitar.
After 1999, it became more common for Daltrey to play guitar during both The Who and solo shows. He ordered a Versoul Buxom 6 handmade acoustic guitar that he played on The Who's 2002 tour. Daltrey owns a Gibson Everly Brothers Flattop
Gibson Everly Brothers Flattop
The Gibson Everly Brothers Flattop is a signature acoustic guitar model produced by the Gibson Guitar CorporationThe Everly Brothers recorded many hit songs during the 1950s and the 1960s, such as "Wake Up Little Susie", "Let It Be Me", "Cathy's Clown", "All I Have to Do is Dream", and "Bye Bye Love"...
acoustic guitar which he played on The Who and solo tours in the late first decade of the 21st century. On his 2009 tour with No Plan B, Daltrey played Pete Townshend's "Blue, Red and Grey" on an Ashbury cutaway tenor EQ ukulele
Ukulele
The ukulele, ; from ; it is a subset of the guitar family of instruments, generally with four nylon or gut strings or four courses of strings....
.
Roger Daltrey is known as one of the harmonica players who brought the instrument out of blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
and into popular music. Although the mouth harps that Daltrey uses have varied over the years, brands he has used include Hohner
Hohner
Hohner Musikinstrumente GmbH & Co. KG is a company specialising in the manufacture of musical instruments. Founded in 1857 by Matthias Hohner , Hohner is identified especially with harmonicas and accordions. The Hohner company has invented and produced many different styles, and most of the...
and Lee Oskar
Lee Oskar
Lee Oskar is a Danish harmonica player, notable for his contributions to the sound of the rock-funk fusion group War, which he formed with Eric Burdon, his solo work, and as a harmonica manufacturer...
harmonicas. Daltrey plays using the blues harp (2nd position) or cross harp technique which originated in blues music.
Daltrey uses Shure
Shure
Shure Incorporated is an American corporation originally founded by Sidney N. Shure in Chicago, Illinois in 1925 as a supplier of radio parts kits. The company became a consumer and professional audio-electronics manufacturer of microphones, wireless microphone systems, phonograph cartridges,...
microphones with cords which he tapes to reinforce the connection and avoid cutting his hands when he swings and catches the microphone. He commonly uses a standard Shure SM58, but has also used Shure SM78 (in 1981), Shure model 565D Unisphere 1, and Shure model 548 Unidyne IV. Daltrey also uses a hybrid monitoring system with one in-ear monitor supplemented by floor wedges.
Honours and awards
In 1976 Roger Daltrey was nominated for a Golden Globe AwardGolden Globe Award
The Golden Globe Award is an accolade bestowed by the 93 members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association recognizing excellence in film and television, both domestic and foreign...
for "Best Acting Debut in a Motion Picture" for his starring role in the film version of The Who's rock opera Tommy. He also performed as a guest on the Chieftains' recording of Irish Evening: Live at the Grand Opera House
An Irish Evening
An Irish Evening: Live at the Grand Opera House, Belfast is an album by The Chieftains. The album is a live recording of a concert in Belfast, Northern Ireland...
which won a Grammy Award for Best Traditional Folk Album
Grammy Award for Best Traditional Folk Album
The Grammy Award for Best Traditional Folk Album was awarded from 1987 to 2011. Until 1993 the award was known as the Grammy Award for Best Traditional Folk Recording.An award for Best Contemporary Folk Album was also presented...
in 1993. With The Who, Daltrey received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award
Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award
The Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award is awarded by the Recording Academy to "performers who, during their lifetimes, have made creative contributions of outstanding artistic significance to the field of recording."...
in 2001 for outstanding artistic significance in music.
In 1990 Daltrey was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum is a museum located on the shore of Lake Erie in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It is dedicated to archiving the history of some of the best-known and most influential artists, producers, engineers and others who have, in some major way,...
in Cleveland, Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
as a member of The Who. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame also included three songs that Daltrey recorded with The Who on the list of 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll, including: "My Generation", "Go to the Mirror Boy
Go to the Mirror!
"Go to the Mirror!" is a song written by Pete Townshend of The Who. It appears as the fifteenth track on the group's first rock opera, Tommy...
", and "Baba O'Riley
Baba O'Riley
"Baba O'Riley" is a song written by Pete Townshend for the English rock band The Who. Roger Daltrey sings most of the song, with Pete Townshend singing the middle eight: "Don't cry/don't raise your eye/it's only teenaged wasteland"...
". In 2005 Daltrey received a British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors
British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors
British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors was founded in 1947.It represents its members within the industry, to the government and to the European Commission....
Gold Badge Award for special and lasting contributions to the British entertainment industry.
In 2003, Daltrey was honoured by Time magazine as a European Hero for his work with the Teenage Cancer Trust
Teenage Cancer Trust
Teenage Cancer Trust is a charity that focuses on the needs of teenagers and young adults with cancer, leukaemia, Hodgkin’s and related diseases by providing specialist teenage units in NHS hospitals. The units are dedicated areas for teenage patients, who are involved in their concept and creation...
and other charities. In the New Year's Honours List published on 31 December 2004, he was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
for services to Music, the Entertainment Industry, and Charity.
As a member of The Who, Daltrey was inducted in 2005 into the UK Music Hall of Fame
UK Music Hall of Fame
The UK Music Hall of Fame was an awards ceremony to honour musicians, of any nationality, for their lifetime contributions to music in the United Kingdom. The Hall of Fame started in 2004 with the induction of five founder members and five more members selected by a public televote, two from each...
. In December 2008, he and Pete Townshend were honoured with America's most prestigious cultural awards as recipients of the 31st annual Kennedy Center Honors
Kennedy Center Honors
The Kennedy Center Honors is an annual honor given to those in the performing arts for their lifetime of contributions to American culture. The Honors have been presented annually since 1978 in Washington, D.C., during gala weekend-long events which culminate in a performance for—and...
in Washington, D.C. by then-President of the United States, George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
. On 4 March 2009, three days after his 65th birthday, Daltrey accepted the James Joyce Award
James Joyce Award
The James Joyce Award is an award given by the Literary and Historical Society of University College Dublin for those who have achieved outstanding success in their given field...
from the Literary and Historical Society of University College Dublin
University College Dublin
University College Dublin ) - formally known as University College Dublin - National University of Ireland, Dublin is the Republic of Ireland's largest, and Ireland's second largest, university, with over 1,300 faculty and 17,000 students...
for outstanding success in the music field.
On 12 March 2011, he received the Steiger Award
Steiger Award
The Steiger Award or Der Steiger is an international award established in 2005 and presented annually by the award organization based in Bochum, Germany. The title translates as The Miner, and reflects the qualities of responsibility, honesty, openness and hard work valued in the North Rhine...
(Germany) for excellence in music. Daltrey and Pete Townshend received the Classic Album Award for Quadrophenia from The Classic Rock Roll Of Honour at The Roundhouse, November 9, 2011, in London, England.
Charities
Roger Daltrey supports many charities both as a solo artist and jointly with other members of The Who. In 1976, he performed at the Celtic Football GroundCeltic Park
Celtic Park is a football stadium in the Parkhead area of Glasgow, which is the home ground of Celtic FC. Celtic Park, an all-seater stadium with a capacity of 60,832, is the largest football stadium in Scotland and the sixth-largest stadium in the United Kingdom, after Murrayfield, Old Trafford,...
in Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
, Scotland. An audience of 35,000 attended and a sum of over £100,000 was donated to charity. He sang "Rock and Roll" on a charity single released as McEnroe & Cash with The Full Metal Rackets for Rock Aid Armenia
Rock Aid Armenia
Rock Aid Armenia was a humanitarian effort by the British music industry to raise money to help those affected by the Leninakan Earthquake of 1988 that struck Armenia....
in 1986, and performed with The Who at Concert for Kampuchea
Concert for Kampuchea
The Concert for Kampuchea is a musical film from the best of the Concerts for the People of Kampuchea. The film was directed by Keith McMillan and was 4 nights of concerts in Hammersmith Odeon to raise money for the victims of Pol Pot's reign of terror in Cambodia...
in 1979 and Live Aid
Live Aid
Live Aid was a dual-venue concert that was held on 13 July 1985. The event was organized by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure to raise funds for relief of the ongoing Ethiopian famine. Billed as the "global jukebox", the event was held simultaneously in Wembley Stadium in London, England, United Kingdom ...
in 1985.
Daltrey appeared in The Wizard of Oz in Concert: Dreams Come True
The Wizard of Oz in Concert: Dreams Come True
The Wizard of Oz in Concert: Dreams Come True was a 1995 musical performance based on the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz . The book and score of the film were performed on stage at Lincoln Center to benefit the Children's Defense Fund...
in 1995 for The Children's Defense Fund
Children's Defense Fund
The Children's Defense Fund is an American child advocacy and research group, founded in 1973 by Marian Wright Edelman. Its motto Leave No Child Behind reflects its mission to advocate on behalf of children...
, and at the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert to benefit AIDS
AIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
research in 1992. Roger Daltrey's 1994 Celebration raised funds to support Babies and Children Hospital in New York City, as well.
With The Who, he performed for the Robin Hood Foundation
Robin Hood Foundation
The Robin Hood Foundation is a charitable organization, which attempts to alleviate problems caused by poverty in New York, United States.-History:Founded in 1988, Robin Hood was the brainchild of hedge fund manager Paul Tudor Jones...
at The Concert for New York City
The Concert for New York City
The Concert for New York City was a benefit concert, featuring many famous musicians, that took place on October 20, 2001 at Madison Square Garden in New York City in response to the September 11, 2001 attacks...
and other benefits in 2001; at Neil Young
Neil Young
Neil Percival Young, OC, OM is a Canadian singer-songwriter who is widely regarded as one of the most influential musicians of his generation...
's Bridge School Benefit
Bridge School Benefit
The Bridge School Benefit is an annual non-profit charity concert held in Mountain View, California, every October at the Shoreline Amphitheatre. The concerts are all organized by musician Neil Young and his wife, Pegi....
in 1999; and in the Quadrophenia
Quadrophenia
Quadrophenia is the sixth studio album by English rock band The Who. Released on 19 October 1973 by Track and Polydor in the UK, and Track and MCA in the US, it is a double album, and the group's second rock opera...
Concert for The Prince's Trust
The Prince's Trust
The Prince's Trust is a charity in the United Kingdom founded in 1976 by Charles, Prince of Wales to help young people. They run a range of training programmes, provide mentoring support and offer financial grants to build the confidence and motivation of disadvantaged young people...
in Hyde Park
Hyde Park, London
Hyde Park is one of the largest parks in central London, United Kingdom, and one of the Royal Parks of London, famous for its Speakers' Corner.The park is divided in two by the Serpentine...
, 1996. In addition, Daltrey performed at benefits in Vail, Colorado
Vail, Colorado
The Town of Vail is a Home Rule Municipality in Eagle County, Colorado, United States. The population of the town was 4,589 in 2005. The town was established and built as the base village to Vail Ski Resort, with which it was originally conceived...
, in 1999, and attended a PETA
Peta
Peta can refer to:* peta-, an SI prefix denoting a factor of 1015* Peta, Greece, a town in Greece* Peta, the Pāli word for a Preta, or hungry ghost in Buddhism* Peta Wilson, an Australian actress and model* Peta Todd, English glamour model...
benefit with Sarah McLachlan
Sarah McLachlan
Sarah Ann McLachlan, OC, OBC is a Canadian musician, singer and songwriter. Known for her emotional ballads and mezzo-soprano vocal range, as of 2006, she has sold over 40 million albums worldwide. McLachlan's best-selling album to date is Surfacing, for which she won two Grammy Awards and four...
and Chrissie Hynde
Chrissie Hynde
Christine Ellen "Chrissie" Hynde is an US musician best known as the leader of the rock/new wave band the Pretenders. She is a singer, songwriter, and guitarist, and has been the only constant member of the band throughout its history.-Early life and career:Hynde is the daughter of a part-time...
in the same year.
All The Who's Encore Series
Encore Series
The Encore Series are concert recordings developed initially in 2002 through a partnership between The Who and . The series was created as a type of legal bootleg of major artists' complete concert tours. Each series is authorised by the artists, and recorded directly from the artists' sound board...
profits go to young peoples' charities. Roger Daltrey was instrumental in starting the Teenage Cancer Trust
Teenage Cancer Trust
Teenage Cancer Trust is a charity that focuses on the needs of teenagers and young adults with cancer, leukaemia, Hodgkin’s and related diseases by providing specialist teenage units in NHS hospitals. The units are dedicated areas for teenage patients, who are involved in their concept and creation...
concert series in 2000, with The Who actually playing in 2000, 2002, 2004, 2007 and 2010 and Daltrey playing solo in 2011. Daltrey played benefits with The RD Crusaders
The RD Crusaders
The RD Crusaders is a super group band created by The Who's Roger Daltrey and newspaper publisher Richard Desmond in 2003. The group has raised several million in funds for charities including The Teenage Cancer Trust and Norwood ....
in 2003, 2004, 2006, 2008; performed with The Who at Live 8
Live 8
Live 8 was a string of benefit concerts that took place on 2 July 2005, in the G8 states and in South Africa. They were timed to precede the G8 Conference and summit held at the Gleneagles Hotel in Auchterarder, Scotland from 6–8 July 2005; they also coincided with the 20th anniversary of Live Aid...
in 2005, for the Nordoff-Robbins Silver Clef benefit in 2005, and for the Los Angeles area City of Hope
City of Hope National Medical Center
City of Hope National Medical Center, is a private, not-for-profit clinical research center, hospital and graduate medical school located in Duarte, California, United States...
benefit in 2001 and 2004. The Who played with special guest Michael J. Fox
Michael J. Fox
Michael J. Fox, OC is a Canadian American actor, author, producer, activist and voice-over artist. With a film and television career spanning from the late 1970s, Fox's roles have included Marty McFly from the Back to the Future trilogy ; Alex P...
at the 2008 "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Cure Parkinson's" benefit.
Daltrey performed at the first ChildLine Rocks concert at London's IndigO2 on 13 March 2008. In 2009 Daltrey was a judge for the 8th annual Independent Music Awards
The Independent Music Awards
The Independent Music Awards is an international program that honors top-ranked independent artists and releases in more than 50 Album, Song, Music Video and Design categories....
to support independent artists. In the same year, he appeared again on stage with Michael J. Fox for the "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Cure Parkinson's" benefit. In April 2010, he headlined the Imagine A Cure II show honouring the legacy of John Lennon
John Lennon
John Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...
, which raised money for the Puget Sound Affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure
Susan G. Komen for the Cure
Susan G. Komen for the Cure, formerly known as The Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, often referred to as simply Komen, is the most widely known, largest and best-funded breast cancer organization in the US....
breast cancer charity. In 2011, Daltrey became a patron of the Children's Respite Trust for children with disabilities.
In 2011, Daltrey, Steven Tyler
Steven Tyler
Steven Tyler is an American singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist, best known as the frontman and lead singer of the Boston-based rock band Aerosmith, in which he also plays the harmonica, and occasional piano and percussion. He is known as the "Demon of Screamin'", due to his high screams...
and Julie Andrews
Julie Andrews
Dame Julia Elizabeth Andrews, DBE is an English film and stage actress, singer, and author. She is the recipient of Golden Globe, Emmy, Grammy, BAFTA, People's Choice Award, Theatre World Award, Screen Actors Guild and Academy Award honors...
provided funding for Bob Langer
Robert S. Langer
Robert S. Langer is an American engineer and the David H. Koch Institute Professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He was formerly the Germeshausen Professor of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering and maintains activity in the department of chemical engineering and the department of...
's research at Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...
into vocal chord repair for victims of cancer and other disorders. On November 4, 2011, Daltrey and Pete Townshend launched the Daltrey/Townshend Teen and Young Adult Cancer Program at the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center
Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center
The Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center is a hospital located on the campus of the University of California, Los Angeles in Los Angeles, California....
in Los Angeles, to be funded by The Who's charity Who Cares. The launch, followed on November 5 by a fund-raising event, was also attended by Robert Plant
Robert Plant
Robert Anthony Plant, CBE is an English singer and songwriter best known as the vocalist and lyricist of the iconic rock band Led Zeppelin. He has also had a successful solo career...
and Dave Grohl
Dave Grohl
David Eric "Dave" Grohl is an American rock musician, multi-instrumentalist, and singer-songwriter who is the lead vocalist, guitarist, and primary songwriter for Foo Fighters; the former drummer for Nirvana and Scream; and the current drummer for Them Crooked Vultures...
. Daltrey also announced that a portion of ticket sales from his solo tours would go to fund the teen cancer centers.
Personal life
Daltrey has been married twice. In 1964, he married the former Jacqueline "Jackie" Rickman, and had one child, born in 1964, Simon. The couple divorced in 1968. In 1967, Daltrey's son Mathias was born, the result of an affair with Swedish model Elisabeth Aronsson. In 1967, he met the American Heather Taylor, his current wife whom he married in 1971. Together, they have three children, Rosie Lea (born in 1972), Willow Amber (born in 1975) and Jamie (born in 1981). He also has four granddaughters, Lily, Lola, Ramona and Scarlet; and one grandson, Jonjo. He also has three other children from relationships during the 1960s & '70s.Daltrey owns a farm at Holmshurst Manor
Holmshurst Manor
Holmshurst Manor is a Jacobean country house located in East Sussex near Burwash, England. In 1970 it was purchased by Roger Daltrey of The Who.-Description:...
, a country estate near Burwash, East Sussex
Burwash, East Sussex
Burwash is a rural village and civil parish in the Rother District of East Sussex, England. Situated fifteen miles inland from the South Coast port of Hastings, it is located five miles south-west of Hurst Green, on the A265 road, and on the River Dudwell, a tributary of the River Rother...
built in 1610, as well as his parents' old home in London. He designed and built Lakedown trout fishery near Burwash, documented in the film Underwater World of Trout, Vol. 1. He bought a home in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
in the early 2000s.
Daltrey is a supporter of Arsenal F.C.
Arsenal F.C.
Arsenal Football Club is a professional English Premier League football club based in North London. One of the most successful clubs in English football, it has won 13 First Division and Premier League titles and 10 FA Cups...
.
Daltrey claims to have never tried hard drugs and unlike his fellow band mates, has stayed straight and free from addiction problems.
Views and advocacy
Daltrey is a supporter of the Countryside AllianceCountryside Alliance
The Countryside Alliance is a British organisation promoting issues relating to the countryside such as country sports, including hunting, shooting and angling...
and has played concerts to raise funds for the organisation. Daltrey is a supporter of the Labour Party
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
in Britain, but has been strongly critical of its policy of "mass immigration"
Immigration to the United Kingdom since 1922
Immigration to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland since 1922 has been substantial, in particular from Ireland and the former colonies and other territories of the British Empire - such as India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, the Caribbean, South Africa, Kenya and Hong Kong - under...
, arguing that the current immigration policies undermine the British working class. He has also expressed his admiration for Queen Elizabeth II.
Literary work
Roger Daltrey contributed to a collection of childhood fishing stories published in 1996 entitled I Remember: Reflections on Fishing in Childhood. In 2009 he contributed a foreword to Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere: The Complete Chronicle of the Who 1958-1978 by Andrew Neill and Matt Kent. In 2011, he wrote a tribute article in honor of the late Ken RussellKen Russell
Henry Kenneth Alfred "Ken" Russell was an English film director, known for his pioneering work in television and film and for his flamboyant and controversial style. He attracted criticism as being obsessed with sexuality and the church...
which was published in Britain's Daily Express
Daily Express
The Daily Express switched from broadsheet to tabloid in 1977 and was bought by the construction company Trafalgar House in the same year. Its publishing company, Beaverbrook Newspapers, was renamed Express Newspapers...
.
Who songs written by Daltrey
Although never a writing force in The Who and overshadowed by the song writing talents of Townshend and Entwistle, Daltrey did contribute a small handful of songs to the band's catalogue during their early career:- "Anyway, Anyhow, AnywhereAnyway, Anyhow, Anywhere"Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere" was a single released by The Who in 1965. It features call-and-response lyrics and some of the first ever recorded guitar feedback. The song was composed by guitarist Pete Townshend and vocalist Roger Daltrey, the only time they wrote together...
" (1965)-The Who's second single, co-written by Townshend. - "See My Way" (1966)-Daltrey's contribution to A Quick OneA Quick OneA Quick One is the second album by English rock band The Who, released in 1966. The American record company executives at Decca Records released the album under the title Happy Jack, rather than the sexually suggestive title of the original UK release, and due to "Happy Jack" being a top 40 hit in...
. - "Early Morning Cold Taxi" (1968)-Outtake from The Who Sell OutThe Who Sell Out-Track listing:All songs written by Pete Townshend except where noted. The between song jingles apparently have no official titles and are not listed anywhere on the original album packaging, though they are listed in the inner booklet of the 1995 remaster.Side one...
(later appearing as a bonus track on deluxe editions), co-written with David "Cyrano" Langston. - "Here for More" (1970)-B-side to "The SeekerThe Seeker (song)"The Seeker" is a song written by Pete Townshend and performed by English rock band The Who, and featured on their 1971 compilation album Meaty Beaty Big and Bouncy.-Background and writing:...
".
Daltrey also wrote a song called "Crossroads Now" for The Who which grew out of an onstage jam in 1999 after the song "My Generation." Another Daltrey song, entitled "Certified Rose," was rehearsed by The Who shortly before the death of John Entwistle. The band had planned on playing it (as well as Townshend's "Real Good Looking Boy") during their 2002 tour, but plans were halted after Entwistle's death. Although it was rumoured that a studio version was recorded during the Endless Wire
Endless Wire (The Who album)
Endless Wire is the eleventh album by the English rock band The Who released on 30 October 2006, through Polydor Records and the following day in the United States by Universal Republic. It was their first new album of original material in twenty-four years following the release of It's Hard in 1982...
sessions (and might feature Entwistle's basslines from 2002), Townshend later stated that no such recording was made.
"Early Morning Cold Taxi", a song recorded during The Who Sell Out
The Who Sell Out
-Track listing:All songs written by Pete Townshend except where noted. The between song jingles apparently have no official titles and are not listed anywhere on the original album packaging, though they are listed in the inner booklet of the 1995 remaster.Side one...
sessions in 1967 and released in 1994 on the Thirty Years of Maximum R&B
Thirty Years of Maximum R&B
Thirty Years of Maximum R&B is a box set by British rock band, The Who released by Polydor Records internationally and by MCA Records in the US; since 2003, it has been issued in America by Geffen Records...
boxset, is credited to Roger Daltrey and Who roadie Dave "Cy" Langston. Some sources report that the song was solely written by Langston. At the time Daltrey and Langston were planning to form a writing-partnership, where all songs written by either of them would be credited as Daltrey/Langston. The partnership produced only one other song—an unreleased demo titled "Blue Caravan." Langston went on to play guitar on John Entwistle's first solo album, Smash Your Head Against the Wall
Smash Your Head Against the Wall
Smash Your Head Against the Wall is the debut solo album by John Entwistle of The Who, released on Track Records in the UK and Decca Records in the US...
, in 1970.
Solo music career
Daltrey
Daltrey is the first solo album by The Who's lead singer, Roger Daltrey. It was first released in 1973. The album took six weeks to record during January and February 1973...
in 1973, recorded during a hiatus in The Who's touring schedule. The top single off the album, "Giving It All Away", reached number five in the UK and the album, which introduced Leo Sayer
Leo Sayer
Leo Sayer is a British singer-songwriter, musician, and entertainer whose singing career has spanned four decades. Sayer became a naturalised Australian citizen in 2009. Sayer was a top singles and album act on both sides of the Atlantic in the 1970s...
as a songwriter, made the Top 50 in the United States. The inner sleeve photography shows a trompe-l'œil in reference to the Narcissus
Narcissus (mythology)
Narcissus or Narkissos , possibly derived from ναρκη meaning "sleep, numbness," in Greek mythology was a hunter from the territory of Thespiae in Boeotia who was renowned for his beauty. He was exceptionally proud, in that he disdained those who loved him...
myth, as Daltrey's reflection in the water differs from his real appearance. He also released a single in 1973, "Thinking" with "There is Love" on the B-side. Bizarrely, the UK release, with considerable airplay of "Giving it all away" (first lines "I paid all my dues so I picked up my shoes, I got up and walked away") coincided with news reports of the Who being sued for unpaid damage to their hotel on a recent tour, including a TV set being thrown out of the window.
Daltrey's second album, Ride a Rock Horse
Ride a Rock Horse
Ride a Rock Horse is the second solo album by The Who's lead singer, Roger Daltrey. It was first released in 1975. Songs were recorded during Daltrey's filming commitments for Ken Russell's film Lisztomania...
, was released in 1975 and is his second most commercially successful solo album. Its cover, photographed by Daltrey's cousin Graham Hughes, is remarkable for depicting the singer as a rampant centaur
Centaur
In Greek mythology, a centaur or hippocentaur is a member of a composite race of creatures, part human and part horse...
.
When Sayer launched his own career as an artist, Daltrey called on a widening group of friends to write for and perform on his albums. Paul McCartney
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings , McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100...
contributed the new song "Giddy" to One of the Boys
One of the Boys (Roger Daltrey album)
One of the Boys is the third solo album by The Who's lead singer, Roger Daltrey. It was first released in 1977. The sessions were recorded at The Who's Ramport Studios during the winter of 1976 , and Daltrey allowed students from the local Battersea technical school to film them as an educational...
, where the band included Hank Marvin
Hank Marvin
Hank Brian Marvin is an English guitarist, best known as the lead guitarist for The Shadows. The group, which primarily performed instrumentals, was formed as a backing band for vocalist Cliff Richard...
, Eric Clapton
Eric Clapton
Eric Patrick Clapton, CBE, is an English guitarist and singer-songwriter. Clapton is the only three-time inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: once as a solo artist, and separately as a member of The Yardbirds and Cream. Clapton has been referred to as one of the most important and...
, Alvin Lee
Alvin Lee
Alvin Lee is an English rock guitarist and singer. He began playing guitar at the age of 13, and with Leo Lyons formed the core of the band Ten Years After in 1960...
and Mick Ronson
Mick Ronson
Michael "Mick" Ronson was an English guitarist, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, arranger and producer. He is best known for his work with David Bowie, as one of The Spiders from Mars...
. On this cover, another visual trick is played with Daltrey's mirror image, with reference to Magritte's famous painting Reproduction Interdite
Not to be Reproduced
Not to be Reproduced is a painting by the Belgian surrealist René Magritte. It currently is owned by the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam....
.
McVicar
McVicar (Roger Daltrey album)
McVicar Roger Daltrey's fourth studio album, and also the soundtrack album of McVicar, the film of the same name. The film was a bio-pic of English bank robber John McVicar, was produced by Daltrey and also featured him in the starring role...
was billed as a soundtrack album for the film of the same name, in which Daltrey starred and also co-produced. It featured all the other members of The Who (Townshend, Entwistle and Kenney Jones
Kenney Jones
Kenneth Thomas "Kenney" Jones is a veteran English rock drummer best known for his work in Small Faces, Faces, and The Who.-Small Faces to the Faces:...
). McVicar included two hit singles, "Free Me" and "Without Your Love
Without Your Love (Roger Daltrey song)
"Without Your Love" is a song by Roger Daltrey of The Who written by Billy Nicholls and was a hit for him on his album McVicar. The song was written for the soundtrack of the film McVicar, a bio-pic of English bank robber John McVicar, that was produced by Daltrey and also featured him in the...
", and is Daltrey's best-selling solo recording.
The title track to Under a Raging Moon
Under a Raging Moon
Under a Raging Moon is Roger Daltrey's sixth solo album issued in September, 1985, which includes several drummers' tributes to Keith Moon, former drummer of The Who who died in 1978. The album reached number 42 on the U.S. charts, and the single "After the Fire" written by Pete Townshend reached...
was a tribute to Who drummer Keith Moon
Keith Moon
Keith John Moon was an English musician, best known for being the drummer of the English rock group The Who. He gained acclaim for his exuberant and innovative drumming style, and notoriety for his eccentric and often self-destructive behaviour, earning him the nickname "Moon the Loon". Moon...
, who died in 1978. Each of the album's tracks, including "Let Me Down Easy" by Bryan Adams
Bryan Adams
Bryan Adams, is a Canadian rock singer-songwriter, guitarist, bassist, producer, actor and photographer. Adams has won dozens of awards and nominations, including 20 Juno Awards among 56 nominations. He has also received 15 Grammy Award nominations including a win for Best Song Written...
, expresses the frustration of growing older as only a man who sang "Hope I die before I get old" can. Daltrey is credited as co-writer on "Don't Talk to Strangers," "The Pride You Hide," "Move Better in the Night" and "It Don't Satisfy Me."
On Can't Wait to See the Movie
Can't Wait to See the Movie
Can't Wait to See the Movie is Roger Daltrey's seventh solo album released in the U.S. in June, 1987. The vinyl album was released on Atlantic 81759, and was produced by Alan Shacklock, David Foster, Chas Sanford & Jimmy Scott. It was recorded at various studios in London and Los Angeles...
, Daltrey is credited as co-writer on the tracks "Balance on Wires" and "Take Me Home." On Rocks in the Head
Rocks in the Head
Rocks in the Head is Roger Daltrey's eighth solo album. The album was released in 1992 on Atlantic Records, and recorded at The Hit Factory....
, Daltrey is credited (along with Gerard McMahon
Gerard McMahon
Gerard McMahon is an English singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer who specialises in creating music for films and TV...
) for co-writing seven of the eleven tracks, including: "Times Changed," "You Can't Call It Love," "Love Is," "Blues Man's Road," "Days of Light," "Everything A Heart Could Ever Want" and "Unforgettable Opera." On this album, Daltrey's voice ranges from a powerful bluesy growl à la Howlin' Wolf
Howlin' Wolf
Chester Arthur Burnett , known as Howlin' Wolf, was an influential American blues singer, guitarist and harmonica player....
to the tender vocals shared with his daughter Willow on the ballad 'Everything A Heart Could Ever Want". This was his first major effort as a song-writer for his own solo albums.
For his compilation album Moonlighting
Moonlighting (Roger Daltrey album)
Moonlighting: The Anthology is a compilation album released by Roger Daltrey on 7 February 2005. The collection is notable for including tracks from various projects throughout his career, such as stage and film appearances, as well as a good sampling of songs from his discography...
, Daltrey co-wrote the song "A Second Out" with Steve McEwan
Steve McEwan
Steve McEwan is a British-born hit songwriter, artist, and musician. His songs have been recorded by country music artists including Kenny Chesney, Carrie Underwood, Faith Hill and Keith Urban...
of the band UnAmerican
UnAmerican (band)
UnAmerican were an English rock band based out of London. The group was fronted by former World Party member Steve McEwan.-Biography:Steve McEwan played guitar in World Party, and while in the group began working with fellow member Guy Chambers on a side project. They wrote several songs together...
. The recording features Daltrey's vocals backed by McEwan on acoustic guitar.
In 1992, Daltrey appeared in The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert
The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert
The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert for AIDS Awareness was an open-air concert held on Easter Monday, 20 April 1992 at London's Wembley Stadium, for an audience of 72,000. The concert was produced for television by Ray Burdis and broadcast live on television and radio to 76 countries around the...
, singing the hard rock
Hard rock
Hard rock is a loosely defined genre of rock music which has its earliest roots in mid-1960s garage rock, blues rock and psychedelic rock...
song "I Want It All
I Want It All
"I Want It All" is a song by English rock band Queen, featured on their 1989 twelfth studio album The Miracle. Written by guitarist and backing vocalist Brian May and produced by David Richards, the song was released as the lead single from the album on 2 May 1989...
", to pay homage to his longlife friend Freddie Mercury
Freddie Mercury
Freddie Mercury was a British musician, singer and songwriter, best known as the lead vocalist of the rock band Queen. As a performer, he was known for his flamboyant stage persona and powerful vocals over a four-octave range...
, who died the previous year one day after a public announcement that he suffered from AIDS
AIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
.
Daltrey celebrated his fiftieth birthday in 1994 by performing at Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
in two shows (23 and 24 February ) later issued on CD and video called A Celebration: The Music of Pete Townshend and The Who
A Celebration: The Music of Pete Townshend and The Who
A Celebration: The Music of Pete Townshend and The Who, also known as Daltrey Sings Townshend, is a music event and later album documenting a two-night concert at Carnegie Hall in 1994. It broke Carnegie Hall's two day box office gross record, and was the fastest sell-out in the historic venue's...
, sometimes called Daltrey Sings Townshend, accompanied by The Juilliard Orchestra, Pete Townshend, John Entwistle, Irish dancers and other special guests. The success of these two shows led to a U.S. tour by the same name, featuring Pete Townshend's brother Simon on lead guitar with Phil Spalding taking bass duties for the first half of each show and John Entwistle playing for the second half. An Australian leg was considered but eventually scrapped.
Daltrey took on a number of other solo projects, including a tour with the British Rock Symphony in 1998, and the Night of the Proms
Night of the Proms
Night of the Proms is a series of concerts held yearly in Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Denmark and Poland. Regularly there are also shows in France, Spain, Austria, Switzerland and Luxembourg...
in 2005. Daltrey also worked with the Rock 'n Roll Fantasy Camp
Rock 'n Roll Fantasy Camp
Rock 'n' Roll Fantasy Camp is an interactive musical event that takes place in various cities throughout the United States, London, England, and the Atlantis Resort in the Bahamas. The events range from 3 to 6 days. Attendees play, write and record music in a recording studio alongside famous...
, raising money for charities during the final concert.
Besides the songs Daltrey co-wrote for his solo albums, he is credited for co-writing others, including: "Child O Mine" with Gerard McMahon
Gerard McMahon
Gerard McMahon is an English singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer who specialises in creating music for films and TV...
, used on the soundtrack for The Banger Sisters
The Banger Sisters
The Banger Sisters is a 2002 American comedy film produced by Fox Searchlight Pictures about the reunion of two middle-aged women who used to be friends and groupies when they were young. The movie starred Goldie Hawn, Susan Sarandon and Geoffrey Rush...
and on the TV show Witchblade
Witchblade
Witchblade is an American comic book series published by Top Cow Productions, an imprint of Image Comics, from 1995 until present. The series was created by Top Cow editors Marc Silvestri and David Wohl, writers Brian Haberlin and Christina Z, and artist Michael Turner.The series follows Sara...
. On the soundtrack
Lisztomania (album)
Lisztomania is a 1975 progressive rock soundtrack album by Rick Wakeman to the movie of the same name.It is the soundtrack to the 1975 film Lisztomania by Ken Russell of a biography of Franz Liszt.Some tracks feature Roger Daltrey...
for Lisztomania, Daltrey is credited with "Love's Dream", "Orpheus Song" and "Peace at Last."
In 2005, Daltrey had a short weekly series on BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 2 is one of the BBC's national radio stations and the most popular station in the United Kingdom. Much of its daytime playlist-based programming is best described as Adult Contemporary or AOR, although the station is also noted for its specialist broadcasting of other musical genres...
, presenting a personal choice of rock'n'roll favourites. In 2006, he wrote and performed a specially commissioned song, "Highbury Highs", for Highbury Farewell ceremony following the final football match on 7 May at Arsenal Stadium
Arsenal Stadium
Arsenal Stadium was a football stadium in Highbury, North London, which was the home ground of Arsenal Football Club between 6 September 1913 and 7 May 2006...
between Arsenal
Arsenal F.C.
Arsenal Football Club is a professional English Premier League football club based in North London. One of the most successful clubs in English football, it has won 13 First Division and Premier League titles and 10 FA Cups...
and Wigan
Wigan Athletic F.C.
Wigan Athletic Football Club is an English Premier League Association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, having been promoted from the Championship in 2005. Wigan's current spell in the Premier League is the only top flight run in the club's history.They have played at the DW...
, in which Arsenal celebrated the previous 93 years at Highbury, preparing for their move to the Emirates Stadium
Emirates Stadium
Ashburton Grove, currently known as the Emirates Stadium, is a UEFA elite football stadium which is home to Arsenal FC, where they moved from Highbury in 2006. It has an current capacity of 60,361, and there have been rumours of an expansion...
, Ashburton Grove, the following season.
No Plan B band
Roger Daltrey embarked on a solo tour of the U.S. and Canada on 10 October 2009, officially called the "Use It or Lose It" tour with a new band that he called "No Plan B". The band included Simon TownshendSimon Townshend
Simon Townshend is a British guitarist, singer and songwriter. He is the younger brother of The Who's Pete Townshend, and is most associated with The Who and the various side projects of its original members, despite many other musical ventures in his career....
on rhythm guitar and vocals, Frank Simes
Frank Simes
Frank Turner Simes is a Grammy nominated and platinum record awarded musician, guitarist, songwriter, composer and record producer...
on lead guitar, Jon Button
Jon Button
Jon Button is an American bass player born in Fairbanks, Alaska, and based in Los Angeles, California. Button has played on commercial, film and television scores and toured with a number of well-known artists. He plays both electric and upright string bass.-Biography:Jon Button was born into a...
on bass, Loren Gold
Loren Gold
Loren Gold is a Los Angeles based keyboardist, vocalist, and songwriter. Raised in Palo Alto, CA, he has toured extensively with international pop and rock acts since 2000. Loren has been the touring keyboardist / vocalist for Roger Daltrey since 2009....
on keyboards, and Scott Devours
Scott Devours
Scott Devours is an American drummer and songwriter based in Long Beach, California. Devours has played drums for the post-grunge bands Oleander and IMA Robot, worked on over thirty albums and toured with a number of well-known artists....
on drums. Eddie Vedder
Eddie Vedder
Eddie Vedder is an American musician and singer-songwriter who is best known for being the lead singer and one of three guitarists of the alternative rock band Pearl Jam. He is widely considered a cultural icon of alternative rock.He is also involved in soundtrack work and contributes to albums...
made a guest appearance at the Seattle, WA show on 12 October. In 2010, Daltrey and No Plan B appeared for several dates with Eric Clapton
Eric Clapton
Eric Patrick Clapton, CBE, is an English guitarist and singer-songwriter. Clapton is the only three-time inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: once as a solo artist, and separately as a member of The Yardbirds and Cream. Clapton has been referred to as one of the most important and...
, including Summerfest
Summerfest
Summerfest is a yearly music festival held at the Henry Maier Festival Park along the lakefront in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA. The festival lasts for 11 days, is made up of 11 stages with performances from over 700 bands, and since the mid-1970s has run from late June through early July, usually...
at Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The band also scheduled additional dates in 2010 without Clapton.
In 2011 the band performed the rock opera Tommy and other songs at a warm-up show in Bournemouth
Bournemouth
Bournemouth is a large coastal resort town in the ceremonial county of Dorset, England. According to the 2001 Census the town has a population of 163,444, making it the largest settlement in Dorset. It is also the largest settlement between Southampton and Plymouth...
at the O2 Academy 19 March in preparation for a show scheduled at Royal Albert Hall
Royal Albert Hall
The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall situated on the northern edge of the South Kensington area, in the City of Westminster, London, England, best known for holding the annual summer Proms concerts since 1941....
to benefit the Teenage Cancer Trust on 24 March. Pete Townshend played and sang as a guest at the TCT show. Later in 2011, the band scheduled the "Tommy Reborn" tour of the UK and Europe, followed by a tour of the US and Canada. Additional dates were booked in Australia for 2012. Downloads from the tour were made available through the Internet.
Collaborations
In 1984, Daltrey appeared on "Bad Attitude", the title track of an album by Meat LoafMeat Loaf
Michael Lee Aday , better known by his stage name, Meat Loaf, is an American hard rock musician and actor...
, sharing the lead vocal. The following year, he appeared in Barbra Streisand
Barbra Streisand
Barbra Joan Streisand is an American singer, actress, film producer and director. She has won two Academy Awards, eight Grammy Awards, four Emmy Awards, a Special Tony Award, an American Film Institute award, a Peabody Award, and is one of the few entertainers who have won an Oscar, Emmy, Grammy,...
's music video for her single "Emotion", playing Streisand's emotionally uninterested husband.
In 1992, he appeared on The Chieftains
The Chieftains
The Chieftains are a Grammy-winning Irish musical group founded in 1962, best known for being one of the first bands to make Irish traditional music popular around the world.-Name:...
' Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
-winning album, An Irish Evening: Live at the Grand Opera House
An Irish Evening
An Irish Evening: Live at the Grand Opera House, Belfast is an album by The Chieftains. The album is a live recording of a concert in Belfast, Northern Ireland...
. He also released an album with the Boys Choir of Harlem
Boys Choir of Harlem
The Boys Choir of Harlem was a choir located in Harlem, New York City, United States. Its last performance was in 2007 and the group folded shortly thereafter due to several controversies, a large budget deficit, and the death of its founder.Founded in 1968 by Dr...
in 1998 with selections from A Christmas Carol
A Christmas Carol
A Christmas Carol is a novella by English author Charles Dickens first published by Chapman & Hall on 17 December 1843. The story tells of sour and stingy Ebenezer Scrooge's ideological, ethical, and emotional transformation after the supernatural visits of Jacob Marley and the Ghosts of...
. Also in 1998, Daltrey performed two songs with the Jim Byrnes
Jim Byrnes (actor)
James Thomas Kevin "Jim" Byrnes is a blues musician, guitarist, and actor.-Life and career:Byrnes was born in St. Louis, Missouri, to a homemaker mother and a municipal accountant father. He has lived in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, since the mid-1970s...
Blues Band at the Los Angeles Highlander Convention. He borrowed a guitar to play for the songs, after reassuring the owner that he would not break it. Daltrey taught thirteen-year-old Drake Bell
Drake Bell
Jared Drake Bell , better known as Drake Bell, is an American actor, comedian, guitarist, singer/songwriter, producer, and occasional television director. After beginning his career as a child star in the late 1990s and early 2000s, he appeared on The Amanda Show and became well-known among young...
how to play the guitar in 1999. Drake later starred in Drake and Josh and released two albums.
In 2001, Daltrey provided backing vocals for the title track of the Joe Strummer
Joe Strummer
John Graham Mellor , best remembered by his stage name Joe Strummer, was the co-founder, lyricist, rhythm guitarist and lead vocalist of the British punk rock band The Clash. His musical experience included his membership in The 101ers, Latino Rockabilly War, The Mescaleros and The Pogues, in...
and The Mescaleros
The Mescaleros
The Mescaleros were the backing band for Joe Strummer, formed in 1999, which went on to make three albums prior to Strummer's death in 2002. Many of the band members were gifted multi-instrumentalists...
album Global a Go-Go
Global a Go-Go
-Personnel:* Joe Strummer - vocals, producer* Martin Slattery - synthesizer, bass, fuzz guitar, drones, Wurlitzer, hammer dulcimer, melodica, saxophone, Hammond organ, accordion, guitar, flute, backup vocals, producer...
. In 2003, he provided backing vocals for thrash-metal band Anthrax
Anthrax (band)
Anthrax is an American heavy metal band from New York City, formed in 1981. Founded by guitarists Scott Ian and Danny Lilker, the band has since released ten studio albums and 20 singles, and an EP featuring Public Enemy. The band was one of the most popular of the 1980s thrash metal scene...
on the song "Taking the Music Back" from their album We've Come for You All
We've Come for You All
We've Come for You All is the ninth studio album by North American heavy metal band Anthrax. It included the singles "What Doesn't Die," "Safe Home," & "Takin' the Music Back." It is considered a comeback album for the band after lackluster commercial success of their previous two records. Despite...
. The collaboration came about through Anthrax guitarist Scott Ian
Scott Ian
Scott Ian Rosenfeld , better known by the stage name Scott Ian, is an American musician, best known as the rhythm & lead guitarist for the heavy metal band Anthrax. Ian is also the guitarist and a founding member of the crossover thrash band Stormtroopers of Death...
's girlfriend, Pearl Aday, daughter of Meat Loaf
Meat Loaf
Michael Lee Aday , better known by his stage name, Meat Loaf, is an American hard rock musician and actor...
, whose mother was a friend of Daltrey and his wife. In 2005, Daltrey collaborated with the British pop band, McFly to sing his hit song "My Generation".
On 12 January 2009, Daltrey headlined a one-off concert along with Babyshambles
Babyshambles
Babyshambles are an English indie rock band established in London. The band was formed by Pete Doherty during a hiatus from his former band The Libertines, but Babyshambles has since become his main project . Babyshambles has released two albums, three EPs and a number of singles...
at the O2 Academy Bristol for Teenage Cancer Trust
Teenage Cancer Trust
Teenage Cancer Trust is a charity that focuses on the needs of teenagers and young adults with cancer, leukaemia, Hodgkin’s and related diseases by providing specialist teenage units in NHS hospitals. The units are dedicated areas for teenage patients, who are involved in their concept and creation...
. On Sunday 5 July 2009, Daltrey joined Paul Weller
Paul Weller
Paul Weller is an English singer-songwriter. Starting with the band The Jam , Weller then went on to branch out musically to a more soulful style with The Style Council...
onstage at Hop Farm Festival in Kent for an encore of "Magic Bus
Magic Bus (song)
"Magic Bus" is a song written by Pete Townshend at the time of My Generation in 1965, but not recorded by The Who until 1968. It is one of the band's most popular songs and has been a concert staple. The record reached #26 in the United Kingdom and #25 in the United States.The song's arrangement...
". In 2011 Daltrey recorded a duet on the song "Ma seule amour" with French singer and composer Laurent Voulzy
Laurent Voulzy
Laurent Voulzy is a French singer and composer.-Biography:Voulzy originally led the English-pop-influenced Le Temple de Vénus before joining Pascal Danel as guitarist from 1969 to 1974...
for his album Lys and Love.
Film roles
After The Who retired from active work in 1982, Daltrey developed his career in film and on the theatre stage. Daltrey's appearances in over 30 feature films include early starring roles in TommyTommy (film)
Tommy is a 1975 British musical film based upon The Who's 1969 rock opera album musical Tommy. It was directed by Ken Russell and featured a star-studded cast, including the band members themselves...
, as "deaf, dumb and blind boy" Tommy Walker in 1975; Lisztomania, as Hungarian composer Franz Liszt
Franz Liszt
Franz Liszt ; ), was a 19th-century Hungarian composer, pianist, conductor, and teacher.Liszt became renowned in Europe during the nineteenth century for his virtuosic skill as a pianist. He was said by his contemporaries to have been the most technically advanced pianist of his age...
in 1975, and McVicar
McVicar (film)
McVicar is a British drama film released in 1980 by The Who Films, Ltd., starring Roger Daltrey of The Who in the title role of John McVicar...
, as British armed-robber-turned-journalist John McVicar
John McVicar
John McVicar is a British journalist and one-time convicted armed robber.-Career:In the 1960s, he was an armed robber who was tagged "Public Enemy No. 1" by Scotland Yard. He was apprehended and given a 23-year jail sentence. He escaped from prison on several occasions and after his final...
in 1980.
In 2003, Roger Daltrey starred as the voice of Argon the Dragon Bus Driver in the children's DVD called The Wheels on the Bus: Mango and Papaya's Animal Adventure
The Wheels on the Bus (video series)
The Wheels on the Bus is a video series by Our Happy Child Productions, LLC, of Simi Valley, California. The company produces programming for children ages 1-5 years, and develops content for TV, DVDs, CDs and licensing...
from Armstrong Moving Pictures. The DVD featured Daltrey as a costumed children's dragon, who drove a bus for two lost puppets trying to return to their home at the zoo. Daltrey provided vocals for children's classics, such as "The Wheels on the Bus Go Round and Round
The Wheels on the Bus
"The Wheels on the Bus" is a popular children's song in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. It is popular on journeys to keep children amused and has a very repetitive rhythm. In particular it is sung by pre-teens on bus journeys...
," in addition to songs written specifically for the home video. He later appeared in two other videos for this series.
Television roles
Daltrey has played a number of television roles, including BBC Television ShakespeareBBC Television Shakespeare
The BBC Television Shakespeare was a set of television adaptations of the plays of William Shakespeare, produced by the BBC between 1978 and 1985.-Origins:...
as both Dromios in The Comedy of Errors
The Comedy of Errors
The Comedy of Errors is one of William Shakespeare's earliest plays. It is his shortest and one of his most farcical comedies, with a major part of the humour coming from slapstick and mistaken identity, in addition to puns and word play. The Comedy of Errors is one of only two of Shakespeare's...
, the police drama series The Bill
The Bill
The Bill is a police procedural television series that ran from October 1984 to August 2010. It focused on the lives and work of one shift of police officers, rather than on any particular aspect of police work...
, the science fiction series Sliders
Sliders
Sliders is an American science fiction television series. It was broadcast for five seasons, beginning in 1995 and ending in 2000. The series follows a group of travelers as they use a wormhole to "slide" between different parallel universes. The show was created by Robert K. Weiss and Tracy Tormé...
as Col. Angus Rickman, the VH1 series Strange Frequency 2, Witchblade
Witchblade (TV series)
Following a pilot film in August 2000, the cable network TNT premiered a Witchblade television series based on the Witchblade Top Cow Productions comic book series in 2001. Some of the episodes were written by Ralph Hemecker, Marc Silvestri and J.D...
as the devil, and was a recurring guest star in Highlander: The Series
Highlander: The Series
Highlander: The Series is a fantasy-adventure television series featuring Duncan MacLeod of the Scottish Clan MacLeod, as the Highlander. It was an offshoot and another alternate sequel of the 1986 feature film with a twist: Connor MacLeod did not win the prize and Immortals still exist post-1985...
as Immortal Hugh Fitzcairn
Hugh Fitzcairn
Hugh Fitzcairn is a fictional character from Highlander: The Series, portrayed by actor Roger Daltrey. An Immortal, he is a friend of protagonist Duncan MacLeod.-Appearances:...
, one of the closest friends of lead character Duncan MacLeod
Duncan MacLeod
Duncan MacLeod is a fictional character from the Highlander multiverse. Duncan MacLeod serves as the protagonist for the TV continuation of the Highlander franchise, which comprises Highlander: The Series and its spin-off movies, Highlander: Endgame and Highlander: The Source...
. In 1983, he played Macheath, the outlaw hero of BBC TV's production of John Gay
John Gay
John Gay was an English poet and dramatist and member of the Scriblerus Club. He is best remembered for The Beggar's Opera , set to music by Johann Christoph Pepusch...
's 1728 ballad opera, 'The Beggar's Opera
The Beggar's Opera
The Beggar's Opera is a ballad opera in three acts written in 1728 by John Gay with music arranged by Johann Christoph Pepusch. It is one of the watershed plays in Augustan drama and is the only example of the once thriving genre of satirical ballad opera to remain popular today...
'.
In 1986 he acted in the TV series Buddy. In 1993, He guest-starred (along with Steve Buscemi
Steve Buscemi
Steven Vincent "Steve" Buscemi is an American actor, writer and film director. An associate member of the renowned experimental theater company The Wooster Group, Buscemi has starred and supported in successful Hollywood and indie films including New York Stories, Mystery Train, Reservoir Dogs,...
) in an episode of Tales From The Crypt
Tales from the Crypt (TV series)
Tales from the Crypt, sometimes titled HBO's Tales from the Crypt, is an American horror anthology television series that ran from 1989 to 1996 on the premium cable channel HBO...
entitled "Forever Ambergris". Daltrey appeared as a villain in a 1996 episode of Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman
Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman
Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman was a live-action American television series based on the Superman comic books...
. He also played Nobby Clegg, a character named after the band Nobby Clegg and the Civilians, in the Showtime series Rude Awakening
Rude Awakening (TV series)
Rude Awakening is a TV series created by Claudia Lonow, aired by Showtime on 55 22-min episodes for 3 seasons .-Story:Rude Awakening tells the story of Billie Frank, an out of work alcoholic ex-soap opera actress. She tries to go sober and become a writer but continues to struggle with her...
.
Daltrey appeared in an episode of The Simpsons
The Simpsons
The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...
, "A Tale of Two Springfields
A Tale of Two Springfields
"A Tale of Two Springfields" is the second episode from season twelve of the animated TV series The Simpsons and is the 250th episode of the series overall in both broadcast and production order. The episode originally premiered November 5, 2000 on Fox Broadcasting Company.The episode was written...
", as himself along with John Entwistle (Pete Townshend was replaced by his brother Paul for the episode). The Who helped Homer break down a wall he had built through the town of Springfield.
A self-described history buff, Daltrey often involves himself in history research related media including television documentaries. Pirate Tales from 1997, is a documentary/action show about the age of piracy
Golden Age of Piracy
The Golden Age of Piracy is a common designation given to one or more outbursts of piracy in maritime history of the early modern period. In its broadest accepted definition, the Golden Age of Piracy spans from the 1650s to the 1730s and covers three separate outbursts of piracy:the buccaneering...
in the 18th century, in which Daltrey impersonated English buccaneer William Dampier
William Dampier
William Dampier was an English buccaneer, sea captain, author and scientific observer...
in a main role as the narrator throughout the series. In 2003 he hosted the History Channel's Extreme History with Roger Daltrey talking about historical events and explaining the survival techniques the civilisations treated had available.
He also appeared in "That '70s Musical", the 100th episode of That '70s Show
That '70s Show
That '70s Show is an American television period sitcom that centers on the lives of a group of teenage friends living in the fictional suburban town of Point Place, Wisconsin, from May 17, 1976, to December 31, 1979...
as Fez's musical director.
Daltrey guest starred in a 7 November 2006 episode of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation ("Living Legend") as Mickey Dunn, a prominent Las Vegas 1970s mob boss who returns to Las Vegas to avenge his attempted murder. The Who's music, and Daltrey's singing, provide the themes for all three of the series in the CSI franchise every week ("Who Are You
Who Are You (song)
"Who Are You", composed by Pete Townshend, is the title track on The Who's 1978 release, Who Are You, the last album released before drummer Keith Moon's death in September 1978. It was released as a double-A sided single with the John Entwistle composition "Had Enough", also featured on the album...
" for the original show, "Won't Get Fooled Again
Won't Get Fooled Again
"Won't Get Fooled Again" is a song by the rock band The Who which was written by Pete Townshend The original version of the song appears as the final track on the album Who's Next...
" for CSI: Miami
CSI: Miami
CSI: Miami is an American police procedural television series, which premiered on September 23, 2002 on CBS. The series is a spin-off of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation....
and "Baba O'Riley
Baba O'Riley
"Baba O'Riley" is a song written by Pete Townshend for the English rock band The Who. Roger Daltrey sings most of the song, with Pete Townshend singing the middle eight: "Don't cry/don't raise your eye/it's only teenaged wasteland"...
" for CSI: NY
CSI: NY
CSI: NY is an American police procedural television series that premiered on September 22, 2004, on CBS. The show follows the investigations of a team of NYPD forensic scientists and police officers as they unveil the circumstances behind mysterious and unusual deaths as well as other crimes...
).
In 2005, Daltrey had a cameo appearance as himself in the episode "The Priest and the Beast" in Series 2 of The Mighty Boosh
The Mighty Boosh
The Mighty Boosh is a British comedy troupe featuring comedians Julian Barratt and Noel Fielding. Developed from three stage shows and a six episode radio series, it has since spawned a total of twenty television episodes for BBC Three and two live tours of the UK, as well as two live shows in the...
. He is found by the main characters vacuuming a desert, presumably as a "karmic" consequence of leaving Woodstock early and not helping to clean up. Also in 2005, he played the part of loblolly boy in the TV drama Trafalgar Surgeon.
Daltrey has also performed on the soundtrack of a number of films and television shows, most notably CSI. He also appeared in the music video for "Emotion
Emotion (Barbra Streisand album)
Emotion is the twenty-third studio album released by Barbra Streisand. It was released in October 1984 and went platinum in the United States on December 18 the same year....
" by Barbra Streisand
Barbra Streisand
Barbra Joan Streisand is an American singer, actress, film producer and director. She has won two Academy Awards, eight Grammy Awards, four Emmy Awards, a Special Tony Award, an American Film Institute award, a Peabody Award, and is one of the few entertainers who have won an Oscar, Emmy, Grammy,...
, although neither he nor The Who were the featured act.
Filmography
Roger Daltrey has acted in ads, television and films, and maintains an extensive filmography. A sampling of his films and TV roles follows:| Title | Year | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tommy | 1975 | Tommy Walker | film |
| Lisztomania | 1975 | Franz Liszt | film |
| The Legacy | 1978 | Clive | film |
| McVicar McVicar (film) McVicar is a British drama film released in 1980 by The Who Films, Ltd., starring Roger Daltrey of The Who in the title role of John McVicar... |
1980 | John McVicar John McVicar John McVicar is a British journalist and one-time convicted armed robber.-Career:In the 1960s, he was an armed robber who was tagged "Public Enemy No. 1" by Scotland Yard. He was apprehended and given a 23-year jail sentence. He escaped from prison on several occasions and after his final... |
also producer |
| The Beggar's Opera The Beggar's Opera The Beggar's Opera is a ballad opera in three acts written in 1728 by John Gay with music arranged by Johann Christoph Pepusch. It is one of the watershed plays in Augustan drama and is the only example of the once thriving genre of satirical ballad opera to remain popular today... |
1983 | Macheath | BBC musical production |
| The Comedy of Errors The Comedy of Errors The Comedy of Errors is one of William Shakespeare's earliest plays. It is his shortest and one of his most farcical comedies, with a major part of the humour coming from slapstick and mistaken identity, in addition to puns and word play. The Comedy of Errors is one of only two of Shakespeare's... |
1983 | The Dromios | TV movie |
| Bitter Cherry | 1983 | short | |
| Pop Pirates | 2007 | Producer | film |
| Murder: Ultimate Grounds for Divorce | 1985 | film | |
| The Hunting of the Snark The Hunting of the Snark The Hunting of the Snark is usually thought of as a nonsense poem written by Lewis Carroll in 1874, when he was 42 years old... |
1987 | The Barrister | concert appearance |
| The Little Match Girl The Little Match Girl The Little Match Girl is a short story by Danish poet and author Hans Christian Andersen. The story is about a dying child's dreams and hope, and was first published in 1845. It has been adapted to various media including animated film, and a television musical.-Plot summary:On a cold New Year’s... |
1987 | Jeb Macklin | musical film |
| Crossbow Crossbow A crossbow is a weapon consisting of a bow mounted on a stock that shoots projectiles, often called bolts or quarrels. The medieval crossbow was called by many names, most of which derived from the word ballista, a torsion engine resembling a crossbow in appearance.Historically, crossbows played a... |
1987 | Francois Arconciel/François Arconciel | TV series |
| Gentry Gentry Gentry denotes "well-born and well-bred people" of high social class, especially in the past.... |
1987 | Colin | TV series |
| How to Be Cool How To Be Cool How to be Cool is a 1987 novel written by Philip Pullman and intended for older teen readers. The plot revolves around a young man named Jacob who finds out the truth about the sinister plans of the National Cool Board and hits upon an idea to beat them at their own game.-Television adaptation:It... |
1988 | Himself | TV series |
| Mack the Knife Mack the Knife (film) Mack the Knife is an American film adaptation of the Brecht/Weill musical The Threepenny Opera . The film was made in 1989.It was directed by Menahem Golan, with Raúl Juliá as Macheath, Richard Harris as Mr... |
1990 | Street singer | musical film |
| Forgotten Prisoners: The Amnesty Files | 1990 | Howard | TV movie |
| Cold Justice | 1989 | Keith Gibson | film |
| Buddy's Song | 1991 | Terry Clark | film, also music score composer, producer |
| Midnight Caller Midnight Caller Midnight Caller is a dramatic NBC television series created by Richard DiLello, which ran from 1988 to 1991. It was one of the first television series to address the dramatic possibilities of the then-growing phenomenon of talk radio... |
1991 | Danny Bingham | TV series |
| If Looks Could Kill - Teen Agent | 1991 | Blade | film |
| The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert for AIDS Awareness was an open-air concert held on Easter Monday, 20 April 1992 at London's Wembley Stadium, for an audience of 72,000. The concert was produced for television by Ray Burdis and broadcast live on television and radio to 76 countries around the... |
1992 | Himself | concert performance |
| The Real Story of Happy Birthday to You The Real Story of Happy Birthday to You The Real Story of Happy Birthday to You is a children's short animation film directed by Gerald Potterton as part of the Favorite Songs series. The short was produced in Canada by Cinar and in France by France Animation and was released in January of 1992 in the USA... |
1992 | Barnaby (voice) | short |
| Tales from the Crypt Tales from the Crypt (TV series) Tales from the Crypt, sometimes titled HBO's Tales from the Crypt, is an American horror anthology television series that ran from 1989 to 1996 on the premium cable channel HBO... |
1993 | Dalton | TV series |
| Lightning Jack Lightning Jack Lightning Jack is a 1994 western film written by and starring Paul Hogan, as well as Cuba Gooding Jr. and Beverly D'Angelo.-Plot:Paul Hogan plays Lightning Jack Kane, an Australian outlaw who is continuously annoyed at not being recognised as an outlaw, partially due to his lackluster and... |
1994 | John T. Coles | film |
| A Celebration: The Music of Pete Townshend and The Who A Celebration: The Music of Pete Townshend and The Who A Celebration: The Music of Pete Townshend and The Who, also known as Daltrey Sings Townshend, is a music event and later album documenting a two-night concert at Carnegie Hall in 1994. It broke Carnegie Hall's two day box office gross record, and was the fastest sell-out in the historic venue's... |
1994 | Himself | concert performance |
| The Wizard of Oz in Concert: Dreams Come True The Wizard of Oz in Concert: Dreams Come True The Wizard of Oz in Concert: Dreams Come True was a 1995 musical performance based on the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz . The book and score of the film were performed on stage at Lincoln Center to benefit the Children's Defense Fund... |
1995 | Tin Man | concert performance |
| Vampirella Vampirella Vampirella is a fictional character, a comic book vampire heroine created by Forrest J Ackerman and costume designer Trina Robbins in Warren Publishing's black-and-white horror comics magazine Vampirella #1 . Writer-editor Archie Goodwin later developed the character from horror-story hostess, in... |
1996 | Vlad | film |
| Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman was a live-action American television series based on the Superman comic books... |
1996 | Taz | TV series |
| Highlander Highlander: The Series Highlander: The Series is a fantasy-adventure television series featuring Duncan MacLeod of the Scottish Clan MacLeod, as the Highlander. It was an offshoot and another alternate sequel of the 1986 feature film with a twist: Connor MacLeod did not win the prize and Immortals still exist post-1985... |
1996-98 | Hugh Fitzcairn | TV series |
| Sliders Sliders Sliders is an American science fiction television series. It was broadcast for five seasons, beginning in 1995 and ending in 2000. The series follows a group of travelers as they use a wormhole to "slide" between different parallel universes. The show was created by Robert K. Weiss and Tracy Tormé... |
1997 | Col. Angus Rickman | TV series |
| Pirate Tales | 1997 | William Dampier | TV mini-series |
| Like It Is Like It Is This article is about the movie. For other uses see, Like It Is .Like It Is is a 1998 British gay-themed romance film. It stars Steve Bell, Ian Rose, Roger Daltrey and Dani Behr.-Plot summary:... |
1998 | Kelvin | film |
| The Magical Legend of the Leprechauns The Magical Legend of the Leprechauns The Magical Legend of the Leprechauns is a 1999 Hallmark Entertainment made-for-TV fantasy movie. It stars Randy Quaid, Colm Meaney, Kieran Culkin, Roger Daltrey, Caroline Carver and Whoopi Goldberg... |
1999 | King Boric | TV movie |
| Rude Awakening Rude Awakening (TV series) Rude Awakening is a TV series created by Claudia Lonow, aired by Showtime on 55 22-min episodes for 3 seasons .-Story:Rude Awakening tells the story of Billie Frank, an out of work alcoholic ex-soap opera actress. She tries to go sober and become a writer but continues to struggle with her... |
1999–2000 | Nobby Clegg | TV series |
| The Bill The Bill The Bill is a police procedural television series that ran from October 1984 to August 2010. It focused on the lives and work of one shift of police officers, rather than on any particular aspect of police work... |
1999 | Larry Moore | TV series |
| Dark Prince: The True Story of Dracula Dark Prince: The True Story of Dracula Dark Prince: The True Story of Dracula is a horror-war television film, which premiered in the United States on the USA Network on Halloween, October 31, 2000... |
2000 | King Janos | TV movie |
| Best Best (film) Best is a 2000 British film portraying the football career of the Northern Irish soccer star George Best, particularly his years spent at Manchester United... |
2000 | Rodney Marsh | film |
| The Young Messiah The Young Messiah The Young Messiah, originally titled Messiah XXI For a New Millennium, is a musical production of a modern adaptation of George Frideric Handel's oratorio Messiah, which was filmed in Ireland for the New Millennium. It was produced and arranged by Frank McNamara, who also conducted the orchestra... - Messiah XXI |
2000 | Himself | concert performance |
| Strange Frequency 2 | 2001 | Host/devil | TV series |
| Chasing Destiny | 2001 | Nehemiah Peoples | film |
| Witchblade Witchblade Witchblade is an American comic book series published by Top Cow Productions, an imprint of Image Comics, from 1995 until present. The series was created by Top Cow editors Marc Silvestri and David Wohl, writers Brian Haberlin and Christina Z, and artist Michael Turner.The series follows Sara... |
2001 | Father Del Toro/Madame Sesostris | TV series |
| .com for Murder .com for Murder .com for Murder is a 2001 science fiction crime drama film written by Nico Mastorakis and Phill Marr and directed by Mastorakis, starring Nastassja Kinski, Nicollette Sheridan, Roger Daltrey, and Huey Lewis... |
2002 | Ben | film |
| That 70's Show | 2002 | Mr. Wilkinson | TV series |
| The Wheels on the Bus The Wheels on the Bus (video series) The Wheels on the Bus is a video series by Our Happy Child Productions, LLC, of Simi Valley, California. The company produces programming for children ages 1-5 years, and develops content for TV, DVDs, CDs and licensing... |
2003 | Argon the dragon | children's DVD |
| Trafalgar Battle Surgeon | 2005 | Loblolly Boy | TV movie |
| Johnny Was Johnny Was Johnny Was is an Irish/British gangster movie directed by Mark Hammond, written by Brendan Foley, and made in 2005 by Ben Katz Productions, Borderline Productions and Nordisk Film... |
2006 | Jimmy Nolan | film |
| CSI: Crime Scene Investigation CSI: Crime Scene Investigation CSI: Crime Scene Investigation is an American crime drama television series, which premiered on CBS on October 6, 2000. The show was created by Anthony E. Zuiker and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer... |
2006 | Mickey Dunn | TV series |
| The Last Detective The Last Detective The Last Detective is an ITV drama starring Peter Davison as Dangerous Davies. The first series aired in 2003 with three more seasons succeeding this... |
2007 | Mick Keating | TV series |
Stage roles
Daltrey has appeared in stage in productions including Mike BattMike Batt
Michael Philip "Mike" Batt is a British songwriter, musician, producer and Deputy Chairman of the British Phonographic Industry...
's The Hunting of the Snark
The Hunting of the Snark
The Hunting of the Snark is usually thought of as a nonsense poem written by Lewis Carroll in 1874, when he was 42 years old...
in 1987 as The Barrister, and also in Batt's Philharmania with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra is a British orchestra based in London. It tours widely, and is sometimes referred to as "Britain's national orchestra"...
in 1998. He appeared in The Wizard of Oz in Concert: Dreams Come True
The Wizard of Oz in Concert: Dreams Come True
The Wizard of Oz in Concert: Dreams Come True was a 1995 musical performance based on the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz . The book and score of the film were performed on stage at Lincoln Center to benefit the Children's Defense Fund...
in 1995 as the Tin Man. Also in 1995 he starred in a three part Bert Coules
Bert Coules
Bert Coules is an English writer, mainly for the BBC, who has produced a number of adaptations and original works. He works mainly in radio drama but also writes for TV and the stage.-Early years:...
BBC radio dramatisation of the Mutiny on the Bounty
Mutiny on the Bounty
The mutiny on the Bounty was a mutiny that occurred aboard the British Royal Navy ship HMS Bounty on 28 April 1789, and has been commemorated by several books, films, and popular songs, many of which take considerable liberties with the facts. The mutiny was led by Fletcher Christian against the...
novels of Charles Nordhoff
Charles Nordhoff
Charles Bernard Nordhoff was an English-born American novelist and traveler.-Early life:Charles Nordhoff was born in London, England, on February 1, 1887, to American parents. His father was Walter Nordhoff, a wealthy businessman and author of The Journey of the Flame penned under the name...
and James Norman Hall
James Norman Hall
James Norman Hall was an American author best known for the novel Mutiny on the Bounty with co-author Charles Nordhoff.-Biography:Hall was born in Colfax, Iowa, where he attended the local schools...
, and in 1996 he starred in a BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 2 is one of the BBC's national radio stations and the most popular station in the United Kingdom. Much of its daytime playlist-based programming is best described as Adult Contemporary or AOR, although the station is also noted for its specialist broadcasting of other musical genres...
production of Jesus Christ Superstar
Jesus Christ Superstar
Jesus Christ Superstar is a rock opera by Andrew Lloyd Webber, with lyrics by Tim Rice. The musical started off as a rock opera concept recording before its first staging on Broadway in 1971...
as Judas
Judas Iscariot
Judas Iscariot was, according to the New Testament, one of the twelve disciples of Jesus. He is best known for his betrayal of Jesus to the hands of the chief priests for 30 pieces of silver.-Etymology:...
. In 1998, Daltrey played the part of Scrooge
Ebenezer Scrooge
Ebenezer Scrooge is the principal character in Charles Dickens's 1843 novel, A Christmas Carol. At the beginning of the novel, Scrooge is a cold-hearted, tight-fisted and greedy man, who despises Christmas and all things which give people happiness...
in the Radio City Music Hall
Radio City Music Hall
Radio City Music Hall is an entertainment venue located in New York City's Rockefeller Center. Its nickname is the Showplace of the Nation, and it was for a time the leading tourist destination in the city...
production of A Christmas Carol
A Christmas Carol
A Christmas Carol is a novella by English author Charles Dickens first published by Chapman & Hall on 17 December 1843. The story tells of sour and stingy Ebenezer Scrooge's ideological, ethical, and emotional transformation after the supernatural visits of Jacob Marley and the Ghosts of...
in New York City. In 2003, he starred as Alfred P. Doolittle in a production of My Fair Lady
My Fair Lady
My Fair Lady is a musical based upon George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion and with book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe...
at the Hollywood Bowl
Hollywood Bowl
The Hollywood Bowl is a modern amphitheater in the Hollywood area of Los Angeles, California, United States that is used primarily for music performances...
alongside John Lithgow
John Lithgow
John Arthur Lithgow is an American actor, musician, and author. Presently, he is involved with a wide range of media projects, including stage, television, film, and radio...
and Melissa Errico
Melissa Errico
-Biography:Born in Manhattan, Errico moved to Manhasset on Long Island at an early age. Her parents, a sculptor and a physician/concert pianist, supported her early interest in ballet, and gymnastics, and Melissa competed nationally as a gymnast...
.
Producer
In addition to his career as an actor, Daltrey has acted as producer on several films, including: Buddy's Song (1990), McVicarMcVicar (film)
McVicar is a British drama film released in 1980 by The Who Films, Ltd., starring Roger Daltrey of The Who in the title role of John McVicar...
(1980), Quadrophenia
Quadrophenia (film)
Quadrophenia is a 1979 British film, loosely based around the 1973 rock opera of the same name by The Who. The film stars Phil Daniels as a Mod named Jimmy. It was directed by Franc Roddam in his feature directing debut...
(1979) and a an untitled Keith Moon film project in development.
Quotation
Additional reading
- Geoffrey Giuliano (1996). Behind Blue Eyes: The Life of Pete Townshend. Penguin Books, Ltd. ISBN 0-8154-1070-0
- Steve Huey, Roger Daltrey – Biography, [ AllMusic.com]
- David M. Barling, Biography of Roger Daltrey, http://www.thewho.net/Content/Biographies/Roger_Daltrey.html