Roger Daltrey fears AI has the power to “destroy” the music industry
The Who’s Roger Daltrey warns that AI could lay waste to the music industry if we aren’t careful with the technology.
Bang Showbiz
Corrections & Clarifications: An earlier version of this report misstated Pete Townshend’s role in The Who.
Roger Daltrey says aging isn’t all rock ‘n’ roll.
The singer behind The Who’s legendary sound opened up at a recent concert about losing his sight and hearing.
“The joys of getting old mean you go deaf,” Daltrey said at a concert in the U.K. on Thursday per Sky News. “I also now have got the joy of going blind.”
“Fortunately I still have my voice,” the 81-year-old rocker told the crowd at London’s Royal Albert Hall.
“Then I’ll have a full Tommy,” he added, in reference to Tommy Walker, the fictional titular character from The Who’s 1968 rock opera “Tommy,” who is blind, deaf and mute.
USA TODAY has reached out to representatives for Daltrey for comment.
This is not the first time Daltrey has been candid about performing in older age.
In an interview with The Times in January 2024, the musician told the outlet that after achieving his dream and making sure his family was taken care of, he was at peace with a career that was winding down.
“You’ve got to be realistic,” he said. “You can’t live your life forever. Like I said, people my age, we’re in the way. There are no guitar strings to be changed on this old instrument.”
The Who, which rose to popularity in the mid-1960s, remained a successful touring operation for decades before Daltrey split out on his own in 2024 to perform some of the group’s greatest hits alongside a few solo tracks.
“I just want to make sure we give the audience a great time,” he told USA TODAY of his solo venture at the time. “It’s a tough old world at the moment and thank God live music is there and that it’s the only thing that hasn’t been stolen by the internet. I think all of the YouTube stuff is very unhelpful. I don’t think it enhances (getting) anyone’s bums in seats. I think people are much more likely to go if they don’t know what to expect.”
As for getting the full band back together, he wasn’t sure age was on their side.
“We’re too old,” he joked to USA TODAY “I’d have a go at it, but Pete (Townshend) would have quite a shock. In those days, what we lacked in technique, we made up for in volume, and we can’t do that anymore.”
Townshend was the group’s lead guitarist.
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