Coordinates	12°58′0″N77°34′0″N
name	The Who
landscape	yes
background	group_or_band
genre	Rock, art rock, hard rock, power pop
origin	Shepherd's Bush, London, England
previous names	The Detours, The High Numbers
years active
label
associated acts	Plastic Ono Band, Thunderclap Newman, The Small Faces, The Faces, Deep End, Ringo Starr and His All-Starr Band, The RD Crusaders, No Plan B
website
current members	Roger DaltreyPete Townshend
past members	John EntwistleDoug SandomKeith MoonKenney Jones }}

The Who are an English rock band formed in 1964 by Roger Daltrey (lead vocals and harmonica), Pete Townshend (guitar, piano and backing vocals), John Entwistle (bass and backing vocals) and Keith Moon (drums). They became known for energetic live performances which often included instrument destruction. The Who have sold about 100 million records, and have charted 27 top forty singles in the United Kingdom and United States, as well as 17 top ten albums, with 18 Gold, 12 Platinum and 5 Multi-Platinum album awards in the United States alone.

The Who rose to fame in the UK with a series of top ten hit singles, boosted in part by pirate radio stations such as Radio Caroline, beginning in January 1965 with "I Can't Explain". The albums ''My Generation'' (1965), ''A Quick One'' (1966) and ''The Who Sell Out'' (1967) followed, with the first two reaching the UK top five. They first hit the US Top 40 in 1967 with "Happy Jack" and hit the top ten later that year with "I Can See for Miles". Their fame grew with memorable performances at the Monterey Pop, Woodstock and Isle of Wight music festivals. The 1969 release of ''Tommy'' was the first in a series of top ten albums in the US, followed by ''Live at Leeds'' (1970), ''Who's Next'' (1971), ''Quadrophenia'' (1973), ''The Who by Numbers'' (1975), ''Who Are You'' (1978) and ''The Kids Are Alright'' (1979).

Moon died at the age of 32 in 1978, after which the band released two studio albums, the UK and US top five ''Face Dances'' (1981) and the US top ten ''It's Hard'' (1982), with drummer Kenney Jones, before disbanding in 1983. They re-formed at events such as Live Aid and for reunion tours such as their 25th anniversary tour (1989) and the ''Quadrophenia'' tours of 1996 and 1997. In 2000, the three surviving original members discussed recording an album of new material, but their plans temporarily stalled upon Entwistle's death at the age of 57 in 2002. Townshend and Daltrey continue to perform as The Who, and in 2006 they released the studio album ''Endless Wire'', which reached the top ten in the UK and US.

The Who were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990, their first year of eligibility; the display describes them as "Prime contenders, in the minds of many, for the title of World's Greatest Rock Band." ''Time'' magazine wrote in 1979 that "No other group has ever pushed rock so far, or asked so much from it." ''Rolling Stone'' magazine wrote: "Along with The Beatles and The Rolling Stones, The Who complete the holy trinity of British rock." They received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the British Phonographic Industry in 1988, and from the Grammy Foundation in 2001, for creative contributions of outstanding artistic significance to the field of recording. In 2008 surviving members Townshend and Daltrey were honoured at the 31st Annual Kennedy Center Honors. That same year VH1 Rock Honors paid tribute to The Who where Jack Black of Tenacious D called them "the greatest band of all time."

History

1960s

In 1962, influenced by American R&B; and skiffle music, Townshend and Entwistle started a Dixieland jazz band called The Confederates. Townshend played banjo and Entwistle played the French horn, which he had learned to play in his school band. Roger Daltrey met Entwistle walking down the street with a bass guitar slung over his shoulder and asked him to join his band called The Detours, which he had formed the year before. After a few weeks, Entwistle suggested Townshend as an additional guitarist. In those early days The Detours played a variety of music, whilst becoming influenced by American blues and country music, playing mostly rhythm and blues. The line-up consisted of Daltrey as lead guitarist, Townshend on rhythm guitar, Entwistle as the band's bass guitarist, Doug Sandom on drums, and Colin Dawson as vocalist. With the departure of Dawson, Daltrey moved to performing as lead vocalist, and Townshend, with Entwistle's encouragement, became sole guitarist. The band sought a recording contract, but were told they needed a better drummer, and it was suggested that they write their own material, with the Beatles and the Rolling Stones as examples. In 1964, Sandom left the group. To fill contractual obligations, the bandmates hired a session drummer for the remainder of their scheduled gigs, while seeking a new permanent drummer. One of those evenings, Keith Moon approached the band about their open position for a drummer, and was given the opportunity to perform after their interval. After accidentally smashing up the drum kit when he sat in, he was invited to join the band.

The Detours changed their name to The Who in February 1964, and, with the arrival of Moon that year, the line-up was complete. However, for a short period in summer 1964, under the management of mod Peter Meaden, they changed their name to The High Numbers, releasing "Zoot Suit/I'm the Face", a single aimed at appealing to mod fans. The single failed to chart, and the band reverted to The Who. Meaden was replaced as manager by the team of Kit Lambert and Chris Stamp, who saw the band play at the Railway Tavern. Lambert and Stamp paid Meaden, and offered to manage the band. They became popular among the British mods, a 1960s subculture involving cutting-edge fashions, scooters and music genres such as rhythm and blues, soul, and beat music. To highlight their innovative music style, the band created the slogan "''Maximum R&B;''".

The band had a strong local following, but needed an edge to separate them from many other ambitious small bands in the London music scene. In September 1964, during a performance at the Railway Tavern in Harrow and Wealdstone, London, Townshend accidentally broke the head of his guitar through the ceiling. Angered by sniggers from the audience, he smashed the instrument on the stage. He picked up another guitar and continued the show. A large crowd attended the next concert, but Townshend declined to smash another guitar. Instead, Moon wrecked his drumkit. However, with that first act, the band found a "gimmick" to make a name for themselves. Instrument destruction became a staple of The Who's shows for several years. The incident at the Railway Tavern is one of ''Rolling Stone'' magazine's "50 Moments That Changed the History of Rock 'n' Roll".

The band crystallised around Townshend as primary songwriter and creative force. Entwistle also made songwriting contributions, and Moon and Daltrey contributed occasional songs in the 1960s and 1970s.

Early singles and ''My Generation''

The Who's first release, and first hit, was January 1965's "I Can't Explain", a record influenced by The Kinks, with whom they shared American producer Shel Talmy. The song was only played in a few markets in the US, notably by DJ Peter C Cavanaugh on WTAC AM 600 in Flint, Michigan. "I Can't Explain" was a top 10 hit in the UK and was followed by "Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere", a song credited to Townshend and Daltrey.

The early UK singles were released on Brunswick Records, then an arm of American Decca, whose UK operation had earlier rejected the band. Lambert and Stamp, who were dissatisfied with the contract Shel Talmy had made with Decca for The Who, took advice to "break the contract", which resulted in acrimony between the band and their producer which rumbled on for decades. Meanwhile The Who were signed to Robert Stigwood's Reaction Label for the release of their next single, "Substitute". In 1967 Lambert and Stamp formed their own record label Track Records, and claimed the coup of signing Jimi Hendrix for its first release. Distributed by Polydor, Track became home for The Who's output until the mid-1970s.

The debut album ''My Generation'' (''The Who Sings My Generation'' in the US) was released the same year. It included "The Kids Are Alright" and the title track "My Generation", which was one of the first songs with a bass guitar solo. Subsequent hits included the 1966 singles "Substitute", about a young man who feels like a fraud, "I'm a Boy", about a boy dressed as a girl, "Happy Jack", about a mentally disturbed young man, and 1967's "Pictures of Lily" about a young man fixated on a pin-up poster of a woman given to him by his father. The early singles, all written by Townshend, addressed the themes of sexual tension and teenage angst.

''A Quick One'' and ''The Who Sell Out''

Although successful as a singles band, Townshend wanted The Who's albums unified rather than collections of songs. Townshend removed "I'm a Boy" from an initially projected rock opera, the first sign of which came in the 1966 album ''A Quick One'' (titled ''Happy Jack'' in the US), which included the storytelling medley "A Quick One While He's Away", which they referred to as a mini-opera. The song's most famous live performance was onstage at ''The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus'', where others' "poor" renditions were rewarded with rotten tomatoes. However, they sailed through with flying colours, as evidenced by the applause.

''A Quick One'' was followed in 1967 by the single "Pictures of Lily" and ''The Who Sell Out'' – a concept album like an offshore radio station, complete with humorous jingles and commercials. It included a mini rock opera called "Rael" (whose closing theme ended up on ''Tommy'') and The Who's biggest US single, "I Can See for Miles". The Who destroyed equipment at the Monterey Pop Festival that year and repeated the routine on ''The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour'' with explosive results as Moon detonated his drum kit. Years later, during filming of ''The Kids Are Alright'', Townshend claimed that the event was the start of his tinnitus. The drum kit had been loaded with an excessive amount of explosives after Moon bribed a stage hand. The resulting explosion was much more powerful than had been anticipated by anyone, including Moon himself. Music channel VH1 listed the event at #10 on their list of the 100 Greatest Rock 'n' Roll Moments on Television.

''Tommy''

In 1968, The Who headlined the first Schaefer Music Festival in New York City's Central Park and released the single "Magic Bus". In December, they took part in ''The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus'', performing their mini-opera, "A Quick One While He's Away". Also that year, Townshend became the subject of the first ''Rolling Stone'' interview. Townshend said he was working on a full-length rock opera. This was ''Tommy'', the first work billed as a rock opera and a landmark in modern music.

During this time the teachings of India's Meher Baba influenced Townshend's songwriting, continuing for many years. Baba is credited as "Avatar" on ''Tommy''. In addition to commercial success, ''Tommy'' became a critical smash, ''Life'' saying, "...for sheer power, invention and brilliance of performance, ''Tommy'' outstrips anything which has ever come out of a recording studio," and ''Melody Maker'' declaring, "Surely The Who are now the band against which all others are to be judged."

The Who performed at the Woodstock Festival that year, insisting on being paid before going on stage early on Sunday morning when they played much of ''Tommy''. During their performance Yippie leader Abbie Hoffman sat on the stage with concert organiser Michael Lang. Hoffman had been working the medical tent since the festival's opening act and was under the influence of LSD. Hoffman had become increasingly determined to publicise the case of John Sinclair, who had been given a 10-year jail sentence for passing two marijuana cigarettes to an undercover narcotics officer. Hoffman jumped up and grabbed a microphone during a brief lull in The Who's performance of ''Tommy'' saying, "I think this is a pile of shit, while John Sinclair rots in prison!" Townshend replied, "Fuck off! Fuck off my fucking stage!" and struck Hoffman with his guitar. Hoffman leaped off the stage and disappeared into the crowd.

1970s

''Live at Leeds''

The group began 1970 by appearing on the BBC's highly rated review of the sixties music scene ''Pop Go The Sixties'', performing "I Can See For Miles" live on the show broadcast on BBC1, 1 January 1970. In February 1970 The Who recorded ''Live at Leeds'', thought by many critics to be the best live rock album of all time. The album, originally containing mostly the show's set closing hard rock songs, has been re-released in expanded and remastered versions. These versions remedy technical problems with the original and are expanded with portions of the performance of ''Tommy'', as well as versions of earlier singles and stage banter. A double-disc version contains the entire performance of ''Tommy''. The Leeds University gig was part of the ''Tommy'' tour, which not only included gigs in European opera houses but saw The Who become the first rock act at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York City. In March The Who released the UK top twenty hit "The Seeker".

''Lifehouse'' and ''Who's Next''

In March 1971, the band began recording the available ''Lifehouse'' material, a new Townshend-penned rock opera, with Kit Lambert in New York, and then restarted the sessions with Glyn Johns in April. Selections from the material, with one unrelated song by Entwistle, were released as a traditional studio album, ''Who's Next''. The album became their most successful album among critics and fans, but terminated the ''Lifehouse'' project. ''Who's Next'' reached #4 in the US pop charts and #1 in the UK. Two tracks from the album, "Baba O'Riley" and "Won't Get Fooled Again", are cited as pioneering examples of synthesiser use in rock music; both tracks' keyboard sounds were generated in real time by a Lowrey organ (though in "Won't Get Fooled Again", the organ was processed through a VCS3 synthesiser). Synthesizers can be heard elsewhere on the album, in "Bargain", "Going Mobile", and "The Song Is Over". In October The Who released the UK top twenty hit "Let's See Action". On 4 November 1971 The Who opened the Rainbow Theatre in London and played for three nights. They also played at the Young Vic in London, performing the ''Lifehouse'' set. This has been released on disc 2 of the ''Who's Next'' Deluxe Edition. In 1972 they released the UK top ten and US top twenty single "Join Together" and the UK and US Top Forty "The Relay".

''Quadrophenia'' and ''By Numbers''

''Who's Next'' was followed by ''Quadrophenia'' (1973), The Who's second completed double album rock opera. The story is about a boy named Jimmy, who struggles for self-esteem, with his family and others, and is mentally ill. His story is set against clashes between Mods and Rockers in the early 1960s in the UK, particularly at Brighton. The album became their highest charting cross-Atlantic success, peaking at #2 in the UK and US. The US tour started on 20 November 1973 at the San Francisco, California Cow Palace in Daly City where Moon passed out during "Won't Get Fooled Again" and, after a break backstage, again in "Magic Bus". Townshend asked the audience, "Can anyone play the drums? – I mean somebody good." An audience member, Scot Halpin, filled in for the rest of the show, a jam featuring "Smokestack Lightning", "Spoonful" and "Naked Eye".

In 1974 The Who released the outtakes album ''Odds & Sods'', which featured several songs from the aborted ''Lifehouse'' project. Their 1975 album, ''The Who by Numbers'', had introspective songs, lightened by "Squeeze Box", another hit single. Some critics considered ''By Numbers'' Townshend's "suicide note." A movie version of ''Tommy'' released that year was directed by Ken Russell, starred Daltrey and earned Townshend an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Score. On 6 December 1975 The Who set the record for largest indoor concert at the Pontiac Silverdome, attended by 75,962 people. On 31 May 1976 The Who played at The Valley, the home of Charlton Athletic, in what was listed for more than ten years in the Guinness Book of Records as the world's loudest concert, at over 120 dBs.

''Who Are You'' and Moon's death

On 18 August 1978, the band released ''Who Are You''. It became their biggest and fastest seller to that date, peaking at #2 in the US, and was certified platinum in the US on 20 September. This success was overshadowed by Keith Moon's death in his sleep on 7 September after an overdose of Heminevrin – prescribed to combat alcohol withdrawal – a few hours after a party held by Paul McCartney. Kenney Jones, of Small Faces and Faces, joined as Moon's successor.

On 2 May 1979, The Who returned to the stage with a well-received concert at the Rainbow Theatre in London, followed up over the spring and summer by performances at the Cannes Film Festival in France, in Scotland, at Wembley Stadium in London, in West Germany, at the Capitol Theater in Passaic, New Jersey and in five dates at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

Also in 1979, The Who released a documentary film called ''The Kids Are Alright'' and a film version of ''Quadrophenia'', the latter a box office hit in the UK and the former capturing many of the band's most scintillating moments on stage, including their last performance with Keith Moon. In December, The Who became the third band, after the Beatles and The Band, featured on the cover of ''Time''. The article, written by Jay Cocks, said The Who had "outpaced, outlasted, outlived and outclassed" all of their rock band contemporaries.

Cincinnati tragedy

A small tour of the United States was marred by tragedy: on 3 December 1979 in Cincinnati, Ohio, a crowd crush at Riverfront Coliseum killed 11 fans and injured 26 others. This was due in part to festival seating – a seating arrangement in which seating is unassigned (non-reserved), so the first to enter the venue get the best of those spots. Additionally, many fans waiting outside mistook the band's sound check for the actual concert, and attempted to force their way inside. When only a fraction of the arena's entrance doors were opened, a bottleneck situation ensued, and with so many thousands trying to gain entry, the crush became deadly.

The band were not told until after the show because civic authorities feared crowd problems if the concert was cancelled. The band were deeply shaken upon learning of the incident and requested assistance in subsequent venues for appropriate safety precautions for their following concerts. From the stage the following evening in Buffalo, New York, Daltrey told the crowd that the band had "lost a lot of family last night and this show's for them."

1980s

Change and break-up

The band released two studio albums with Jones as drummer, ''Face Dances'' (1981) and ''It's Hard'' (1982). ''Face Dances'' produced a US top twenty and UK top ten hit with the single "You Better You Bet" and a string of MTV and AOR hits like "Another Tricky Day". Three videos from the album played on MTV the day it took to the air in August 1981. While both albums sold fairly well and ''It's Hard'' received a five-star review in ''Rolling Stone'', some fans were not receptive to the new sound. "Athena" was a US top thirty hit and "Eminence Front" charted as well and became a favourite. However Townshend's life was a mess – his marriage had fallen apart due to his drinking and he had become a heroin user, something which shocked his friends due to his previous anti-drug stance. He cleaned up in early 1982, but Daltrey told him he would stop touring if it meant keeping Townshend alive. Shortly after ''It's Hard'', The Who embarked on their 'farewell' tour of the US. It included two shows at Shea Stadium in New York on 12 & 13 October and ended in Toronto on 17 December and which was featured on HBO. Townshend had said he wanted one more tour with The Who before turning it into a studio band. It was the highest grossing tour of the year, with sellout crowds in stadiums and arenas throughout North America.

Townshend spent part of 1983 trying to write material for the studio album still owed to Warner Bros. Records from a contract in 1980. By the end of 1983, however, Townshend declared himself unable to generate material appropriate for The Who and announced his departure from the band in December, wishing Daltrey, Entwistle and Jones all the best if they went on without him. He then focused on solo projects such as: ''White City: A Novel'', ''The Iron Man'' (which featured Daltrey and Entwistle and two songs on the album credited to "The Who"), and ''Psychoderelict'', a forerunner to the radio work ''Lifehouse''.

Reunions

In July 1985, The Who—including Kenney Jones—reformed for a one-off at Bob Geldof's Live Aid concert at Wembley. The BBC transmission truck blew a fuse at the beginning of "My Generation", meaning the picture was lost completely, but the band kept playing. This caused most of the video of "My Generation" and all of "Pinball Wizard" to be missed by the rest of the world, but the audio for "Pinball Wizard" and the remaining songs were transmitted via radio. Transmission resumed with "Love, Reign O'er Me" and "Won't Get Fooled Again".

In February 1988, the band was honoured with the British Phonographic Industry's Lifetime Achievement Award. The Who played a short set at the ceremony (the last time Jones worked with The Who). In 1989, they embarked on a 25th anniversary ''The Kids Are Alright'' reunion tour which emphasised songs from ''Tommy''. Simon Phillips played drums with Steve "Boltz" Bolton playing lead guitar, as Townshend relegated himself to acoustic guitar and some electric rhythm guitar in order to minimise damage to his hearing. A horn section and backing singers were also included in order to provide sonic richness while keeping stage volumes far lower than previous tours. ''Newsweek'' said, "The Who tour is special because, after the Beatles and the Stones, they're IT." There were sellouts throughout North America, including a four-night stand at Giants Stadium. In all, over two million tickets were sold. The tour included ''Tommy'' at Radio City Music Hall in New York and at the Universal Amphitheatre in Los Angeles, with several guest stars at the latter performance. A 2-CD live album ''Join Together'' was released in 1990, stalling at #188 in the US. A video of the Universal Amphitheatre show was also released and went platinum in the US.

1990s

Partial reunions

In 1990, their first year of eligibility, The Who were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame by U2, Bono saying, "More than any other band, The Who are our role models." The Who's display at the Rock Hall describes them as prime contenders for the title of "World's Greatest Rock Band". Only The Beatles and The Rolling Stones received a similar accolade at the Rock Hall.

In 1991, The Who recorded a cover of Elton John's "Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting" for a salutation album. This was the last time they released any studio work with Entwistle. In 1994 Daltrey turned 50 and celebrated with two concerts at Carnegie Hall. These included guest spots by Entwistle and Townshend. Although all three surviving original members of The Who attended, they did not appear on stage together except for the finale, "Join Together", with the other guests. Daltrey toured that year with Entwistle and with John "Rabbit" Bundrick on keyboards, Zak Starkey on drums and Simon Townshend filling in for his brother. Pete Townshend allowed Daltrey to call this band The Who, but Daltrey declined. The live album recorded during these concerts, ''Daltrey Sings Townshend'', was not a commercial success. Also in 1994, The Who released the box set ''Thirty Years of Maximum R&B;''.

''Quadrophenia'' revival

In 1996 Townshend, Entwistle and Daltrey performed ''Quadrophenia'' with guest stars at a concert in Hyde Park. Starkey was the drummer. The performance was narrated by Phil Daniels who played Jimmy the Mod in the film. Despite technical difficulties the show was a success and led to a six-night residency at Madison Square Garden. Townshend played acoustic guitar exclusively. These shows were not billed as The Who. The success of the ''Quadrophenia'' shows led to a US and European tour through 1996 and 1997. Townshend played mostly acoustic guitar, but also electric guitar on select songs. In 1998 VH1 ranked The Who ninth in their list of the ''100 Greatest Artists of Rock 'n' Roll''.

In late 1999, The Who performed as a five-piece for the first time in concert since 1985, with Bundrick on keyboards and Starkey on drums. The first show took place 29 October 1999 in Las Vegas at the MGM Grand Garden. From there, they performed acoustic shows at Neil Young's Bridge School Benefit at the Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, California on 30 and 31 October. Next, they played on 12 and 13 November at the House of Blues in Chicago, as a benefit for the Maryville Academy. Finally, two Christmas charity shows on 22 and 23 December at the Shepherds Bush Empire in London. These were the first full-length concerts with Townshend playing electric guitar for the duration of the show since 1982. The 29 October show in Las Vegas was partially on TV as well as the internet and would later see release as the DVD ''The Vegas Job''. Reviews for the shows were good.

2000s

Charity shows and Entwistle's death

The success of 1999 led to a US tour in 2000 and a UK tour in November. The tour started on 6 June at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York to benefit the Robin Hood Foundation and ended with a charity show on 27 November at the Royal Albert Hall for the Teenage Cancer trust. With good reviews, all three members of The Who discussed a new album. Also that year, VH1 placed The Who eighth in the 100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock. The band, with Zak Starkey on drums, performed at The Concert for New York City on 20 October 2001, during which they played "Who Are You", "Baba O'Riley", "Behind Blue Eyes", and "Won't Get Fooled Again" for the fire and police departments of New York City. The Who were also honoured with a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award that year.

The Who played five shows in England in 2002; in Portsmouth on 27 and 28 January and Watford on 31 January, in preparation for two shows for the Teenage Cancer Trust Benefit at the Albert Hall on 7 and 8 February. These were Entwistle's last shows with The Who. On 27 June, just before their US tour was due to commence, Entwistle was found dead at the Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas. The cause was a heart attack in which cocaine was a contributing factor. After a brief delay and two cancelled gigs, the tour commenced at the Hollywood Bowl with bassist Pino Palladino as Entwistle's (now-permanent) replacement. Most shows from the tour were released officially on CD as ''Encore Series 2002''. In September, ''Q'' magazine named The Who as one of the "50 Bands to See Before You Die". In November 2003, The Who landed seven albums in ''Rolling Stone'' magazine's list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, more than any other artist with the exceptions of the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen.

In 2004 The Who released "Old Red Wine" and "Real Good Looking Boy" (with Pino Palladino and Greg Lake, respectively, on bass guitar), as part of a singles anthology (''The Who: Then and Now''), and went on an 18-date tour playing Japan, Australia, the UK and the US. All shows were released on CD as part of ''Encore Series 2004''. The band also headlined the Isle of Wight Festival. Also that year, ''Rolling Stone'' ranked The Who #29 on their list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.

''Endless Wire''

The Who announced that spring 2005 would see their first studio album in 23 years (tentatively titled ''WHO2''). Townshend continued working on the album, however, and posted a novella called ''The Boy Who Heard Music'' on his blog. This developed into a mini-opera called ''Wire & Glass'' which formed the kernel for the new Who album, and later a full opera which Townshend presented at Vassar College.

The Who performed on the London stage of the Live 8 concert in July 2005. The Who were also inducted into the UK Music Hall of Fame that year. In 2006, The Who were first recipients of the Freddie Mercury Lifetime Achievement Award in Live Music at the Vodafone music awards.

''Endless Wire'' was released on 30 October 2006 (31 October in the US). It was the first full studio album of new material since 1982's ''It's Hard'' and contained the band's first mini-opera since "Rael" on 1967's ''The Who Sell Out''. ''Endless Wire'' debuted at #7 on ''Billboard'' and #9 in the UK Albums Chart. On the eve of its release (29 October), The Who performed part of the mini-opera and several songs from the new album live as the closing act of the BBC Electric Proms at the Roundhouse in London.

In advance of the album, and to support it, The Who embarked upon their 2006–2007 tour. Shows were released on CD and DVD as part of ''Encore Series 2006 and 2007''. Starkey was invited to join Oasis in April 2006, and The Who in November 2006, but he declined, preferring to split his time between the two. On 24 June 2007, The Who topped the bill at the Glastonbury Festival.

''Amazing Journey''

In November 2007, the documentary ''Amazing Journey: The Story of The Who'' was released. The documentary includes footage not in earlier documentaries, including film from the 1970 Leeds University appearance and a 1964 performance at the Railway Hotel when they were The High Numbers. ''Amazing Journey'' was nominated for a 2009 Grammy Award.

The Who were honoured at the 2008 ''VH1 Rock Honors'' in Los Angeles. Taping of the show took place 12 July, followed by a network broadcast on 17 July. That same week, a 12-song best-of collection was released for the music video game ''Rock Band''. The Who performed at the ''Rock Band'' party at the Orpheum Theater during the 2008 E3 Media and Business Summit. In October 2008, The Who embarked on a tour of four Japanese cities and nine North American cities. In December, The Who were recognised at the Kennedy Center Honors. After other musical celebrities performed their music, the finale was a surprise chorus of police and rescue first responders who had been touched by The Who's performance at The Concert for New York City after the shock of 9–11.

An Australia and New Zealand tour was completed in early 2009. In August, Townshend announced on The Who's website that he is working on a new musical titled ''Floss'' which follows the story of an aging rocker known as "Walter", some songs of which will debut on a new Who album proposed for 2011 or 2012.

2010–present

The Who performed at the halftime show of Super Bowl XLIV at Sun Life Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida on 7 February 2010. They played a medley of "Pinball Wizard", "Baba O'Riley", "Who Are You", "See Me, Feel Me", and "Won't Get Fooled Again".

The Who performed ''Quadrophenia'' at the Royal Albert Hall on 30 March 2010 as part of the Teenage Cancer Trust series of 10 gigs. This one-off performance of the rock opera featured guest appearances from Eddie Vedder, lead singer of Pearl Jam, and the lead singer of Kasabian, Tom Meighan.

Townshend told ''Rolling Stone'' magazine that the band had planned a tour for early 2010; Townshend later stated this was jeopardised due to the return of his tinnitus. He is experimenting with a new in-ear monitoring system that was recommended to him by fellow rocker Neil Young and his audiologist. The in-ear monitoring system was scheduled to be tested out at the ''Quadrophenia'' concert at the Royal Albert Hall on 30 March. Most recently, Roger Daltrey has stated that they have acquired new equipment—earpieces and the like—that he and the band are learning to use to enable Townshend to perform. The Who hoped to hit the road again in 2011, with "a new show," according to singer Roger Daltrey, or possibly a retooled stage presentation of the group's 1973 rock opera ''Quadrophenia''.

On 11 October 2010, The Who's official website announced the release on 15 November 2010 of the Fortieth Anniversary Super-Deluxe Collectors’ Edition of their ''Live at Leeds'' album, including the complete 14 February 1970 performance, and a 2-CD set containing the complete performance of 15 February 1970 at the City Hall in Hull, England.

The Who performed in London on 13 January 2011, along with Jeff Beck and Debbie Harry for a 'killing cancer' benefit concert.

In July 2011, Townshend revealed on his blog that he will be touring their 1973 rock opera album ''Quadrophenia'' with bandmate Roger Daltrey. Townshend wrote "The reason I am not on the road with Roger is that this is entirely Roger's adventure, one that is bringing him great joy. I don't belong on this 'Tommy' tour. I wish him well, sincerely, and I look forward to playing with Roger again doing 'Quadrophenia' next year".

Legacy and influence

The Who are one of the most influential rock groups of the 1960s and '70s, influencing artists from Led Zeppelin to The Clash. Bono of U2 said, "More than any other band, The Who are our role models." Brian May of Queen said, "They were my inspiration." Wayne Coyne of The Flaming Lips said, "I already believed in rock & roll, but seeing The Who really made me feel it. I knew I had to become a musician after that." Geddy Lee of Rush said, "They were really influential on our band in a big way." Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder said, "The one thing that disgusts me about The Who is the way they smashed through every door in the uncharted hallway of rock 'n' roll without leaving much more than some debris for the rest of us to lay claim to."

The Who's Mod genesis inspired Mod revival bands such as The Jam, as well as later bands of the Britpop wave in the mid-1990s, such as Blur and Oasis. The band has also been called "The Godfathers of Punk" due to their loud, aggressive approach to rock and the attitude evinced in songs like "My Generation". Many protopunk and punk rock bands from the MC5 to The Stooges to the Ramones to Green Day, point to The Who as influence.

The group has been credited with originating the "rock opera" and it made one of the first notable concept albums. Following ''Tommy'' were David Bowie's ''The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars'', ''The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway'' by Genesis, and Pink Floyd's ''The Wall'' in the 1970s. Later efforts in the rock opera vein include My Chemical Romance's ''The Black Parade'' and Green Day's ''American Idiot'' and ''21st Century Breakdown'' releases.

In 1967 Townshend coined the term "power pop" to describe The Who's sixties singles. The guiding lights of the seventies power pop movement, from the Raspberries to Cheap Trick, take inspiration from The Who. The Who's influence can also be seen in early incorporation of synthesisers, with ''Who's Next'' featuring the instrument prominently.

The Who's surviving members, Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey, were given Kennedy Center Honors for their enduring influence on popular culture. The band had an impact on fashion from their earliest days with their embrace of pop art and their groundbreaking use of the now common Union Jack for clothing. Their contributions to rock iconography include the windmill strum, the Marshall Stack and the guitar smash.

All three versions of the American forensic drama ''CSI'' (''CSI: Crime Scene Investigation'', ''CSI: Miami'', and ''CSI: NY'') feature songs written and performed by The Who as theme songs, "Who Are You", "Won't Get Fooled Again" and "Baba O'Riley" respectively.

Awards and accolades

The Who were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990, the UK Music Hall of Fame in 2005, and won the first annual Freddie Mercury Lifetime Achievement in Live Music Award in 2006. They received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the British Phonographic Industry in 1988, and from the Grammy Foundation in 2001, for creative contributions of outstanding artistic significance to the field of recording.

''Tommy'' was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1998, "My Generation" in 1999 and ''Who's Next'' in 2007. At the 31st annual awards ceremony on 7 December 2008, Townshend and Daltrey received Kennedy Center Honors; the first rock band to be so honoured. VH1 Rock Honors 2008 paid homage to The Who with tribute performances from Pearl Jam, Foo Fighters, Flaming Lips, Incubus and Tenacious D. ''My Generation'' was selected for preservation in the United States National Recording Registry in 2009.

The Who are ranked #3 on ''About.com's'' "Top 50 Classic Rock Bands". The Who have seven albums on ''Rolling Stone'''s 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, more than any other artist with the exceptions of the Beatles, Bob Dylan, the Rolling Stones and Bruce Springsteen. The Who are ranked #2 on ''Classic Rock's'' "50 Best Live Acts of All Time". The Who were ranked #9 on VH1's "100 Greatest Artists of all time" in 1998 and are ranked #13 in 2010.

Band members

Current members

Roger Daltrey – lead vocals, rhythm guitar and harmonica (1962–present)

Pete Townshend – guitar, keyboards, synthesisers, vocals (1962–present)

Former members

Doug Sandom – drums (1962–1964)

John Entwistle – bass guitar, brass, vocals (1962–2002)

Keith Moon – drums, percussion (1964–1978)

Kenney Jones – drums, percussion (1979–1988)

Current touring members

John "Rabbit" Bundrick – keyboards, backing vocals (1979–1981, 1985–present)

Zak Starkey – drums, percussion (1996–present)

Simon Townshend – rhythm guitar, backing vocals (1996–1997, 2002–present)

Pino Palladino – bass guitar (2002–present)

Discography

Studio albums

1965 - ''My Generation''

1966 - ''A Quick One''

1967 - ''The Who Sell Out''

1969 - ''Tommy''

1971 - ''Who's Next''

1973 - ''Quadrophenia''

1975 - ''The Who by Numbers''

1978 - ''Who Are You''

1981 - ''Face Dances''

1982 - ''It's Hard''

2006 - ''Endless Wire''

See also

List of best-selling music artists

The Who's musical equipment

The Who Tours and Performances

Notes

Further reading

Marsh, Dave (1983). ''Before I Get Old: The Story of The Who''. St. Martin's Press. ISBN 0-312-07155-8.

McMichael, Joe and "Irish" Jack Lyons. (1998) ''The Who: Concert File''. Omnibus Press. ISBN 978-0711963160.

Neill, Andrew; Matthew Kent; Roger Daltrey; and Chris Stamp. (2009) ''Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere: The Complete Chronicle of the Who 1958-1978''. Sterling Publishing Company. ISBN 978-1402766916.

Entwistle, J., Daltrey, R., Townshend, P., and (Ed.) Halfin, R. (2002) ''Maximum Who: The Who In The Sixties''. England. Genesis Publications. ISBN 0904351858.

External links

The Who.com official site

The Who biography from ''Rolling Stone''

17 Dec 1979 concert outside Washington, DC

The Who Logo: Design and History

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Coordinates	12°58′0″N77°34′0″N
name	Keith Moon
background	non_vocal_instrumentalist
birth name	Keith John Moon
born	August 23, 1946Wembley, Middlesex, England
died	September 07, 1978Westminster, London, England
instrument	Drums, percussion, vocals, bugle, trumpet, tuba
genre	Rock, art rock, hard rock, power pop
occupation	Musician, songwriter, producer, actor
years active	1964–1978
associated acts	The Who, Plastic Ono Band, Jeff Beck Group }}

Keith John Moon (23 August 1946 – 7 September 1978) 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 joined The Who in 1964. He played on all albums and singles from their debut, 1964's "Zoot Suit", to 1978's ''Who Are You'', which was released three weeks before his death.

Moon was known for dramatic, suspenseful drumming—often eschewing basic back beats for a fluid, busy technique focused on fast, cascading rolls across the toms, ambidextrous double bass drum work and wild cymbal crashes and washes. He is mentioned in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as one of the greatest of all rock and roll drummers, and was posthumously inducted into the Rock Hall as a member of The Who in 1990.

Moon's legacy, as a member of The Who, as a solo artist, and as an eccentric personality, continues to garner awards and praise, including a ''Rolling Stone'' readers' pick placing him in second place of the magazine's "best drummers of all time" in 2011, nearly 35 years after his death.

Early life

Keith John Moon lived in Wembley, Middlesex. As a boy he was hyperactive and had a restless imagination. As a youth, the one thing that could hold his attention was music. Moon failed his eleven plus exam, and thus went to a secondary modern school, where in a report his art teacher commented: 'Retarded artistically. Idiotic in other respects'. Teacher Aaron Sofocleous praised his music skills and encouraged his chaotic style, even if one school report noted "He has great ability, but must guard against a tendency to show off". Often on his way home from school Keith would go to Macari's Music Studio in Ealing Road and would take instruction and practice on the drums there, where he learned his basic drumming skills. He left school in 1961.

On 17 March 1966, Moon married his pregnant girlfriend Kim Kerrigan in secrecy. Their daughter Amanda was born on 12 July 1966. Kerrigan left him in 1973. She took Mandy with her to live in the house of Faces keyboard player Ian McLagan, with whom she was having an affair, and divorced Moon in 1975. (Kerrigan and McLagan married in October 1978, one month after Moon's death. She was killed in a car crash in Texas in 2006). Before his divorce Moon dated Georgiana Steele, a British-born former fashion model who worked in their quadrophonic recording studio, Ramport, in Battersea, and in 1974 Moon began dating Swedish model Annette Walter-Lax.

Early musical career

At age twelve, Moon joined his local Sea Cadet Corps band as a bugle player but traded his position to be a drummer. He started to play the drums at age fourteen after his father bought him a kit. He received lessons from one of the loudest drummers at the time, Carlo Little, paying him ten shillings a lesson. During this time he joined his first serious band The Escorts. He later spent 18 months as the drummer for ''The Beachcombers'', a London cover band notable for renditions of songs by Cliff Richard.

Moon initially played in the drumming style of American surf rock and jazz, with a mix of R&B;, utilising grooves and fills of those genres, particularly Hal Blaine of Wrecking Crew. However, he played faster and louder, with more persistence and authority. Moon's favourite musicians were jazz artists Gene Krupa and Sonny Rollins.

The Who

At age 17, Moon joined The Who, replacing Doug Sandom after the band received the news that they could not expect a recording contract without a better drummer. Early in The Who's career, as they gained a following, they sought to set themselves apart from other bands of the time. When their live sets culminated in what they later described as "auto-destructive art", with Pete Townshend (and Moon delightedly following suit) destroying their equipment in elaborate fashion, they made a name for themselves in the press and gained the attention they had lacked. It was an act that was imitated by other bands and artists including Jimi Hendrix (who had just signed with the same label) in his break-out performance at the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival. Moon showed a zeal for this, kicking and smashing his drums. During the end of their 1967 appearance performing on ''The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour'', Moon had explosives loaded into one of his kit's two bass drums. During the finale of "My Generation", he kicked the other drum off the riser and then set off the charge, with the intensity of the explosion surprising even himself. He singed Townshend's hair and embedded a piece of cymbal in his own arm. The blast has been speculated as starting Townshend's tinnitus, though Townshend himself attributes his hearing loss to years of headphone use in the recording studio. During one of his only drum solo performances on television, Moon filled clear acrylic drums with water and goldfish, playing them for the audience. Antics like these earned him the nicknames "Moon the Loon" and "Mad Moon". Cultivating publicity for his behaviour, he became one of the most well-known drummers in his generation, and the other members of the Who benefited from the exposure as well.

His propensity for making his bandmates laugh around the vocal microphone whilst recording led them to banish him from the studio when vocals were being recorded. This led to a game, Moon sneaking in to join the singing. He can be heard singing lead on several tracks, including "Bell Boy" (''Quadrophenia,'' 1973), "Bucket T" and "Barbara Ann" (''Ready Steady Who'' EP, 1966), and the high backing vocals on other songs, such as "Pictures Of Lily".

Moon was credited as composer of "I Need You", which he also sang, and the instrumental "Cobwebs and Strange" (from ''A Quick One'', 1966), the single B-sides "In The City" (co-written by Moon and Entwistle), "Dogs Part Two" (1969) (sharing credits with Townshend's and Entwistle's dogs, Towser and Jason), "Tommy's Holiday Camp" (1969), "Waspman" (1972), and "Girl's Eyes" (from ''The Who Sell Out'' sessions; featured on ''Thirty Years of Maximum R&B;'' and a 1995 re-release of ''The Who Sell Out''). He also co-composed the instrumental "The Ox" (from the debut album ''My Generation'') with Townshend, Entwistle and keyboardist Nicky Hopkins. "Tommy's Holiday Camp" (from ''Tommy'') was credited to Moon, who suggested the action should take place in a holiday camp. The song was written by Townshend, and although there is a misconception that Moon sings on the track, the version on the album is Townshend's demo. However Moon did sing it in live concerts, and on the film version of ''Tommy''. He also produced "Baba O'Riley"'s violin solo (which he had suggested), performed by Dave Arbus, a friend.

Daltrey said Moon's drumming style held the band together; that Entwistle and Townshend "were like knitting needles... and Keith was the ball of wool."

Many rock drummers have cited Moon as an influence, including Neil Peart and Dave Grohl. The Jam paid tribute to Moon on the second single from their third album, "Down in the Tube Station at Midnight", in which the B-side of the single is a cover song from The Who: "So Sad About Us", and the back cover of the record is a photo of Moon's face; the Jam's record was released about a month after Moon's death.

Recklessness

Moon led a very destructive lifestyle. He laid waste to hotel rooms, the homes of friends and even his own home, throwing furniture out of high windows and setting fire to buildings. In one case, the band were due to perform at The Valley (home of Charlton Athletic F.C.), and were waiting in the dressing room for Moon to arrive. A witness described the drummer's sudden entry: "Suddenly, there was a great crash and Keith Moon dropped through the ceiling, having smashed his way through the corrugated iron roof."

Along with his drum sets, Moon's infamous (and favourite) calling card was to flush powerful explosives down toilets. It has been estimated that his destruction of toilets and plumbing ran as high as UK£300,000 (US$500,000). His levels of destruction forced the band to stay outside of New York City when they performed there, and his repeated practice of blowing up toilets with explosives led to Moon being banned for life from lodging at several hotel chains around the world, including all Holiday Inn, Sheraton, and Hilton Hotels, as well as the Waldorf Astoria. Moon became so notorious for this practice that when Nick Harper was asked about his childhood memories spent around The Who, his first recollection was, "I remember Keith blowing up the toilets."

According to Tony Fletcher's biography, Moon's toilet pyrotechnics began in 1965, when he purchased 500 cherry bombs. In time, Moon would graduate from just cherry bombs to taking out toilets with M-80s. Eventually, Moon began using sticks of dynamite, his explosive of choice, to destroy toilets. "All that porcelain flying through the air was quite unforgettable," Moon recalled. "I never realised dynamite was so powerful. I'd been used to penny bangers before." In a very short period of time, Moon developed a reputation of "leaving holes" in bathroom floors, completely annihilating the toilets, mesmerising Moon and enhancing his reputation as rock and roll's premier hellraiser. Fletcher goes on to state that, "no toilet in a hotel or changing room was safe," until Moon had detonated his supply of explosives.

Unknown to many people at the time, Moon was often able to cajole John Entwistle into helping him blow up toilets. In a 1981 interview with the ''Los Angeles Times,'' Entwistle confessed, "A lot of times when Keith was blowing up toilets I was standing behind him with the matches." During one incident between Moon and hotel management, Moon was asked to turn down his cassette player because The Who were making "too much noise." In response, Moon asked the manager up to his room, lit a stick of dynamite in the toilet, and shut the bathroom door. Following the explosion, Moon informed the startled manager, "That, dear boy, was noise." Moon then turned the cassette player back on and proclaimed, "This is The Who." On a different occasion in Alabama, Moon and Entwistle loaded a toilet with cherry bombs because they could not receive room service. According to Entwistle, "That toilet was just dust all over the walls by the time we checked out. The management brought our suitcases down to the gig and said: 'Don't come back...'"

The acts, though often fuelled by drugs and alcohol, were his way of expressing his eccentricity, as well as the joy he got from shocking the public. In Moon's biography, ''Full Moon,'' longtime friend and personal assistant Dougal Butler, observed: "He would do anything if he knew that there were enough people around who didn't want him to do it."

According to Townshend, Moon's reputation for erratic behaviour was something he cultivated. Once, on the way to an airport, Moon insisted they return to their hotel, saying, "I forgot something. We've got to go back!" When the limo returned, Moon ran to his room, grabbed the television while it was plugged in, threw it out the window and into the pool. He then jumped back into the limousine, sighing "I nearly forgot".

In 1967, Moon set in motion events which would become one of rock's most famous legends. According to the book ''Local DJ, a Rock & Roll History'', after The Who opened for Herman's Hermits, Moon celebrated his 21st birthday party at the Holiday Inn in Flint, Michigan. Already intoxicated, he began the celebration by lighting a stick of dynamite in the toilet of his room. When the dynamite did not flush, Moon leapt out of the bathroom at the last possible moment to avoid porcelain toilet shards from the blast. He then allegedly drove a Cadillac (according to Moon's own account, it was a Lincoln Continental) into the hotel pool. While Holiday Inn management had begrudgingly tolerated Moon's notorious history of blowing up toilets at other locations as long as the damage was paid for, they decided after the car incident that they had had enough; Moon and The Who were subsequently banned from all Holiday Inns for life, as well as from Flint. Author Peter C. Cavanaugh, who was there and witnessed the event firsthand, recalled the events for a documentary on the 1960s rock scene. According to the book, ''The Who In Their Own Words'', Moon said the Holiday Inn incident was how he broke his front tooth. Other people who attended the event, including Entwistle, cast doubt on the veracity of the car-in-the-swimming-pool story, but confirm some other parts of the tale. Another version of the night was recounted by Moon biographer Tony Fletcher in the book ''Moon: The Life and Death of a Rock Legend''; "It was (after a cake fight) that the cry came to 'debag' the birthday boy... Various members of (Herman's Hermits and The Who) launched themselves on Keith, pinned him to the floor and successfully pulled his trousers down... As the teenage girls began gasping and giggling and the cops started grunting their disapproval, Keith, naked from the waist down, made a good-natured dash for it out of the room...and smashed one of his front teeth out".(p.p. 210) It was after Moon went to the dentist and the party was disbanded that the 30 to 40 guests filed out, a few taking fire extinguishers to cars and dirtying the swimming pool. According to VH1's Behind the Music, the broken tooth came from Moon diving into the pool at the Flint Holiday Inn when there was no water in it, and him being lucky that that was all that happened to him from it.

Passing out on stage

Moon's penchant for the wild life was not only outwardly detrimental; it began to take a toll on his health while he was still in his twenties, as well as on his drumming and his reliability as a band member. On the 1973 Quadrophenia tour, at the Cow Palace in San Francisco, California, Moon took a large mixture of horse tranquillisers and brandy. He passed out during "Won't Get Fooled Again" and again in "Magic Bus". Townshend asked the audience, "Can anyone play the drums? – I mean somebody good". An audience member, Scot Halpin, filled in for the rest of the show. Townshend later said in an interview that Moon had consumed large tranquilliser pills, meant to be shot at animals, with the brandy. During the band's recording sabbatical between 1975 and 1978, Moon put on a great deal of weight. Nonetheless, Entwistle maintained that Moon and The Who reached their prime live peak during 1975 and 1976. That tour earned them ''Rolling Stone'''s 'red suspenders' for best live rock band.

Moon's close friend Ringo Starr was seriously concerned about his lifestyle and told Moon that if he kept going the way he was he would eventually kill himself. Moon simply replied "Yeah, I know."

Personal relationships

A darker side to Moon's behaviour, tentatively diagnosed as caused by a borderline personality disorder in Fletcher's biography, was the eruption of physical violence towards his wife Kim. Although he never hit his later girlfriend Annette, he was verbally abusive toward her. Moon loved his daughter Mandy, but he had not been prepared to be a father, and this translated to an uneasy relationship with her as a very young girl, as he was not quite sure how to relate to her. When Kim at last left him, his jealousy towards his wife was powerful enough that Moon was even prepared to pay someone to break the fingers of Faces keyboardist Ian "Mac" McLagan who became Kim's boyfriend after the marital break-up. It was not until a month after Moon's death that the two married.

Annette Walter-Lax described his Mr Hyde-like change into a growling, uncontrollable beast as something out of a horror movie. She begged Malibu neighbour Larry Hagman to check Moon into yet another clinic to dry out, (as he had tried more than once before) but when doctors recorded Moon's intake at breakfast (a full bottle of champagne along with Courvoisier along with amphetamines), they concluded there was no hope.

Alice Cooper remembers their drinking club, The Hollywood Vampires, commenting that Moon ("the Puck of Rock 'n' Roll") used to enter dressed up as the Pope, one of many costumes he wore to elicit humour from others. Joe Walsh recorded chats with Moon, finding it remarkable how witty and alert the inebriated drummer managed to stay, ad-libbing his way through surrealistic fantasy stories ''à la'' Peter Cook, which Cooper reaffirms, saying he was not even certain he ever knew the real Keith Moon, or if there was one.

The Hollywood Vampires was also attended by the likes of John Lennon, Ringo Starr, Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood all of whom Moon maintained friendships with. Another of Keith's friends was Larry Smith, who was regularly seen partying with Moon.

In 1974, Moon struck up a friendship with actor Oliver Reed, while working on the movie version of ''Tommy''.

Aside from his romantic relationships, although his behaviour was outrageous, it was in the humorous vein as his friend Vivian Stanshall, of the Bonzo Dog Band claimed. Moon produced Stanshall's version of Terry Stafford's ''Suspicion''.

Moon owned a lilac-coloured Rolls-Royce, painted with house paint. On ''Top Gear'', Daltrey commented that Moon liked to take upper-class icons and make them working class. The car is now owned by Middlebrook Garages (based in Nottinghamshire).

Car-pedestrian death

On 4 January 1970, Moon was involved in a car-pedestrian death outside the Red Lion pub in Hatfield, Hertfordshire. Trying to escape hostile patrons from the pub who had begun to attack his Bentley, Moon, drunk, attempted to take control of his car, which in the melee, ran over and killed his friend, driver, and bodyguard, Neil Boland. Although the coroner said Boland's death was an accident and Moon was given an absolute discharge having been charged with driving offences, those close to him said Moon was haunted by the accident for the rest of his life. Boland's daughter spent a significant amount of time investigating and questioning each witness from the police blotter, and concluded that Moon was not the person behind the wheel of the car. However, Keith never recovered from feelings of guilt. Pamela Des Barres, a groupie with whom Moon had an ongoing relationship over the course of three years in Los Angeles, was alarmed by his frequent nightmares, which woke them both during the night, with Moon convinced that he had no right to be alive.

Work outside The Who

It was Moon who recommended the name "Led Zeppelin" to Jimmy Page who intended to name his new band 'Mad Dog'. According to Oxford lexicographer Susie Dent, Moon and Entwistle were speculating with Page about the possible formation of a supergroup when Moon remarked that a particular suggestion had fallen like a "lead zeppelin" (''i.e.'' "lead balloon"). Page later adopted the term, but spelt "lead" as "led" because he thought otherwise it would be mispronounced (as /li:d/ -lead). Although Moon's work with The Who dominated his career, he participated in minor outside projects. In 1966, he did his first work with Yardbirds guitarist Jeff Beck, session man Nicky Hopkins, and future Led Zeppelin members Page and John Paul Jones to record an instrumental, "Beck's Bolero", released as a single-double later that year. He also played timpani on another track, "Ol' Man River" (credited on the back of the album as ''"You Know Who"'').

On 15 December 1969, Moon joined John Lennon's Plastic Ono Band for a live performance at the Lyceum Ballroom in London for a UNICEF charity concert. The supergroup also consisted of Eric Clapton, George Harrison, Nicky Hopkins, Yoko Ono, Billy Preston and Klaus Voormann. The band played Lennon's Cold Turkey and Ono's ''Don't Worry Kyoko''. The performance was eventually released in 1972 as a companion disc to Lennon's and Ono's ''Some Time In New York City'' LP.

In 1973, Moon was featured in the film ''That'll Be the Day'', playing J.D. Clover, the drummer in a fictional early-era rock-and-roll band called Stray Cats. He would reprise this role the following year in Michael Apted's sequel, ''Stardust''.

In 1974 Track Records/MCA released a solo single: "Don't Worry, Baby" backed with "Teenage Idol", a reflection of his love of The Beach Boys.

On Valentine's Day 1974, Moon performed on drums with Jimmy Page, Ronnie Lane, Max Middleton and fellow drummer John Bonham on acoustic guitar for the gig premiering Roy Harper's album ''Valentine''.

In 1974, he played drums on Harry Nilsson's album "Pussy Cats" produced by John Lennon.

In 1975, he released his only solo album, pop covers entitled ''Two Sides of the Moon''. Although this featured Moon's singing, much drumming was left to other artists including Ringo Starr, session musicians Curly Smith and Jim Keltner and actor/musician Miguel Ferrer (''Twin Peaks'' and ''Crossing Jordan''). Moon played drums on only three tracks.

In late 1975, he played drums on the track "Bo Diddley Jam" on Bo Diddley's ''The 20th Anniversary of Rock 'n' Roll'' all-star album.

In 1971, he had a cameo role in Frank Zappa's film ''200 Motels''. He acted in drag as a nun fearful of death from overdosing on pills. In 1973 he appeared in ''That'll Be the Day,'' playing J.D. Clover, the drummer at a holiday camp during the early days of British rock 'n' roll. Moon reprised the role for the sequel ''Stardust'' in 1974. The film co-starred Moon's friend Ringo Starr of The Beatles. He appeared as ''"Uncle Ernie"'' in Ken Russell's 1975 film adaptation of ''Tommy''.

In a bar about 1975, he asked Graham Chapman and Bernard McKenna to do a "treatment" for a "mad movie". They asked a thousand pounds, Moon pulled the cash from his pocket and gave it to them. This was the start of the project that would become the movie ''Yellowbeard''. Moon wanted to play the lead but the movie took many years to develop, and by that time he was in physically poor shape, and unsuitable.

In 1976, he covered the Beatles' "When I'm Sixty-Four" for the soundtrack of the documentary ''All This and World War II.''

He joined Led Zeppelin on stage and drummed with John Bonham for encores in a show on 23 June 1977 at the L.A. Forum (recorded on Led Zeppelin bootlegs, For Badgeholders Only/Sgt. Page's Badgeholders Only Club).

He impersonated a camp fashion designer in ''Sextette'' (1978), starring Mae West.

Moon once owned a hotel, the Crown and Cushion in Chipping Norton where he held "lavish parties". A receptionist at the hotel told a guest Moon bought it from Petula Clark.

Death

Moon was Paul McCartney's guest at a film preview of ''The Buddy Holly Story'' on the evening of 6 September 1978. After dining with Paul and Linda McCartney at Peppermint Park in Covent Garden, Moon and his girlfriend, Annette Walter-Lax, returned to a flat on loan from Harry Nilsson, No.12 at 9 Curzon Place, Shepherd Market, Mayfair in which Cass Elliot had died a little more than four years earlier. Moon watched a film, ''The Abominable Doctor Phibes'' and requested Annette cook him a breakfast of steak and eggs. When she objected, he replied "If you don't like it, you can just fuck off!" These turned out to be his last words.

Moon then took 32 tablets of Clomethiazole (Heminevrin). The medication was a sedative he had been prescribed to alleviate his alcohol withdrawal symptoms as he tried to dry out on his own at home; he was desperate to get clean, but was terrified of another stay in the psychiatric hospital for in-patient detoxification. However, Clomethiazole is specifically contraindicated for unsupervised home detox because of its addictiveness, tendency to rapidly induce drug tolerance and dangerously high risk of death when mixed with alcohol. The pills were also prescribed by a new doctor, Dr. Geoffrey Dymond, who was unaware of Moon's recklessly impulsive nature and long history of prescription sedative abuse. He had given Moon a full bottle of 100 pills, and instructed him to take one whenever he felt a craving for alcohol (but not more than 3 per day). The police determined there were 32 pills in his system, with the digestion of 6 being sufficient to cause his death, and the other 26 of which were still undissolved when he died.

Moon died shortly after the release of ''Who Are You''. On the album cover, he is seated on a chair back-to-front to hide the weight gained over three years (as discussed in Tony Fletcher's book ''Dear Boy''); the words "NOT TO BE TAKEN AWAY" appear on the back of the chair.

Keith Moon was cremated later that month at Golders Green Crematorium in London and his ashes scattered in its Gardens of Remembrance.

After death

After his death, Moon was replaced by Small Faces/Faces drummer Kenney Jones as an official member of the band. Simon Phillips later toured with the band as an unofficial member. The Who also added keyboardist John "Rabbit" Bundrick to the live band. The Who's drum position is currently occupied by Zak Starkey, son of Ringo Starr. Starkey was taught drumming by Moon and referred to him as "Uncle Keith".

Daltrey recorded a song, "Under a Raging Moon", as a tribute to Moon and the "Middle Bar" in the London Astoria was named after him.

A biography was written about Moon by Tony Fletcher, entitled ''Dear Boy: The Life of Keith Moon'' in the United Kingdom. "Dear Boy" became a catchphrase of Moon's when he started affecting a pompous English accent around 1969, particularly when ordering drinks. The book was released in the U.S. under the title, "Moon (The Life and Death of a Rock Legend)".

In early 2006, Moon's signature ''Pictures of Lily'' drum kit was reissued by Premier Percussion under the name ''Spirit of Lily''.

Moon's ex-wife, Kim, was married to Ian McLagan of the Faces in 1978, the year that Moon died. She was killed in a road traffic accident near Austin, Texas on 2 August 2006.

Daltrey is producing a biopic about Moon called ''See Me Feel Me: Keith Moon Naked for Your Pleasure'', which will be released in 2012. Comedian Mike Myers will play the main role and may have to take drumming lessons to suit the character. However, according to Daltrey, this project may currently be stalled.

Legacy

Keith Moon is often cited by critics as one of the greatest and most eccentric drummers in rock music. Holly George-Warren, editor and author of ''The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: The First 25 Years'', argues: "With the death of Keith Moon in 1978, rock arguably lost its single greatest drummer." According to Allmusic, "Moon, with his manic, lunatic side, and his life of excessive drinking, partying, and other indulgences, probably represented the youthful, zany side of rock & roll, as well as its self-destructive side, better than anyone else on the planet." In the words of Pete Townshend, "The production of our [The Who's] records has got nothing to do with sound. It's got to do with trying to keep Keith Moon on his fucking drum stool." Dave Marsh's ''The New Book of Rock Lists'' ranks Moon at No. 1 on its list of The 50 Greatest Rock 'n' Roll Drummers. Similarly, he was ranked at No. 2 on ''Rolling Stone'''s "The Best Drummers of All Time" readers poll in 2011.

Many notable rock drummers have been influenced by Keith Moon, including Dave Grohl, Neil Peart, Tommy Lee, and Peter Criss.

The character of 'Animal' from ''The Muppet Show'' is based on Keith Moon.

Drum kits

The first kit Moon owned was a blue Premier kit bought on hire purchase (credit) and co-signed by his father, Alf. It was purchased at the suggestion of his friend and fellow drummer Gerry Evans. Throughout 1964 and 1965 he played typically four, then five-piece kits, but moved to a Premier double bass kit in June 1966. This new set widened his playing; he abandoned his hi-hat cymbals almost entirely and started basing his grooves on a double bass ostinato with eighth note flams, and a wall of white noise created by riding a crash or ride cymbal. On top of this he played fills and cymbal accents. This became his trademark.

Moon's Classic Red Sparkle Premier setup comprised two 14×22-inch bass drums, three 8×14 mounted toms, one 16×16 floor tom, a 5×14 Ludwig Supraphonic 400 snare and one extra floor tom of different sizes but mainly 16×18 or 16×16. Moon's classic cymbal setup consisted of two Paiste Giant Beat 18" crashes and one 20" ride. In 1973, Moon added a second row of tom-toms (first four, then six) and, in 1975, two more timbales. These huge kits became well known, notably the amber set in the films, ''Tommy'' and ''Stardust,'' and in footage shot by the BBC at Charlton in 1974. The 1975–1976 white kit with gold fittings, in which the gold was actually copper because of the weakness of gold, was given by Moon to a young Zak Starkey. His final kit, a dark metallic one, is seen in the footage from ''The Kids Are Alright'' at Shepperton in 1978.

Quotation

''NME'' – October 1971.

References

Further reading

''Moon: The Life and Death of a Rock Legend'' by Tony Fletcher

''Anyway Anyhow Anywhere (Revised Edition): The Complete Chronicle of The Who 1958–1978'' by Andrew Neill and Mathew Kent

''The Who: Maximum R&B;'' by Richard Barnes and Pete Townshend, Plexus Publishing; 5th edition (27 September 2004)

''Before I Get Old: The Story of The Who'' by Dave Marsh, Plexus Publishing (16 September 2003)

External links

Further Information about Forthcoming Keith Moon Biopic

Category:1946 births Category:1978 deaths Category:English rock drummers Category:The Who members Category:Plastic Ono Band members Category:People from Alperton Category:People self-identifying as alcoholics Category:Accidental deaths in England Category:Drug-related deaths in England Category:British rhythm and blues boom musicians

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