Pete Townshend: Ealing Roots and Rock Legacy

Brought to you by:

Sam Habeeb

"Shadow MP Campaigner of Ealing North"

Pete Townshend: Ealing Roots and Rock Legacy
Credit: Variety

Peter Dennis Blandford Townshend was born on 19 May 1945. He is an English musician, co-founder, guitarist, second lead vocalist, and principal songwriter of the Who, one of the most influential rock bands of the 1960s and 1970s. He has been acclaimed for his intense playing style and poetic songwriting techniques with the Who and in other projects.

Where was Pete Townshend born?

Townshend was born in Chiswick Hospital, Netheravon Road, Chiswick, West London, UK. Townshend came from a musical family background: his father, Cliff Townshend, was the alto saxophonist with Squadronaires, a dance band of the Royal Air Force, and his mother, Betty (née Dennis), used to sing for the Sidney Torch and Les Douglass Orchestras.

Paul and Simon Townshend were born in 1957 and 1960, respectively. Poor grades for university meant that Townshend had the options of art school, music school, or finding a job to work.[24] In reality, he ended up at Ealing Art College studying graphic design in the same year, 1961. In college, Townshend was learning next to future Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood. Townshend left in 1964 to make music full-time.

The Detours: 1961–1964

He began in 1961 with The Detours, a skiffle/rock and roll band where Roger Daltrey was leader. At this time, John Entwistle played bass. Doug Sandom was the drummer for them and did all the big hits in pop and jazz. Once Daltrey was the lead vocalist, Townshend was the lone guitarist, then in 1964 they renamed them The Who, quite the change.

The Who, 1964–1982

They were soon the talk of the town with their high-energy live show and music. Keith Moon was soon signed up to be their drummer, and the first single they had put out, “I Can’t Explain,” soared straight to the top of the charts in 1965. Soon they became attention magnets as well due to Townshend’s on-stage instrument destruction while playing his guitar like a windmill on his Stratocaster.

Many of the albums My Generation and Tommy featured work from Townshend, an extremely prolific songwriter. The list includes the critical and commercial smash rock opera Tommy (1969), but also the most influential Who’s Next (1971) and Quadrophenia (1973).

Townshend has thrown feedback guitar playing and wildly theatrical live shows right into the middle of rock music. He has composed over 100 songs for The Who and is also the originator of the concept of rock opera. Despite the loss of Moon and Entwistle, this group was one of the most successful live performances in rock history and performed their way into several critically acclaimed performances in the 21st century.

1996–Present: Final Recording with The Who

  • Townshend has toured with the remaining members of the Who since the late 1990s, and in 2002 he toured with the other two surviving members after Entwistle’s death.
  • In February 2006, The Who announced a significant world tour to support the band’s first new music since 1982. The semi-autobiographical story serially published on Townshend’s blog since September 2005 is titled The Boy Who Heard Music. He ceased blogging in October 2006. 
  • Currently, it is an entirely unrelated user’s account and has nothing at all to do with anything Townshend ever did or is doing. On 25 February 2006, he also announced plans for a mini-opera to be released based on the novella in June 2006. In October 2006, the Who finally released their first new album in 24 years: Endless Wire.
  • The Who performed at Super Bowl XLIV halftime on 7 February 2010, performing a medley that included “Pinball Wizard”, “Who Are You?” “Baba O’Riley,” “See Me, Feel Me,” and “Won’t Get Fooled Again.”. In 2012, The Who announced they would tour the rock opera Quadrophenia.
  • The Who closed the 2012 Summer Olympics in London when they performed the medley “Baba O’Riley,” “See Me, Feel Me,” and “My Generation.”
  • On 22 March 2018, Townshend said a new Who album should contain original songs by Roger Daltrey and him. That album, simply titled Who, was released on 6 December 2019. It was their second as a duo and the first in thirteen years.

How Many Affairs Did Pete Townshend Have?

Pete Townshend met Karen Astley, Edwin Astley’s daughter, at art school. The couple got married on 20 May 1968. They used to stay in a townhouse overlooking the Thames at Twickenham. He married three children: Emma, born in 969, who is a columnist on gardening issues; Aminta, born in 1971, was a worker for film productions; and Joseph, who graduated from graphic design, was born in 1989. 

They divorced in 1994 and later the same year started dating with music artist Rachel Fuller, whom he got secretly married with in 2016. Some of the known properties included Richmond and Surrey. He sold off his Richmond mansion for £15 million above that in 2021.

Is Pete Townshend bisexual?

Townshend reported in an interview in 1989 that he “felt proud to have his song ‘Rough Boys’ with its gay undertones,” and the same year, he explained and clarified that his comments had been misinterpreted and he was not coming out. In his autobiography Who I Am, he described himself as “probably bisexual” and once said that he felt attracted to Mick Jagger.

Legal Issues

He was warned by the police in 2003 following an investigation into Operation Ore on child abuse images. He later admitted that he accessed and surfed for research work related to the child abuse networks but testified that no illegal material was found on his computer. He added that he wanted to prove that even those with banks commit such crimes.

Loss of Hearing

Townshend is tinnitus- and partially deafened, due to decades of exposure to the sounds of his music career, including an epic drumming mishap that involved an exploding drum set in 1967. He has been a supporter of H.E.A.R.’s foundation since 1989 in order to better advocate for musician’s hearing health. Townshend continues touring using in-ear monitors and studio systems in very sophisticated ways that can help ease his current issues with his hearing.

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Brought to you by:

Sam Habeeb

"Shadow MP Campaigner of Ealing North"

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