World Health Organization's Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey will hold a news event in London on Thursday, where they will make a "special announcement and then an exclusive Q&A session" that will be broadcast live to fans around the world. (They have solicited questions through social channels.) It’s tempting to be called “The End of Songs.”
They haven't clarified what exactly they announced, but it's likely a farewell trip. Rock bands don't usually hold press conferences to announce tours, and "The End of Song" is the perfect name for hiking, as it's a beloved title Who is who deep.
Of course, this is not the first farewell trip for the WHO. They launched one in 1982, putting them on Rolling stones With cover "Who ends". But Pete Townshend was 37 years old at the time. Roger Daltrey is 38 years old. Townshend turned 80 on May 19, and Daltrey was 81. The farewell tour of several eighty-year-olds is much more than the gift-giving tour of the Maroon 5 young members who are ten years younger than the farewell tour.
There is a strong precedent for announcing a farewell trip at a press conference. Elton John collected news at Gotham Hall in New York City in 2018 and posted it along with Anderson Cooper. Mötley Crüe announced their last tour in 2014, the Beacher's Madhouse Theatre in Los Angeles, and even signed a legally dubious "stop travel activities."
These events have caused global headlines and helped sell a large number of tickets for both acts. Even though the two farewell trips seem a bit stupid, they will be separated by 43 years. (KISS began its farewell tour in 2000, and then made its second tour 17 years later.
But we don't actually know who is announcing what tomorrow. This could be a new fragrance. This could be a new rock opera that happens to use the old song title. Roger Daltrey teased about for about 30 years, probably a Keith Moon biopic. (Mike Myers used to be very loosely attached to it, but he lost his role a long time ago.)
But, since they say the song is over, there is good reason to think our original presumption is correct. Coincidentally or not, they played "This song is over" for the first time in the history of Royal Albert Hall in March. This may be the first tip of this tour, but it was also a bit confusing that daltery was hard to hear himself, and he stopped the first attempt halfway through.
“To sing this song, I do need to listen to the keys,” he told the crowd. "And I can't hear it. There is no tone here. I just hear the drums, 'Boom and flourish.' I can't sing.
After this, what happened in the backstage was different, but there was no doubt that long-time drummer Zak Starkey was released by the band in the following weeks. “After playing with the band for so many decades, I’m surprised and sad people will have problems with my performance,” he said in a statement.
Just three days later, Pete Townshend announced that he had been rehired. “There are some communication issues that need to be addressed by both individuals and private parties and these issues have been broadcast happily,” he said.
This means that if the song ends, Starkey will be in the legal position behind the drummer kit. We will confirm tomorrow.