The Who discuss whether they'll announce UK farewell dates after announcing North American tour

11 May 2025, 09:00

The Who perform on stage. Picture: Press

By Jenny Mensah

Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend announced their 2025 The Song Is Over North American Farewell Tour this week and were quizzed if they'll do the same on their home soil.

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The Who have been quizzed about whether they intend to go on UK farewell tour.

The legendary rockers made the announcement this Thursday (8th May) that they'll be embarking on their aptly-named The Song Is Over North American Farewell Tour this year.

However, when asked if they were considering a similar lap of honour on home soil, they weren't so certain.

“Let’s see if we survive this one,” said frontman Roger Daltrey, who spoke via video link at the press conference,, which took place at the Iconic Images Gallery in London.

“I’ve just finished a solo tour of the UK. I’ve got to say that touring America is a damn site easier than touring the UK. For some reason, the UK has made it as difficult as possible to go from A to B. In America, you seem to want to make it as easy as possible – but we are in the land of ‘no’."

The Substitute rocker added doubtfully: "I don’t want to say it won’t happen, but equally I’m not confident in saying that there will be."

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Guitarist and sonsmith Pete Townshend added: "I would agree completely. I really enjoyed the last tour that we did [in 2023], but it was a strange one. We played a lot of open air gigs, but we had an insurance problem, which meant we couldn’t play some of the more classic places that one plays on a UK tour.

"The door is open to us. We could do a week at The O2, a couple of weeks at the Royal Albert Hall, but we don’t do consecutive shows. We like to do a show and take a break.”

The band was also quizzed by Radio X Classic Rock's Sunta Templeton about how they've maintained their longevity over the years and Townshend replied: "This wasn't a career that I chose. It chose me and that act of hypnotism really changed the way that I performed."

The My Generation rocker went on: "Creativity has been what's sustained me rather than performing, so getting to this point where we're about to go back and represent ourselves to an American audience and address the fact that everything comes to an end is a very poignant time, but it's been about the relationship between the audience and us."

Townshend went on to credit the fans who were "patient" with them during times of their inactivity for allowing them to continue to do what they've been doing when they do return to the spotlight.

The 79-year-old rocker added: "There were long periods when we've been inactive for nearly 11 years in the '80s and what's so interesting is that the fans have patiently waited and often we don't perform as much as many bands do. So a lot of of our fans have been patiently waiting for a long time to see us, so the longevity is something that's just happened. Time passes as you get older and goes faster and faster until you find yourself here and you have to accept that you can't do what you used to do."

Pete Townshend talks The Who's longevity

Meanwhile, asked if he had any advice for his younger self, Daltrey joked: "Yeah, read the contracts!"

He went on: "As a singer everything that's happened in my life adds to my experience and adds to the quality of the emotion and the content that's coming out of my voice. I can still sing songs in the same key, but it's got a totally different quality. That's because of the 60 years of living."

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