Early years Roger Harry Daltrey was born in the Hammersmith area of London, but was raised in Acton, the same working class suburban neighborhood that produced fellow Who members Pete Townshend and John Entwistle. He was one of three children born to parents Irene and Harry Daltrey, and grew up with two sisters, Gillian and Carol. Harry Daltrey worked for a water closet manufacturer, and Irene Daltrey was told she would be unable to have children because of losing a kidney in 1937. Nevertheless, she went into labour during a World War II air raid and gave birth to her son at the nearby Hammersmith Hospital, West London. At the age of three, the young Roger swallowed a rusty nail which had to be surgically removed, leaving a visible scar. At the age of five,

the rust from the nail caused an ulcer in his stomach which required him to be hospitalised.

Daltrey attended Victoria Primary School and then Acton County Grammar School

for boys along with Pete Townshend and John Entwistle. He showed academic promise in the English state school system, ranking at the top of his class on the eleven plus examination that led to his enrollment at the Acton County Grammar School. His parents hoped he would eventually continue on to study at the university, but Daltrey turned out to be a self-described “school rebel” and developed a dedicated interest in the emerging rock and roll music scene instead.

He made his first guitar from a block of wood and formed a skiffle band called The Detours. When his father bought him an Epiphone guitar in 1959, he became the lead guitarist for the band and soon afterward was expelled from school for smoking. Describing the post-war times, Pete Townshend wrote in his autobiography, “Until he was expelled, Roger had been a good pupil. Then he heard Elvis and transmogrified into a Teddy Boy with an electric guitar and a dress-sneer. Was it simply rock roll? It was obvious to a young man as intelligent as Roger that there was no future in conforming any more.”

Daltrey became a sheet metal worker during the day, while practicing and performing nights with the band at weddings, pubs and men’s clubs. He invited schoolmate John Entwistle to play bass in the band, and on the advice of Entwistle, invited Pete Townshend to play guitar. At that time, the band consisted of Daltrey on lead guitar, Pete Townshend on rhythm guitar, John Entwistle on bass, Doug Sandom on Drums and Colin Dawson on lead vocals. After Colin Dawson left the band, Daltrey switched to vocals and played harmonica as well, while Townshend became the lead guitarist. In 1964 drummer Doug Sandom left the band, eventually being replaced by Keith Moon. Daltrey continued to occasionally play guitar in performances with The Who, though much more frequently in later years than in the early years of the band.

Early on, Daltrey was the band’s leader, earning a reputation for using his fists to exercise control when needed, despite his small stature (his height is reportedly 5 feet 7 inches (1.70 m)). According to Townshend, Roger “ran things the way he wanted. If you argued with him, you usually got a bunch of fives.” He generally selected the music they performed, including songs by The Beatles, various Motown artists, James Brown, and other rock standards.

In 1964 the group discovered another band working as The Detours and discussed changing their name. Pete Townshend suggested “The Hair” and Townshend’s roommate Richard Barnes suggested “The Who.” The next morning, Daltrey made the decision for the band, saying “It’s The Who, innit?”

During 1964, band manager Peter Meaden renamed the band The High Numbers as part of a move to establish the band as Mod favourites. The name was a reference to the T-shirts with “numbers” that the Mods used at the time. Pete Meaden composed Mod songs for them (in fact, the songs were almost copies of Mod hits at the time, with changed lyrics) and they released one single, “I’m The Face/Zoot Suit”, on Fontana Records. The single was unsuccessful.

After Kit Lambert and Chris Stamp discovered The High Numbers at the Railway Hotel, the band quickly changed their name back to The Who, since neither Lambert nor Stamp liked the name “The High Numbers”.

The Who years

With the band’s first hit single and record deal in early 1965, Townshend began writing original material and Daltrey’s dominance of the band began to decline.

Because of the shifting dynamics of control within the group, the other members of The Who expelled Daltrey from the band in late 1965, after beating drummer Keith Moon up for supplying drugs to Townshend and Entwhistle, causing him to examine his methods of dealing with people. A week later, Daltrey was admitted back to the band, but was told he’d be on probation. He promised there would be no more violent outbursts or assaults. Daltrey recalled, “I thought if I lost the band I was dead. If I didn’t stick with The Who, I would be a sheet metal worker for the rest of my life.”

The band’s second single, “Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere” was the only song on which Daltrey and Townshend collaborated, and Daltrey only wrote two other songs for the band. As Townshend developed into one of rock’s most accomplished composers, Daltrey’s vocals became the vehicle through which Townshend’s visions were expressed, and he gained an equally vaunted reputation as a powerful vocalist and riveting frontman. The Who’s stage act was highly energetic, and Daltrey’s habit of swinging the microphone around by its cord on stage became his signature move.

Daltrey, with microphone, and Townshend, on stage

Daltrey’s stuttering expression of youthful anger, frustration and arrogance in the band’s breakthrough single, “My Generation”, captured the revolutionary feeling of the 1960s for many young people around the world and became the band’s trademark. Later, his scream near the end of “Won’t Get Fooled Again” became a defining moment in rock and roll. (Note: The stuttering was initially made by Pete Townshend on the demo for “My Generation” as a way of expressing the rapid-fire speech of the Mods at the time. Daltrey followed the demo faithfully in this regard.)

In October 1973, Townshend was at a low point after struggling through the rock opera Lifehouse and Quadrophenia projects, and Daltrey was experiencing success with his solo projects and acting roles. Daltrey had quite a bit of free time while others of the band worked on recording the music for Quadrophenia, and he used some of this time to check The Who’s books. He found they had fallen into disarray under the management of Kit Lambert and Chris Stamp. Kit Lambert was also Pete Townshend’s artistic mentor and challenging him led to renewed tension within the band. During a filming session (in an incident that Daltrey claimed was overblown) Townshend and Daltrey argued over the schedule. Townshend whacked the singer over the head with his guitar and Daltrey responded by knocking Townshend unconscious, again with a single blow.

With each of The Who’s milestone achievements, Tommy, Who’s Next, and Quadrophenia, Daltrey was the face and voice of the band as they defined themselves as the ultimate rebels in a generation of change. When Ken Russell’s adaptation of Tommy appeared as a feature film in 1975, Daltrey played the lead role and was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for “Best Acting Debut in a Motion Picture”. Afterward, Daltrey worked with Russell again, starring as Franz Liszt in Lisztomania. He worked with Rick Wakeman on the soundtrack to this film, writing the lyrics to three songs and also performing these, as well as others.

Daltrey with Pete Townshend

The Who went on after the death of Keith Moon in 1978, but tension continued as Daltrey felt new drummer Kenney Jones was the wrong choice for The Who. In 1980 Daltrey completed a major project for The Who Films, Ltd., a dramatic film called McVicar about U.K. bank robber John McVicar. Daltrey produced and starred in the film, and completed a striking soundtrack with other members of the band. This success, along with other stresses, contributed to a deterioration of relations with Townshend, and The Who retired from active touring in 1982 when Townshend felt he was no longer able to write for the band. The band continued to work together sporadically, reuniting for the Live Aid concert and recording songs for Daltrey’s solo album Under a Raging Moon and Townshend’s solo album Iron Man.

Daltrey turned to working as an actor, completing such high profile projects as The Beggar’s Opera and The Comedy of Errors for the BBC. He also appeared in several film, television and stage productions during this period, including Mike Batt’s The Hunting of the Snark (1987), The Little Match Girl (1987), Buddy’s Song (1990), which he also produced, and Mack the Knife (1990). In 1991 he received a Grammy Award with The Chieftains for An Irish Evening: Live at the Grand Opera House, Belfast.

The Who returned in 1989 with their 25th anniversary tour, which was also the 20th anniversary tour of the rock opera Tommy. The tour featured a large backing band and guest appearances by Steve Winwood, Patti LaBelle, Phil Collins and Elton John. Although Daltrey experienced life-threatening health problems, he managed to complete the tour. He continued to work on stage and screen during this period, completing projects such as The Wizard of Oz in Concert: Dreams Come True (1995) appearing as the Tin Woodman alongside Nathan Lane, Joel Grey, Natalie Cole, and Jewel Kilcher as Dorothy. During this time, he also began to appear in U.S. television shows.

In 1994 Daltrey celebrated his 50th birthday by performing a two-night spectacular at Carnegie Hall called A

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5