Roger Daltrey’s first solo album, Daltrey When 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”. 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. During a recording session (in an incident that Daltrey claimed was overblown), Townshend whacked the singer over the head with his guitar and Daltrey responded by knocking Townshend unconscious, again with a single blow. Later, in October, 1973, with Townshend at a low point after struggling through the Lifehouse and Quadrophenia projects while Daltrey was experiencing some success with his solo projects and acting roles, tension between the two created more sparks. He once flushed drummer Keith Moon’s pills down the lavatory and, when Moon protested, knocked him down with one punch.

Yet, in the midst of the band’s success, Daltrey repeatedly found himself fighting to keep the other members of The Who away from the drug and alcohol dependence that he believed would destroy them. Later, his scream near the end of Won’t Get Fooled Again became a defining moment for the band. His habit of swinging the microphone around by its cord on stage became a signature sign of his exuberance.ĭaltrey’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. (Their second single, Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere was the only song on which Daltrey and Townshend collaborated.) 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 an incomparably powerful vocalist. With the band’s first record deal in early 1965, Townshend began writing original material and Daltrey’s dominance of the band began to recede.

In 1964, he also helped decide on a new name for the group that had been suggested by Townshend’s roommate, Richard Barnes - “The Who.” 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. According to Townshend, Roger “ran things the way he wanted. After Colin Dawson left the band, Daltrey switched to vocals and Townshend to lead guitar.Įarly on, Daltrey was the band’s leader, earning a reputation for using his fists to exercise control when needed, despite his small stature. At the time, the band included Daltrey on lead guitar, Pete Townshend on rhythm guitar, John Entwistle on bass, Doug Sandom on drums and Colin Dawson on lead vocals. He became a sheet metal worker during the day, while practising and performing nights with the band at weddings, pubs and men’s clubs. Soon after, interested in nothing but rock and roll, he was expelled from school. He made his first guitar from a block of wood and formed a band called, “The Detours.” When his father bought him an Epiphone guitar in 1959, he became the lead guitarist for the band. His parents, Harry and Irene, hoped he would eventually continue on to study at a university, but obeying the rules and learning from his teachers were not in the plans of the self-described “school rebel.” He showed academic promise as a child in the English state school system, ranking at the top of his class on examinations that led to his enrollment at the Acton County Grammar School for boys. Daltry has dated Ann Margaret, Regina Russell and Geraldine Edwards.ĭaltrey was born in the Chiswick area of London, the same working class suburban neighbourhood that produced fellow Who members Pete Townshend and John Entwistle. Daltry also had a son from his relationship with model Elizabeth Aronssen named Mathias, born in 1967. He had a son, Simon, with his first wife Jacqueline Rickman, who he married in 1964. They have four grandchildren, Lily, Lola, Ramona and Scarlett. Daltrey and his second wife, former model Heather Taylor, have two daughters, Rosie and Willow, and a son, Jamie. He has enjoyed a less successful solo music career, and has acted in a large number of film, theatre and television roles. Roger Harry Daltrey, CBE (born in Hammersmith, London, England on 1 March 1944) is a popular music artist, best known as the founder and lead singer of the English rock band, The Who.

Roger daltrey on that 70s show