Pete Townsend was born in England just 10 days after the Nazi surrender . He is probably best known for his work with The Who from 1964-1982, but his career has spanned over many different areas of the entertainment industry. He has had a phenomenal solo career, has written a book, and has penned two rock operas along with the work he did with The Who.

Pete Townshend began his career in 1959 as a banjo player for a band called The Confederates. In 1960, he started to play the guitar for a band called The Aristocrats. He later went on to play for the Detours, who later changed their name to The Who. Townshend became notorious in the US for his destruction of the band's equipment, as well as his thunderous performances.

Townshend made his solo debut in 1979 with his first album entitled Who Came First. During this time, he drug problems seemed to worsen, and he went on a binge of cocaine, pills, and alcohol. With his mother's help, he overcame his addiction and released an intensely personal All the Best Cowboys Have Chinese Eyes. He also released It's Hard with The Who, and went on a farewell tour with them.

In 1985 Townshend released another album entitled White City. It was during this time that he was also pursuing his writing career. He released a book of short stories entitled Horse's Neck.

The same year, Townshend started the band Pete Townshend's Deep End. The band did very few live performances, but did release a live album in 1986 entitled Pete Townshend's Deep End Live.

In 1989, Townshend released another album entitled The Iron Man, based on a children's story. It featured guest vocals John Lee Hooker, and Nina Simone. His album didn't turn out to be very successful for him . He followed it up with Psychoderelict, which was also only moderately successful.

The same year, Townshend joined The Who again for a 25th anniversary tour, but, as he had sustained hearing problems from years of thundering rock and roll, he was confined to playing acoustic guitar.

Most of the 90's proved to be particularly eventful for Townshend. It started with the Broadway revival of Tommy (which earned him a Tony), was followed by Quadrophenia, and the film adaptation of The Iron Man. He has also begun to pen an autobiography tying together the life of him and his father.



"Perhaps if I had died before I got old, I might have been forgotten...."
Pete Townshend