Pete Townshend

Peter Dennis Blandford Townshend, best known as the co-founder, principal songwriter, and vocalist for The Who, was born into a musical family in Chiswick, England in 1945. His father, Cliff Townshend, was an alto saxophonist in the Royal Air Force dance band, and his mother Betty Dennis was a singer with the Sydney Torch and Les Douglass Orchestras. His parents had a volatile marriage and Townshend spent most of his younger years living with his grandmother, Emma Dennis. Townshend is self-taught on the guitar and began learning when his grandmother bought him his first guitar in 1956.

In 1964, Townshend became an icon of the 60’s British rock scene with The Who. Considered to be one of the most influential bands of the 20th century, Towsnhend wrote more than 100 songs for The Who’s 12 studio albums. This includes the concept album “Tommy”, which was a rock opera that was later turned into The Who’s Tommy, a musical version of the album by Pete Townshend and Des McAnuff.