LONDON (Reuters) -Legendary rock band The Who announced their final tour of North America on Thursday, saying after six decades of making music, all good things must come to end.
Famous for hit songs including “Baba O’Riley,” “My Generation,” and “Behind Blue Eyes,” the band was formed in 1964 and made up of Roger Daltrey, Pete Townshend, John Entwistle, and Keith Moon.
Lead singer Daltrey, 81, said it was every musician’s dream in the early 1960s to make it big in the U.S. charts.
“For The Who, that dream came true in 1967 and our lives were changed forever,” he said. “Musical freedom! Rock gave us a feeling of generational rebellion.”
Guitarist and songwriter Townshend, 79, the other surviving member of the original lineup, said: “Roger and I are in a good place, despite our age, eager to throw our weight behind this fond farewell to all our faithful fans.”
He said he hoped some new fans might jump in to see what they have been missing for the last 57 years.
Daltrey said the band would have to play classic hits “Won’t Get Fooled Again”, “Baba O’Riley” and “Behind Blue Eyes”, but the rest of the setlist was “up for grabs”.
The tour, scheduled for August and September, is named “The Song Is Over,” after a 1971 song they had never played live until a few weeks ago.
“Roger always comes up with really great names for tours, but I think that this one is rather poignant,” Townshend told reporters.
The duo was unable to confirm whether there would be a similar tour in the UK or Europe.
After all, even the world’s biggest rockers can’t escape doctor’s orders.
“I’ve been ordered by my voice specialist ‘you’ve got to have a day off after every gig and then after every three gigs you have to have two days off'”, said Daltrey.
(Reporting by Marie-Louise Gumuchian and Christina Anagnostopoulos, Editing by Paul Sandle and Nia Williams)
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