I hope I die earlier than I get previous.
Roger Daltrey of the rock band The Who has revealed that he’s slowly going deaf and blind after turning 81 on March 1.
“The joys of getting old mean you go deaf. I also now have got the joy of going blind,” Daltrey informed the gang at London’s Royal Albert Corridor throughout a live performance on Thursday, March 27, per Sky Information.
“Fortunately, I still have my voice,” he quipped, “because then I’ll have a full Tommy.”
Tommy is the title of the primary character from The Who’s 1969 album-turned-rock opera of the identical title. He isn’t solely deaf and blind but in addition mute.
This wasn’t the primary time Daltrey revealed he’s going “very, very deaf,” blaming his situation as the results of his greater than 60-year profession as a rock and roll singer.
“Take your f–king earplugs with you to the gigs,” he informed the gang throughout one other live performance in Las Vegas in 2018, in line with TMZ.
Daltrey has additionally mentioned ageing and loss of life in newer interviews, together with one with The Instances in January 2024.
“My dreams came true so, listen, I’m ready to go at any time,” he informed the outlet on the time. “My family are all great and all taken care of.”
“You’ve got to be realistic,” the “My Generation” singer continued. “You can’t live your life forever. Like I said, people my age, we’re in the way. There are no guitar strings to be changed on this old instrument.”
Daltrey’s fellow The Who bandmate Pete Townshend has additionally joked about being an ageing rock star on the cusp of octogenarians.
“Four and a half weeks ago, I had my left knee replaced,” Townshend, 79, informed the London crowd final week. “Maybe I should auction off the old one.”
In accordance with the “Baba O’ Riley” guitarist, he injured his knee after attempting to bop across the stage like Rolling Stones star Mick Jagger, 81.
The information of their deteriorating well being comes two years after Daltrey and Townshend recommended The Who could be retiring almost 60 years after the band was first shaped in 1964.
“I suppose Roger and l, at some point, will look ahead and try to work out whether or not we want to do an Elton John and end it in some way,” Townshend mentioned in 2023 whereas referencing Elton John’s profitable farewell tour.
“It’s difficult to make a decision going forward, to say we’re going to do this or that, because we don’t know how well we’re going to be or how fit we’re going to be,” he continued.
Townshend additionally admitted that he and Daltrey had been each getting “old.”
“That in itself has a downside because, apart from what you can or can’t do on the stage, when you finish touring, you come back to normal life,” the “Magic Bus” author mentioned. “Whatever it is that you decide to do to fill your time away from the road – and it’s harder and takes longer.”
Keith Moon, the band’s unique drummer, handed away in 1978 on the age of 32. The Who’s unique bassist, John Entwistle, died in 2002 at 57. Each deaths had been associated to drug use.
The Put up has reached out to Daltrey’s reps for remark.
