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Roger Harry Daltrey, CBE (born March 1, 1944) is a popular music artist, best known as the founder and lead singer of the English rock band, The Who. He has enjoyed a far less successful solo music career in the shadow of The Who's composer and creative genius, Pete Townshend. He has also acted in a large number of film, theatre and television roles. Daltrey and his second wife, former model Heather Taylor, have two daughters, Rosie and Willow, and a son, Jamie. He also has a son, Simon, with his first wife, Jacqueline.

Early years

Daltrey was born in the Chiswick area of London, the same working class suburban neighbourhood that produced fellow Who members Pete Townshend and John Entwistle. 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. 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 made his first guitar from a block of wood and formed a band, The Detours. When his father bought him an Epiphone guitar in 1959, he became the lead guitarist for the band. Soon after, interested in nothing but rock and roll, he was expelled from school. He became a sheet metal worker during the day, while practicing and performing nights with the band at weddings, pubs and men's clubs. 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. After Colin Dawson left the band, Daltrey switched to vocals and Townshend to lead guitar.

Early on, Daltrey was the band's leader, earning a reputation for using his fists to exercise control when needed, despite his small stature. According to Townshend, Roger "ran things the way he wanted. If you argued with him, you usually got a bunch of fives."Giuliano, p. 26 He generally selected the music they performed, including songs by The Beatles, various Motown artists, James Brown, and other rock standards. In 1964, he also helped decide on a new name for the group—The Who—which had been suggested by Townshend's roommate, Richard Barnes.

The Who

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. (Their second single, Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere was the only song on which Daltrey and Townshend collaborated, and Daltrey only wrote two other songs for the band.) 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. His habit of swinging the microphone around by its cord on stage became a signature sign of his exuberance.

Daltrey'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. Later, his scream near the end of Won't Get Fooled Again became a defining moment for the band.

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. He once flushed drummer Keith Moon's pills down the lavatory and, when Moon protested, knocked him down with one punch. 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. 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. Giuliano, p. 103

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. 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".

Solo music career

While he has always considered The Who his primary ambition in life, Daltrey has released eight solo albums.

1973's Daltrey was not the first solo release by a member of The Who, following albums by both John Entwistle and Pete Townshend. The top single off the album, "Giving It All Away," reached number five in the UK and the album, which introduced Leo Sayer as a songwriter, made the Top 50 in the United States. The emotional range displayed in Daltrey proved that the singer was capable of operating outside the context of The Who and of expressing his own moods, not just Townshend's.

When Sayer launched his own career as an artist, Daltrey called on a widening group of friends to write for and perform on his albums. Paul McCartney contributed the new song "Giddy" to "One of The Boys", where the band included Eric Clapton, Alvin Lee and Mick Ronson.

McVicar was billed as a soundtrack album for the film of the same name, in which Daltrey starred and also co-produced. But since it featured all the other members of The Who (Townshend, Entwistle and Kenny Jones), it could almost have passed as a Who album. McVicar included two hit singles, "Free Me" and "Without Your Love" and was Daltrey's best-selling solo recording.

The title track to Under a Raging Moon was a tribute to Who drummer Keith Moon, who died in 1978. Each of the album's tracks, including "Let Me Down Easy" by Bryan Adams, expresses the frustration of growing older as only a man who sang "Hope I die before I get old" can.

On Rocks in the Head, Daltrey is credited (along with Gerard McMahon) for co-writing seven of the eleven tracks.

Daltrey celebrated his fiftieth birthday in 1994 by performing at Carnegie Hall in a show called, "Daltrey Sings Townshend," accompanied by The Juilliard Orchestra, Townshend, Entwistle, Irish dancers and a group of folk musicians. Later he had a short weekly series on BBC Radio 2, presenting a personal choice of rock'n'roll favourites.

After Entwistle's death in June 2002, both Daltrey & Townshend decided to continue with an already planned tour as The Who. They continue to tour today. In 2006, they released their first studio album album of new material in twenty-four years, Endless Wire.

Solo discography

• Daltrey, 1973, US #45
• Ride a Rock Horse, 1975, US #28
• One of the Boys, 1977, US #46
• McVicar, 1980, US #22
• Parting Should be Painless, 1984, US #102
• Under a Raging Moon, 1985, US #42
• Can't Wait to See the Movie, 1987
• Rocks in the Head, 1992

Solo hit singles

• Giving It All Away (#5 UK), 1973
• I'm Free (#13 UK), 1973
• Without Your Love (#20 US), 1980
• Free Me (#39 UK), 1980

Collaborations

In 1984, Daltrey appeared on "Bad Attitude", the title track of an album by Meat Loaf, sharing the lead vocal.

In 1992, he appeared on the Chieftains' Grammy Award-winning album, An Irish Evening: Live at the Grand Opera House.

In 2003, he provided backing vocals for thrash-metal band Anthrax on the song, "Taking the Music Back" from their album, We've Come for You All. The collaboration came about through Anthrax guitarist Scott Ian's girlfriend, whose mother is a friend of Daltrey and his wife.

In 2005, he sang on boy band McFly's cover of the Who song "My Generation" as part of an ad campaign for HMV Digital.

In 2006 he wrote Highbury Highs, a tribute to Highbury, the home of Arsenal F.C. (who Daltrey supports) and performed it after the final match at the ground.

Acting roles

Daltrey's appearances in over 30 feature films include starring roles in McVicar, as British armed robber turned journalist John McVicar; in Tommy, as "deaf, dumb and blind kid" Tommy Walker; and in Lisztomania, as Hungarian composer Franz Liszt.

He has appeared on stage in productions of The Wizard of Oz (as the Tin Man), A Christmas Carol (as Scrooge), and in a BBC Radio 2 production of Jesus Christ Superstar (as Judas).

Daltrey appeared as a villain in a 1994 episode of Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman. In 1986 he acted in the TV series Buddy. He guest-starred (along with Steve Buscemi) in an episode of Tales From The Crypt entitled "Forever Ambergris".

He has played a number of television roles, including BBC Television Shakespeare, the police drama series The Bill, the science fiction series Sliders as Col. Angus Rickman, Witchblade as Father Del Toro, and was a recurring guest star in Highlander: The Series as an Immortal named Hugh Fitzcairn, one of the closest friends of lead character Duncan Macleod.

A self-described history buff, in 2003 he hosted the History Channel's Extreme History with Roger Daltrey. In 2005, he had a cameo appearance as himself in the episode "The Priest and the Beast" in Series 2 of The Mighty Boosh.

He also appeared in the music video for "Emotion" by Barbra Streisand, although neither he nor The Who was the featured act. He appeared in "That '70s Musical", the 100th episode of That 70's show as Fez's musical director.

Daltrey starred opposite Vinnie Jones and Eriq La Salle in the British gangster film Johnny Was (2006).

Daltrey guest starred in a November 2006 episode of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation as Mickey Dunn, a prominent Las Vegas '70s mob boss who returns to Las Vegas to avenge his attempted murder. (The Who's music, and Daltrey's singing, provide the theme for CSI every week, so his connection to the series was already somewhat ingrained.)

Filmography

• Lisztomania (Franz Liszt), 1975
• Tommy (Tommy Walker), 1975
• The Legacy (Clive), 1978
• McVicar (John McVicar), also Producer, 1980
• The Beggar's Opera (Macheath), 1983
• Murder: Ultimate Grounds for Divorce, 1985
• The Little Match Girl (Jeb Macklin), 1987
• Mack the Knife (Street Singer), 1989
• Cold Justice (Keith Gibson), 1989
• Buddy's Song (Terry Clark); also Music Score Composer, Producer, 1991
• If Looks Could Kill - Teen Agent (Blade), 1991
• The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert ,1992
• Lightning Jack (John T. Coles), 1994
• Vampirella (Vlad), 1996
• Like It Is (Kelvin), 1998
• The Magical Legend of the Leprechauns (King Boric), (1999)
• Dark Prince: The True Story of Dracula (King Janos), 2000
• Best (Rodney Marsh), 2000
• The Young Messiah - Messiah XXI (2000) (DVD)
• Chasing Destiny (Nehemiah Peoples), 2001
• .com for Murder (Ben), 2002
• Johnny Was (Jimmy Nolan), 2006

Honours

In the New Year's Honours List published 31 December 2004, he was created a Commander of the Order of the British Empire for services to Music, the Entertainment Industry, and Charity.

Notes

References

• Geoffrey Giuliano (1996). Behind Blue Eyes: The Life of Pete Townshend. Penguin Books, Ltd. ISBN 0-8154-1070-0
• Steve Huey, Roger Daltrey - Biography, AllMusic.com
• David M. Barling, Biography of Roger Daltrey, thewho.net
• Extreme History with Roger Daltrey, The History Channel
• Matt Kent, "Roger Appears on My Generation Cover", Pete Townshend/The Who

External links

• Roger Daltrey on the April 10, 1975 cover of Rolling Stone magazine
• The Who Forum: Roger Daltrey and Who discussion community.
• The Who Location Guide
• TIME Magazine: Roger Daltrey as an European Hero

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