Who frontman Roger Daltrey recently announced dates for a 2025 U.K. solo tour, but he also has revealed that his famous band likely will be hitting the road in the new year, as well.
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In a new interview with the Press Association, the 80-year-old Rock & Roll Hall of Famer confirmed that The Who has “a couple of things planned for next year.” This matches up with recent comments from his bandmate Pete Townshend, who told U.K. newspaper The Telegraph that the band had “accepted an offer from Live Nation to do something in America.”
Daltrey, meanwhile, that in order for him agree to tour with The Who again, he has to feel that the group will be “totally 100% committed to the job.”
“As long as we can do that, we’ll be alright,” the singer maintained, “there might be a tour.”
Daltrey Shares His Vision for the Next Who Tour
Since 2019, all of The Who’s tours have featured the band playing arenas with the accompaniment of an orchestra. Daltrey told the Press Association that he wants the group’s next trek to be a more stripped-down affair. He also suggested that he’d like to see The Who get more improvisational during shows, like the band did in its early days.
“[We took it to the pinnacle, which was kind of the last tour, which was with an orchestra,” Roger noted. “The only place we can go now is back to the beginning, when [we were] raw, small and raw, and bring back the jamming, because we used to do a lot of that.”
He added, “[L]et’s give [the audience] what we feel like giving them, and dig in and maybe we’ll find something else. It maybe needs to get a bit more dangerous.”
The Who’s most recent tour was a U.K. outing that wrapped up during the summer of 2023. The last concerts the band played took place on March 18 and 20, 2024, in London as part of the annual Teenage Cancer Trust benefit series held at Royal Albert Hall.
Daltrey on the Expense of Touring and Attending Concerts Today
In recent years, Daltrey has complained that touring isn’t always necessarily that lucrative for him, but he says he can overlook that as long as he’s getting into his performances.
“I have to be totally committed, and then if the money comes, that’s great,” he pointed out. “Sometimes the money doesn’t come, or you think it’s coming and it doesn’t, because you spent too much in putting the show together. … And that happens.”
Roger also lamented how expensive tickets to many artists’ concerts have become.
“I mean, the touring industries, at the moment, it’s not in trouble yet,” he said, “but if they’re not careful, they will be in trouble with this kind of ticket stuff that’s going on, the pricing thing.”
Added Daltrey, “I mean, it’s all becoming a nonsense. I can’t believe someone’s paying 1,000 pounds for a ticket in the f stadium. Are they nuts? The show can’t be that good.”
Roger also maintained that artists shouldn’t be blamed for the dynamic-pricing strategy that drives up the cost of tickets.
“[T]hey’re not in control of that at all,” he insisted.
More About Daltrey’s Upcoming Solo Tour
Daltrey’s 2025 U.K. tour, dubbed “Alive and Kicking … and Having Fun!,” is a nine-date trek that’s mapped out from an April 20 concert in Brighton through a May 4 show in Manchester.
The tour will feature the Rock & Roll Hall of Famer performing with the same group of musicians that accompanied him on his 2024 North American trek.
Like the singer’s 2024 tour, the new shows will feature Roger and his group performing acoustic and semi-acoustic arrangements of songs by The Who, tunes from his solo career, and select covers. The concerts also will include interludes where Daltrey answers questions submitted by fans.
Tickets for the concerts will go on sale to the general public on Friday, November 15, at 10 a.m. local time. Pre-sale tickets also will be available. Fans interested in early access to tickets may want to visit StubHub.
(Photo by Matthew Baker/Getty Images)
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