While the singer and co-founder of The Who, Roger Daltrey helped the band gain stardom with hits like “Pinball Wizard.” He even flourished when it came to his solo career with songs like “Free Me” and “Under a Raging Moon.” Although the singer is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, his passions far extend the music industry as he recently took issue with the current National Health Services crisis, blaming both high-paid executives and even old people.
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Speaking with The Times about the struggles citizens face when trying to get health service, Daltrey didn’t mix words, suggesting that older generations are in the way. He said, “I’m in the way. All us old farts, we really are just in the way of the young now, aren’t we?” The 79-year-old singer added, “For f**k’s sake, Let’s just die! Get me and my lot out the way. It’s crazy.”
Once holding a position on the Teenage Cancer Trust, which is a charity aimed at helping teenagers suffering from cancer, Daltrey witnessed firsthand the issue facing the healthcare system. Having lost his sister to breast cancer when she was 32, the singer didn’t just attack the NHS, but also the top executives who profited off of sickness.
Roger Daltrey Declares “You Can’t Live Your Life Forever”
Pointing out how some executives make “£400,000 or £500,000 a year of public money”, Daltry offered a suggestion. “I’ll tell you how to pay the nurses more: cut down on executive pay. That’s my opinion. I’ll get slaughtered for saying it, but you’ve got to be tough. They [the political parties] make the NHS this political football in elections. They’re using us and it needs to stop.”
While Daltrey explained how the older generations and executives are using up resources, he placed himself in that same category. “My dreams came true so, listen, I’m ready to go at any time. My family are all great and all taken care of. You’ve got to be realistic. 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.”
Daltry continued to criticize the NHS with The Times, claiming how the entire system is so flawed, “You pull your hair out if you try to understand it.” And as for those in charge, he stated, ‘It’s a broken system, and no political party has got the balls to fix it.”
(Photo by Michael Loccisano/Getty Images)
