Pete Townshend on ‘celebrating’ The Who’s legacy on tour: ‘Why shouldn’t I revel in it?’

Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey kicked off The Who’s The Song Is Over North America Farewell Tour Saturday, and it sounds like Pete is a bit ambivalent about being on the road.

“It can be lonely. I’ve thought, ‘Well, this is my job, I’m happy to have the work, but I prefer to be doing something else,'” he says in a new interview with AARP magazine. “Then, I think, ‘Well, I’m 80 years old. Why shouldn’t I revel in it? Why shouldn’t I celebrate?'”

Discussing the band’s decision to continue following the death of members Keith Moon and John Entwistle, Townshend notes that The Who is “a brand rather than a band.” He adds, “Roger and I have a duty to the music and the history.”

“The Who [still] sells records —the Moon and Entwistle families have become millionaires,” he says. “There’s also something more, really: the art, the creative work is when we perform it. We’re celebrating. We’re a Who tribute band.”

And while The Who has said this will be their final tour, it may not necessarily be the last we see of them.

“We reserve the right to pop up again,” Pete says, “but I think one thing is very clear: that at our age, we will not.”

He adds, “Roger and I certainly [will] work together for charity and possibly for special projects. Together we represent all aspects of The Who legacy.”

He notes, “[W]e’ll continue to work together, even if we rarely socialize.”

The Who’s The Song Is Over North America Farewell Tour hits Newark, New Jersey, on Tuesday. A complete list of dates can be found at TheWho.com.

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