Pete Townshend has always been the main songwriter and creative force in The Who, but the band came together under the leadership of frontman Roger Daltrey. Daltrey, who was a year older than Townshend and founding bassist John Entwistle, formed a band called The Detours in 1959 that eventually evolved into The Who.
Roger initially played guitar in The Detours and was the leader of the group. In 1961, he invited Entwistle to join the band when he saw John on the street carrying a bass. Entwistle then suggested Daltrey bring in Townshend as lead guitarist. By late 1963, Daltrey had switched from rhythm guitar to lead singer. In early 1964, the band changed its name to The Who and replaced drummer Doug Sandom with Keith Moon, and the group’s classic lineup was in place.
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Daltrey grew up in a tough blue-collar neighborhood and got used to fighting to settle disputes. This toughness carried over to the way he dealt with his band members in The Who. As Townshend explained in his 2012 memoir, Who I Am, “[Roger] ran things the way he wanted. If you argued with him, you usually got a [hard punch].”
Daltrey’s heavy-handed approach to overseeing the band, combined with the other members’ penchant for indulging in drugs, led to an unexpected incident that resulted in Roger being temporarily ousted from the band he founded.
How Daltrey Wound Up Getting Fired from The Who
In October 1965, The Who was playing a show in Aalborg, Denmark, and Daltrey became enraged about how fast and erratically Moon played drums during the gig. Roger was aware that his bandmates regularly took pep pills, while he abstained because they affected his singing. Daltrey felt that the band’s performances had been getting worse and worse, and was sure the drugs were to blame.
When Roger exited the stage at the end of the Aalborg concert, he immediately went to find Keith’s stash of pills. He then proceeded to flush them down the toilet. Soon after, Moon came into the dressing room looking for the drugs. When Daltrey told him what he’d done with them, Keith swung a tambourine at Roger’s face. Fisticuffs ensued, and Daltrey won the fight, leaving the drummer with a bloody nose.
After The Who returned home to London, Daltrey was informed by the band’s co-manager Kit Lambert that he was out of the group. Moon and Entwistle apparently had insisted that they could no longer work with Roger.
In Daltrey’s 2018 autobiography, Thanks A Lot Mr. Kibblewhite: My Story, he recalled that he was upset for a couple of days, then began making plans to form a soul band.
Roger’s banishment from The Who didn’t last long, though.
As he recalled in the book, “They did a few shows without me, and they were getting booed off the stage. I didn’t feel bad about that. They deserved it. But within a few days, Kit and [co-manager] Chris Stamp were knocking on the door saying, ‘They need your back in. They’ve lost it without you.’”
More About the Resolution of the Conflict
Daltrey went on to discuss how his conflicts with his bandmates were resolved.
“Luckily, they listened to the management. They agreed,” Roger noted. “There were conditions on both sides. They’d have me back as long as I didn’t beat the crap out of them or flush their stash down the bog. I’d go back as long as they didn’t take drugs before a show. I didn’t care what they did offstage, but when we were onstage, we were a team and we had to work together. This was going to be professional. We were going to be the best at this.”
He added, “It wasn’t a lot to ask. That was the deal and they kept it well into the [1970s], when Keith started to take stuff onstage again.”
Pete Townshend’s Recollection of Daltrey’s Firing
Townshend shared his own, more concise memories of Daltrey’s brief firing from the band in Who I Am.
Recalling what led up to the incident, Pete wrote, “Keith, John and I took a lot of pep pills on this [road] trip, prompting constant, mindless chattering, and in Denmark, worn down by our hyperactivity, Roger finally complained. When Keith challenged him, Roger lashed out with his fists, bloodying Keith’s nose, turning what would have been a minor spat into a melodrama.”
Townshend then noted, “One significant thing about this was Keith’s response. Instead of responding with humiliation, he seemed to sober up. It was clear he was about to establish a boundary that Roger could never cross again.”
Pete added, “Keith and John said they didn’t want to work with Roger any more, but after a long period of uncertainty, Chris met with Roger and asked him to never use his fighting skills to win an argument again. Roger agreed, so Keith and John decided to put the matter behind them.”
(Photo by Cyrus Andrews/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)