The Who are an English rock band that formed in 1964. Their best known line-up consisted of lead singer Roger Daltrey, guitarist Pete Townshend, bassist John Entwistle and drummer Keith Moon.
The Who developed from an earlier group, the Detours, before stabilising around a line-up of Daltrey, Townshend, Entwistle and Moon. After releasing a single as the High Numbers, the group established themselves as part of the mod movement and featured auto-destructive art by destroying guitars and drums on stage. They achieved recognition in the UK after their first single as the Who, "I Can't Explain", reached the top ten. A string of successful singles followed, including "My Generation", "Substitute" and "Happy Jack". Although initially regarded as a singles act, they also found success with the albums
My Generation and
A Quick One. In 1967, they achieved success in the US after performing at the Monterey Pop Festival, and with the top ten single "I Can See for Miles". They released
The Who Sell Out at the end of the year, and spent much of 1968 touring.
The group's fourth album, 1969's rock opera
Tommy, was a major commercial and critical success. Subsequent live appearances at Woodstock and the Isle of Wight Festival, along with the live album
Live At Leeds, transformed the Who's reputation from a hit-singles band into a respected rock act. With their success came increased pressure on lead songwriter Townshend, and the follow-up to
Tommy,
Lifehouse, was abandoned in favour of 1971's
Who's Next. The group subsequently released
Quadrophenia (1973) and
The Who by Numbers (1975), oversaw the film adaptation of
Tommy and toured to large audiences before semi-retiring from live performances at the end of 1976. The release of
Who Are You in August 1978 was overshadowed by the death of Moon on 7 September.
Kenney Jones, formerly of the Small Faces and the Faces, replaced Moon and the group resumed touring. A film adaptation of
Quadrophenia and the retrospective documentary
The Kids Are Alright were released in 1979. The group continued recording, releasing
Face Dances in 1981 and
It's Hard the following year, before breaking up. They occasionally re-formed for live appearances such as Live Aid in 1985, a 25th anniversary tour in 1989 and for a tour of
Quadrophenia in 1996. The Who resumed regular touring in 1999, with drummer Zak Starkey, to a positive response, and were considering the possibility of a new album, but these plans were stalled by Entwistle's death in June 2002. Townshend and Daltrey elected to continue as the Who, releasing
Endless Wire (2006), which reached the top ten in the UK and US. The group continued to play live regularly, including the Quadrophenia and More tour in 2012, before announcing in 2014 their intention to retire from touring following a new album and accompanying live shows.