The Who
![The Who in 1975, left to right: [[Roger Daltrey]] (vocals), [[John Entwistle]] (bass), [[Keith Moon]] (drums) and [[Pete Townshend]] (guitar).](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/92/Who_-_1975.jpg)
The Who evolved from an earlier group, the Detours, and established themselves as part of the pop art and mod movements, featuring auto-destructive art by destroying guitars and drums on stage. Their first single as the Who, "I Can't Explain" (1965), reached the UK top ten, and was followed by a string of hit singles including "My Generation" (1965), "Substitute" and "Happy Jack" (both 1966). In 1967, they performed at the Monterey Pop Festival and released "I Can See for Miles", their only US top-ten single. The group's 1969 concept album ''Tommy'' included the single "Pinball Wizard" and was a critical and commercial success.
Further festival appearances at Woodstock and the Isle of Wight, along with the concert album ''Live at Leeds'' (1970), established their reputation as a respected rock act. The success put pressure on lead songwriter Townshend, and the follow-up to ''Tommy'', ''Lifehouse'', was abandoned. Songs from the project made up the album ''Who's Next'' (1971), including the hits "Won't Get Fooled Again", "Baba O'Riley", and "Behind Blue Eyes". The group released another concept album, ''Quadrophenia'' (1973), as a celebration of their mod roots, and oversaw the film adaptation of ''Tommy'' (1975). They continued to tour to large audiences before semi-retiring from live performances at the end of 1976. The release of ''Who Are You'' (1978) was overshadowed by Moon's death shortly after.
Kenney Jones replaced Moon and the group resumed touring, and released a film adaptation of ''Quadrophenia'' and the retrospective documentary ''The Kids Are Alright'' (both 1979). After Townshend became weary of the group, they split in 1983. The Who occasionally re-formed for live appearances such as Live Aid in 1985, a 25th-anniversary tour in 1989 and a tour of ''Quadrophenia'' in 1996–1997. A full reunion began in 1999, with drummer Zak Starkey. After Entwistle's death in 2002, plans for a new album were delayed until 2006, with ''Endless Wire''. Since Entwistle's death, the Who have continued to perform and tour, most commonly with Starkey on drums, Pino Palladino on bass, and Pete's brother Simon Townshend on second guitar and backing vocals. In 2019, the group released the album ''Who'' and toured with a symphony orchestra. Provided by Wikipedia
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