History Music / TheWho

However, one month after the album's release, Keith Moon died after accidentally overdosing on Heminevrin, a drug he had been prescribed to treat alcohol withdrawal. (He had taken to [[TooDumbToLive downing them by the dozen and mixing them with alcohol]]; 26 undigested pills were found in his stomach during his autopsy.) He was replaced by Kenney Jones of Music/TheSmallFaces and Music/{{Faces}}, who lacked Moon's characteristic hyperactive drumming style, with John "Rabbit" Bundrick unofficially added as the band's keyboardist, a position which Townshend (and occasionally Nicky Hopkins) had filled in the past. With Jones, they recorded two more albums: ''Face Dances'' in 1981 and ''It's Hard'' in 1982, which suffered from uninspired songwriting, the only notable songs being "You Better You Bet" and "Another Tricky Day" from the former, and "Athena" and "Eminence Front" from the latter. Finally, in December 1983, Townshend issued a public statement that The Who had disintegrated.

''YEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!''

Despite rumors that this tour would be their last, 2019 saw the band embarking on a symphonic tour and recording their fifteenth, ''WHO''.

* GutturalGrowler: John Entwistle's speaking voice. Not enough that he barely spoke, when he ''did'' it was basically a low, raspy murmur.

[[JustForFun Not to be mistaken]] for the cult TV series Series/DoctorWho; the only thing the two has in common is that they're both British icons that started in the '60s. Nor should they be confused with Canadian band [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Guess_Who The Guess Who]], Mongolian band Music/TheHu, or the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Health_Organization World Health Organization]].

* RatedMForManly: Roger Daltrey, the muscled, bare-chested former factory worked turned singer, with a habit of knocking his bandmates out cold for disobeying him.

** Off the same album is "Black Widow's Eyes", a topical if not exactly protest-y song about stockholm syndrome setting in during the Beslan school massacre.

** Off the same album is "Black Widow's Eyes", a topical if not exactly protest-y song about StockholmSyndrome setting in during the Beslan school massacre.

[[JustForFun Not to be mistaken]] for the cult TV series Series/DoctorWho; the only thing the two has in common is that they're both British icons that started in the '60s. Nor should they be confused with Canadian band [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Guess_Who The Guess Who]], or the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Health_Organization World Health Organization]].

* BadassBaritone:
** Roger Daltrey, though his voice is versatile enough for tenor parts as well.
** John Entwistle had a ''deep'' speaking voice, and could somehow sing even deeper. Interestingly, he also had the strongest falsetto in the band, which was notably deployed on "A Quick One, While He's Away".

* ADateWithRosiePalms: Never outright stated but strongly implied in "Pictures of Lily". The singer is a young man who has insomnia. When his father gives him the titular pictures of Lily, he feels better and is able to sleep. And is depressed to know she's dead.
** "Mary Anne With the Shaky Hands".

* AmbiguousDisorder:
** Pete Townshend has speculated in interviews that John Entwistle had Asperger Syndrome, which seems to be plausible, given that he was a very introverted guy, with strong, unusual fascinations and odd social behaviors.
** Roger Daltrey has also said that he suspected Keith Moon was some sort of autistic savant, given his natural, yet unorthodox talent for drumming and his flat-out bizarre behavior, and suggested that some of his substance abuse was a way for him to cope with said disorder, and the difficulties connecting with others that comes with it.

* AluminumChristmasTrees: The band recorded some real commercials around the time ''Music/TheWhoSellOut'' was recorded. Some of them are featured on the 1995 reissue.

* TropeMaker / TropeCodifier: Though not the UrExample of rock operas (''The Story Of Simon Simopath'' by [[NamesTheSame Nirvana]] and ''Music/SFSorrow'' by Music/ThePrettyThings both predate it), The Who's ''Music/{{Tommy}}'' was the earliest one to become a hit. The Who maintain that ''Music/SFSorrow'' wasn't an influence in any major way, but several critics, and Music/ThePrettyThings themselves have disagreed. No one seems to have asked them about ''The Story Of Simon Simopath'' since Nirvana never got too popular. As for the Codifying, ''Music/{{Tommy}}'' is still one of the best examples of a continuous narrative via music there is, and uses several common RockOpera Tropes, particularly {{Leitmotif}}.

* TeenageWasteland ("[[RefrainFromAssuming Baba O'Riley]]")

* RefrainFromAssuming: It's "Baba O'Riley", '''not''' "Teenage Wasteland". However, there is a Pete Townshend version of the song with a slower tempo called "Teenage Wasteland", making it easy to mistake. The song "Teenage Wasteland" has two verses, a bridge, and a second chorus section that were cut out when the song became "Baba O'Riley".

---> '''''[[MemeticMutation YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAHHHHH!!!!!]]'''''

** ''Series/CSICyber'' continues the [[IncrediblyLamePun theme]] with "I Can See For Miles".

%% * GettingCrapPastThe Radar: Due to overwhelming and persistent misuse, GCPTR is on-page examples only until 01 June 2021. If you are reading this in the future, please check the trope page to make sure your example fits the current definition.

* NotChristianRock: Pete Townshend is a follower of Meher Baba, an Indian pantheist guru, and as such many of the songs he wrote for the Who are either addressed to God ("Who Are You", "Bargain". "Listening To You"), written ''from the perspective of God'' ("Let My Love Open The Door", "God Speaks of Marty Robbins"), or are about God in a more abstract sense ("Drowned", "Don't Let Go the Coat"). Most of Townshend's religious songs are oblique enough that one wouldn't notice it unless they were informed of it beforehand. His work with the Who aside, Townshend also recorded a trilogy of solo albums with Ronnie Lane which were explicitly dedicated to and based on the teachings of Meher Baba.

A famous, groundbreaking British rock band from Shepherd's Bush, London, known both for their many influential songs and for their pioneering of the art of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instrument_destruction instrument destruction]]. They are so influential that when people talk of the great rock bands of UsefulNotes/TheBritishInvasion, it's often Music/TheBeatles, Music/TheRollingStones, The Who, and Music/TheKinks in the same breath. But of the four, only The Who actually spawned a whole musical [[PunkRock genre]]. Don't take our word for it: [[Music/JohnLydon Johnny Rotten]], [[Music/TheRamones Johnny Ramone]], and [[Music/TheClash Joe Strummer]] (to name only three) are on record as saying something like, "If not for The Who..."