Roger Daltrey
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Roger Harry Daltrey

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Roger Daltrey

Active - 1968 - 2018  |   Born - Mar 1, 1944 in Hammersmith, London, England  |   Genres - Music, Drama, Comedy

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Biography by AllMovie

Together with Pete Townshend and Jon Entwhistle, London-born singer/guitarist Roger Daltrey was one of the founding members of the British hard-rock group The Who. While Townsend was at first the head man of the group, Daltrey quickly emerged as the lead singer, with a particular gift for all-stops-out "soul" interpretations. Daltrey assumed the central role of the deaf/dumb/blind pinball wizard in The Who's rock opera Tommy when the piece was adapted for film by director Ken Russell in 1975. He then portrayed a very revisionist Franz Liszt (bare-bottom scenes and all) in Russell's outrageous biopic Lisztomania (1975). Roger Daltry has continued accepting occasional film roles into the 1990s, and was also co-producer of the 1980 film McVicar. Daltrey would continue to make forays into film over the coming years, appearing on shows like Rude Awakening and Once Upon a Time.

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Factsheet

  • Grew up in the same neighborhood as future Who band mates Pete Townshend and John Entwistle.
  • Supported himself by working as a sheet-metal worker during the day while playing guitar with his band, the Detours, at night.
  • Recruited Entwistle to the Detours after their bassist quit; when the group's rhythm guitarist left, Entwistle called upon Townshend, a former band mate, to join.
  • Released his first studio album with the Who, The Who Sings My Generation, in 1965; was briefly kicked out of the band the same year after he flushed drummer Keith Moon's drugs down a toilet.
  • Made his solo debut in 1973 with Daltrey. 
  • Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, as part of the Who, in 1990.
  • Made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II.
  • Is a patron of the Teenage Cancer Trust, for which he organizes charity concerts at Royal Albert Hall.