(Credits: Far Out / Harry Chase / UCLA Library)
Wed 4 February 2026 13:00, UK
As far as Pete Townshend was concerned, there was always a finite time that rock bands had to make an impact.
Most people didn’t have that much time to focus on whether a bunch of musicians were going to take over the world, and even if The Who managed to be one of the biggest acts in the world, Townshend was already convinced that he was going to be going back to art school by the time ‘My Generation’ faded. He may have carved out a whole new niche for himself in rock and roll history, but he felt like other bands could have kept going on for eternity as long as they kept the hits.
Because, really, there are only two kinds of legends in the music world. There are those that will always have the starpower to carry themselves from one album to the next, and then there are the artists that will continue to have the goodwill of the people as long as they keep making good music. Radiohead might not be the most prolific band in the world, but the strength of their musical aura has helped carry them through a decade despite never releasing any new music.
That kind of career may have been unheard of when Townshend first got started, but if The Beatles dared everyone to dream bigger, The Who were among the first to capitalise on that. The Beach Boys and Bob Dylan were also progressing by leaps and bounds, but Tommy and Quadrophenia weren’t intended to be simple pop records. Townshend wanted to break down everything that a band was supposed to be, and his version of rock included making concertos with electric guitars.
Once music reached the MTV generation, though, it didn’t feel like most people cared anymore. The punk movement had already brought the kings of rock and roll down to size, and when the biggest radio station in the world became people’s TV screens, rock started to get a lot more manufactured. The glam bands may have sold a bunch of records, but hearing bands like Nirvana is what made everyone wake up. The world was in desperate need of rock that was authentic, and Britain had their answer to Seattle in a young band from Manchester.
Noel Gallagher had already been a fan of bands like Nirvana, but when Oasis premiered with Definitely Maybe, it wasn’t only about making riffs anymore. This was a love letter to all of the music that they loved growing up, and while Townshend had long since retired from making any new music with The Who, he was convinced that Oasis had the potential to be one of the finest bands that England had ever seen.
Even when the band were dealing with shakeups during the Standing on the Shoulder of Giants period, Townshend felt that their old material will help carry them through any generation that they found themselves in, saying, “Noel and Liam are Oasis. It’s up to them, really. They could last forever. They just have to keep doing it.” And it’s not like Townshend wasn’t willing to put his money where his mouth was.
Take Noel’s surprise appearance during The Who’s reunion shows at the Royal Albert Hall. Being able to get up with one of the greatest rock bands on Earth to play ‘Won’t Get Fooled Again’ is no easy feat, but even with a limited knowledge of guitar soloing, Noel didn’t look all that out of place next to Townshend, Roger Daltrey, or even other special guests like Paul Weller.
It might have been a sad day when the band called it a day after one too many fights in 2009, but the fact that their reunion became one of the biggest tours in the world only confirmed what Townshend was talking about. Because even when the band themselves aren’t performing, people are never going to forget the way that they felt listening to ‘Live Forever’ or ‘Champagne Supernova’ for the first time.
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