The Who's frontman Roger Daltrey has admitted that he is going both deaf and blind.
During one of his performances with Who guitarist Pete Townshend for the Teenage Cancer Trust at the Royal Albert Hall in London, Daltrey acknowledged how age has affected his senses.
“The joys of getting old mean you go deaf. I also now have got the joy of going blind,” he revealed. “Fortunately I still have my voice, because then I’ll have a full Tommy.”
Daltrey, of course, is referring to the lead character in The Who's 1969 rock opera, Tommy, who is blind, deaf and mute.
This isn't the first time the 81-year-old rocker has discussed how age has slowed him down. In a 2024 interview with The Times, Daltrey said, "You've got to be realistic. You can’t live your life forever. Like I said, people my age, we're in the way. There are no guitar strings to be changed on this old instrument."
Back in 2018, he also confessed to being "very, very deaf" while performing in Las Vegas, and pleaded with younger fans to "take your f**king earplugs with you to the gigs."
Pete Townshend has admitted to suffering from hearing damage and tinnitus for years. He now needs to play with headphones following an incident with the late Who drummer Keith Moon, whose drum kit exploded in May 1976 as part of what the Guinness Book of World Records called the "loudest concert ever."