Peter Dennis Blandford Townshend (born 19 May 1945 in Chiswick, London), is an English rock guitarist, singer-songwriter, composer, and writer, known principally as the guitarist and songwriter for The Who, as well as for his own solo career. His career with The Who spans more than forty years, during which time the band grew to be considered one of the most influential bands of the rock era, in addition to being "possibly the greatest live band ever." Townshend is the primary songwriter for The Who, writing well over one hundred songs for the band's eleven studio albums, including the rock operas Tommy and Quadrophenia and the well-regarded rock radio staple Who's Next, plus dozens more that appeared as non-album singles, bonus tracks on reissues, and tracks on rarities compilations such as Odds and Sods. He has also written over one hundred songs for his solo albums and rarities compilations. Although known mainly for being a guitarist, he is also an accomplished singer and keyboard player and has played many other instruments on his solo albums, and on some Who albums (such as banjo, accordion, synthesizer, piano, bass guitar, drums). ...show more

Peter Dennis Blandford Townshend (born 19 May 1945 in Chiswick, London), is an English rock guitarist, singer-songwriter, composer, and writer, known principally as the guitarist and songwriter for The Who, as well as for his own solo career. His career with The Who spans more than forty years, during which time the band grew to be considered one of the most influential bands of the rock era, in addition to being "possibly the greatest live band ever." Townshend is the primary songwriter for The Who, writing well over one hundred songs for the band's eleven studio albums, including the rock operas Tommy and Quadrophenia and the well-regarded rock radio staple Who's Next, plus dozens more that appeared as non-album singles, bonus tracks on reissues, and tracks on rarities compilations such as Odds and Sods. He has also written over one hundred songs for his solo albums and rarities compilations. Although known mainly for being a guitarist, he is also an accomplished singer and keyboard player and has played many other instruments on his solo albums, and on some Who albums (such as banjo, accordion, synthesizer, piano, bass guitar, drums).

He is rated as the 50th greatest guitarist of all time by Rolling Stone. He has also written newspaper and magazine articles, book reviews, essays, books, and scripts. Born into a musical family in London at the end of the Second World War, Townshend quickly found himself at the forefront of the British musical boom of the 1960s, as a member of one of the most rebellious, outspoken groups ever to emerge: The Who. Formed through a school friendship dating back to the late 1950s with John Entwistle and Roger Daltrey, the band spent its formative years covering jazz and skiffle standards, with the young Townshend performing admirably on banjo.

Those early years saw the band go through a couple of name and personnel changes, including the recruitment of one Keith Moon. The changing face of the music scene, however, and in particular the emergence of Lennon and McCartney, meant that groups could no longer rely on cover versions and were required to produce original work in order to compete. In the case of The Who this responsibility fell mainly on the shoulders of Pete Townshend. The group had already hit the headlines with their outrageous stage antics long before Townshend's first composition for the band, 'I Can't Explain', was released in January 1965. ...show less