The Who were first formed in 1964, and grew to be considered one of the greatest and most influential bands in the world. Consisting of Pete Townshend, John Entwistle and Roger Daltrey (with Keith Moon coming along slightly later).  Townshend, the son of a dance-band saxophonist, met the other three in Acton County Grammar School, and their early local success came from imitations of US blues and rock n'roll performers  with Townshend and Daltrey sharing lead guitar duties, Enwistle on bass, and Keith Moon on drums.  Early on they fell under the influence of Johnny Kidd and The Pirates and their lean sound built around a single guitar and a rhythm section of bass and drums.  Daltry gave up the guitar to concentrate on singing and Townshend turned his rhythm guitar into a lead instrument and quickly became London's loudest band.  They quickly became favorites with the R&B loving mods, as Townshend discovered a talent for writing anthem-like songs.

In 1964 the group's management was usurped by Kit Lambert and Chris Stamp whose energy and ambition focused the group and brought them together with hot produced Shel Talmy.  A succession of hit singles included I Can't Explain (1965) My Generation (1965), Substitute (1966) Happy Jack (1966) I Can See For Miles (1967) and Pinball Wizard (1969).  The Who's greatest strength, however, was in concert and by the end of the Sixties they were justifiably billing themselves as 'the most exciting rock band in the world'.

In April 1969, the group's double album Tommy was released.  Composed by Pete Townshend with contributions from John Entwistle and Keith Moon, this rock opera about a deaf, dumb and blind boy proved to be one of the most ambitious rock ventures ever undertaken. The Who included excerpts from it on their 1969 US tour, and the album (released there May 1969) became a big seller, and received a Gold Disc awarded for a million dollar sales by August of that year.  Who's Next (1971), their most successful album followed, and then their final rock opera, Quadrophenia (which was based on the story of the Mods and Rockers, particularly riots between the two factions at Brighton) which was released in 1973.

Keith Moon died in 1978, after which the band released two more studio albums, Face Dances (1981) and It's Hard (1982), with former Small Faces drummer Kenney Jones, before officially disbanding in 1983. They reformed on several occasions to perform at special events such as Live Aid and for reunion tours such as their 25th anniversary tour (1989) and the Quadrophenia revival tours of 1996 and 1997. In 2000, the three surviving original members began to discuss the possibility of recording an album of new material. These plans were delayed following the death of John Entwistle in 2002. Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey continue to perform as The Who. In 2006 they released the studio album Endless Wire, which reached the top ten in the USA and UK.

See the Who perform their first hit I Can't Explain  

See them perform My Generation at the Marquee Club 1967