Photo: AFP
The Who played two special shows at London’s Royal Albert Hall over the weekend for the Teenage Cancer Trust, and during the first night Roger Daltrey shared a tragic health update, revealing that he's "going blind."
“The problem with this job is that you go deaf,” he told the crowd. “And now I’ve been told that I am going blind.”
“Thank God I’ve still got my voice. If I lost that I’ll go full Tommy," the frontman added, referencing the titular character from The Who's 1969 rock opera.
Daltrey didn't divulge the severity of the diagnosis or how it will affect his future. Last year, his bandmate Pete Townshend opened up about The Who reuniting. "I met with Roger for lunch a couple of weeks ago," he said at the time. "We're in good form. We love each other. We're both getting a bit creaky, but we will definitely do something next year." It's unclear if he was referring to the TCT shows or if there's more in the works.
During that same interview, the guitarist admitted that he'd love to make another album but would need to persuade Daltrey. "The album side of it – Roger's not keen but I would love to do another album," he said, "and I may try to bully him on that." The Who's last album was 2019's self-titled.