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Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend of The Who perform during the Closing Ceremony on Day 16 of the London 2012 Olympic Games at Olympic Stadium on August 12, 2012 in London, England.
Rock
The Who Coming to Toronto and Vancouver on 2025 North American ‘Farewell Tour’
The dates will be their final in the U.S. and Canada following a six-decade touring career.
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After 61 years, The Song is Over for rock titans The Who. On Thursday (May 8) the band announced they’ll play their final run of shows in North America this coming August and September as part of a farewell tour. The announcement was made by guitarist Pete Townshend at a press conference in London with singer Roger Daltrey appearing via video link.
The tour – named after their 1971 song “The Song is Over” – kicks off in Newark, N.J. on Aug. 19 and runs through major cities including New York City, Boston, Toronto, Los Angeles and more. See the full run of shows below. The band has not announced any further shows outside of the U.S. and Canada at this time.
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Tickets will be available through The Who Fan Club, beginning May 13. Additional presales will run throughout the week ahead of the general sale starting May 16 at 10 a.m. local time. See the full information here.
“Well, all good things must come to an end,” Townshend said in a statement. “It is a poignant time. For me, playing to American audiences and those in Canada has always been incredible.”
“The warmth and engagement of those audiences began back in 1967 with hippies smoking dope, sitting on their blankets and listening deeply and intensely. Music was everywhere. We all felt equal,” he continued. “Today, Roger and I still carry the banner for the late [drummer] Keith Moon and [bassist] John Entwistle and of course, all of our longtime Who fans.”
Daltrey added, “Every musician’s dream in the early 60’s was to make it big in the U.S. charts. For the Who, that dream came true in 1967 and our lives were changed forever. The warmth of the American audiences over the years have been inspirational to me, and reflect the feeling I remember getting after hearing the first rock records coming across the radio. Musical freedom! Rock gave us a feeling of generational rebellion.”
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“To me, America has always been great. The cultural differences had a huge impact on me, this was the land of the possible,” Daltrey continued. “It’s not easy to end the big part of my life that touring with The Who has been. Thanks for being there for us and look forward to seeing you one last time.”
Daltery, Townshend and Entwistle first performed live together as The Detours in 1962, and officially became The Who in 1964, with drummer Moon completing the classic lineup in May of that year. They toured primarily in the U.K. and Europe and first hit the U.S. in 1967 to support their third LP The Who Sell Out.
Their hell-raising tours continued with the releases of rock operas Tommy (1969) and Quadrophenia (1973). Their 1970 live collection Live at Leeds is widely considered one of the defining live rock albums of its era.
This isn’t the first time that The Who have announced a ‘farewell tour.’ In 1982 the band played a final run of shows in the U.K. and North America and immortalised the show with live album Who’s Last. They reunited for short performances at Live Aid in 1985 and 1988, and a year later in 1989, the group reunited for a 50-show tour.
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In 2015, The Who’s 50th anniversary tour was dubbed as a “long goodbye” by Daltrey and saw them play 70 shows in Europe, North America and Asia. Between 2019 and 2021, the band toured their 2019 album WHO, their first in 13 years.
The news follows a recent concert at London’s Royal Albert Hall which saw longtime drummer Zak Starkey, son of Ringo Starr, sacked from the group for his performance. After a brief period of uncertainty, Starkey was reinstated with Townshend saying, “There have been some communication issues, personal and private on all sides, that needed to be dealt with, and these have been aired happily.
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The Who ‘The Song is Over’ North American Tour Dates
- Aug. 19 – Newark, NJ @ Prudential Center
- Aug. 21 – Philadelphia, PA @ Wells Fargo Center
- Aug. 23 – Atlantic City, NJ @ Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall
- Aug. 26 – Boston, MA @ Fenway Park
- Aug. 28 – Wantagh, NY @ Northwell at Jones Beach Theater
- Aug. 30 – New York, NY @ Madison Square Garden
- Sept. 2 – Toronto, ON @ Budweiser Stage
- Sept. 4 – Toronto, ON @ Budweiser Stage
- Sept. 7 – Chicago, IL @ United Center
- Sept. 17 – Los Angeles, CA @ Hollywood Bowl
- Sept. 19 – Los Angeles, CA @ Hollywood Bowl
- Sept. 21 – Mountain View, CA @ Shoreline Amphitheatre
- Sept. 23 – Vancouver, BC @ Rogers Arena
- Sept. 25 – Seattle, WA @ Climate Pledge Arena
- Sept. 28 – Las Vegas, NV @ MGM Grand Garden Arena
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