Roger Harry Daltrey CBE born 1 March 1944 is an English singer-songwriter and actor, best known as the founder and lead singer of English rock band The Who. He has maintained a musical career as a solo artist and has also worked in the film industry, acting in a large number of film, theatre and television roles and also producing films.
Roger Harry Daltrey was born in the Hammerhead area of London, but was raised in Acton, the same working class suburban neighborhood that produced fellow Who members Pete Townshend and John Entwistle. He was one of three children born to parents Irene and Harry Daltrey, and grew up with two sisters, Gillian and Carol. Harry Daltrey worked for a water closet manufacturer, and Irene Daltrey was told she would be unable to have children because of losing a kidney in 1937. Nevertheless, she went into labour during a World War II air raid and gave birth to her son at the nearby Hammersmith Hospital, West London. At the age of three, the young Roger swallowed a rusty nail which had to be surgically removed, leaving a visible scar. At the age of five, the rust from the nail caused an ulcer in his stomach which required him to be hospitalised.
Rock veteran ROGER DALTREY has the last laugh with fans who mock him for singing “Hope I die before I get old” – he insists he never has grown old.THE WHO frontman was only 21 when the hit single MY GENERATION was released in 1965. Forty-one years on, he sticks to the sentiment, claiming age is about spirit and not years. He says, “Over the years, I’ve lost count of the number of times I get asked that terrible question, ‘Don’t you wish you’d never sang, “I hope I die before I get old?”‘ “Age has nothing to do with years – it’s in the spirit. If you’re old in your spirit you should be bloody dead, even if you’re only 34.”
Anyone in any doubt about who the greatest live band of all time now knows, as The Who unleash an incediary 12 minute mash-up of classics for an estimated TV audience of 190 millionRoger Daltrey took over as lead vocalist, giving up his guitar. The band as a whole acknowledged Moon’s and Entwistle’s innovation and talent on their instruments, and Pete Townshend had begun writing hit songs. Daltrey struggled to find a voice to present their new music flooding throughout England. Daltrey struggled to find a voice to provide an interpretation of their music as well. His expression carried Townshend’s material well enough in recordings, and at the time his live persona suited the small club scene where The Who made their beginnings. However, this presentation lacked the confidence of later years, and he was arguably still a singer seeking a voice.