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The Who bassist and co-founder, Pete Townshend, is once again on tour, though this time it is a 17-date North American jaunt accompanied by only Roger Daltrey. At 80 years old, Townshend shared that life on the road can feel somewhat lonely, though he is still incredibly grateful to be on the road.

Both Townshend and Daltrey, who are in the same age range, are still performing shows and enjoying the ride as they look into what the future may hold for The Who.

“It can be lonely,” Townshend recently told a source. “I’ve thought, ‘Well, this is my job, I’m happy to have the work, but I prefer to be doing something else.’ Then, I think, ‘Well, I’m 80 years old. Why shouldn’t I revel in it? Why shouldn’t I celebrate?”

The guitarist also points out how even today, years after first gaining massive success as a part of The Who, the group has a much broader scope than it was in its beginning years. “It’s a brand rather than a band. Roger and I have a duty to the music, the history, and the work,” he continued. “The Who [still] sells records, and, as a result, the Moon and Entwistle families have become millionaires. There’s also something more, really: the art, the creative work, is when we perform it. We’re celebrating. We’re a Who tribute band.”

When Townshend mentions the late drummer Keith Moon and the late bassist John Entwistle, he gives a nod to the famous musicians who passed away before their time. The two are still celebrated through music, and even though the pair who survive have questions about what to do in their personal lives.

“It does whet an appetite to think about how we should bow out in our personal lives — what we do with our families and our friends and everything else at this age,” Townshend added. “We’re lucky to be alive. I’m looking forward to playing. Roger likes to throw wild cards out sometimes in the set, and we have learned and rehearsed a few songs that we don’t always play.”

After so many years of performing live music, even The Who themselves are still able to experience the rush of being on stage, as well as the excitement of performing. Townshend stated that they have learned and rehearsed songs they may not always play, which allows him to still get excited and doesn’t let it become a repetitive performance.

Daltrey on Health, Touring, and the Future

This comes after Roger Daltrey made a point to update fans in London earlier this year about his health while on stage at a Teenage Cancer Trust charity event with Townshend. The singer had made a point to let fans know that he was still able to sing, which would mean that he would have “a full Tommy.”

“I was thinking last night, if I can still sing by the time I get to Wembley, I’ve got a full Tommy, and I still have my voice, thank goodness, so that’s a good start,” he told the audience. “So that’s good news for you. We have a deaf, dum,b and blind kid.”

The frontman then quoted the line from the famous song “Pinball Wizard” when he joked, “Deaf, dumb, and blind kid.”

Speaking with The Times earlier this month, Daltrey continued to open up about the band and what the future may look like once this tour comes to a close. “This is certainly the last time you will see us on tour. It’s grueling,” he told the outlet.

Daltrey went on to discuss the heavy toll that it took to sing through The Who’s setlist night after night. “In the days when I was singing Who songs for three hours a night, six nights a week, I was working harder than most footballers,” he said. The only problem is that at the age of 80, Daltrey says that the toll on his body was becoming greater.

Daltrey had some mixed feelings about the idea of performing one-off concerts in the future. “As to whether we’ll play [one-off] concerts again, I don’t know. The Who to me is very perplexing,” he said.

Daltrey also reassured fans that his voice is still as strong as ever, which is no surprise considering his vocal range. “My voice is still as good as ever,” he shared.

Fans traveling across North America have the opportunity to catch Townshend and Daltrey perform together again, which is still a huge selling point for both. The 17-date tour is both a celebration of all that The Who accomplished, but a chance to be there in the moment as they move into the future and figure out what’s next.