The Who’s Roger Daltrey on the return of the band and securing that incredible lineup for Teenage Cancer Trust

Virgin Radio

25 Feb 2022, 11:16

The musician joined the Chris Evans Breakfast Show with Sky this morning to talk about how he secured that amazing lineup for the Teenage Cancer Trust concert and the return of The Who.

When frontman of The Who, Roger Daltrey, first had the idea for setting up a concert to help fund Teenage Cancer Trust back in 2000, he never imagined it would span for two decades.

The first concert, titled ‘The Who & Friends’ ended up rising over £1.2 million with tickets and revenue from DVD and CD sales, and now the annual concert will be celebrating its 20th Anniversary.

Speaking about becoming a patron for the charity and starting the project all those years ago, Roger told Chris: “I’ve got two years left on the contract that I had to sign with the Albert Hall, which was quite frightening at the time. You know, you never know how these things will take off.

“But to do what we’ve done is truly extraordinary, and all the artists, all the people that supported me, I just can’t thank you enough.”

This year is set to be one of the best lineups yet, with performances across the week from the likes of Madness, Liam Gallagher, Ed Sheeran and The Who themselves.

There will also be a comedy night hosted by Joel Dommett with special guests Tom Allen, Rob Beckett, Rosie Jones and Romesh Ranganathan, among others.

It wasn’t easy to get that incredible lineup, and Roger admitted he was amazed at what they had managed to achieve.

He said: “Two and a half months ago, we only had two people, that was The Who and Youngblood. But of course, the artists are so generous to this charity, it’s wonderful.

“They recognise that the music industry relies on the age group that we take care of. It’s the lifeblood of the music industry- teenagers and adults.”

The shows will help to fund Teenage Cancer Trust’s work to support young people with cancer across the UK by building specialist wards and are making a bombshell comeback after the 2020 and 2021 shows were cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.

One of the most exciting parts of the week will, of course, be a performance of Roger’s iconic band The Who, as they play an acoustic set that many fans of the band will be undoubtedly excited about.

Speaking about the band, Roger said: “We’re trying to keep the budget down because, to put The Who on stage when we’re not actually on tour is quite expensive.

“So, we’ve got a group of musicians coming together along with Pete and myself, and we’re going to do some special acoustic stuff.

“So that’ll be interesting.”

It’s set to be quite a busy year for Roger, who confirmed the band will be going on a tour of America during the Spring this year before the frontman returns to do a solo tour in England that was postponed last year.

The Who will then be back in America for some more shows in September.The Teenage Cancer Trust concert will span from 21 to 27 March. For a full line up and to get your hands on tickets, go to teenagecancertrust.org.