Pete Townshend has had an interesting relationship with his The Who bandmate, Roger Daltrey. They met as young people and have worked together for a long time, with other bandmates coming and going throughout. However, how old is the guitarist, and does he have children or a wife?
Pete Townshend was born on May 19, 1945, meaning he is 75-years-old.
The Who founding members, including Pete and Roger Daltrey, have known each other for a really long time after being founded out of their school band.
The Acton schoolboys were Roger, Pete and John Entwistle, and by 1961 the group was brought together with Pete as a guitarist, Roger on lead guitar, John on bass, Harry Wilson on drums, and Colin Dawson on vocals.
Wilson was fired by 1962 and replaced by Doug Sandom, after which Colin left and Roger became the vocalist, leaving Pete as the only guitarist.
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Doug then left the band during their early career and eventually the band took on Keith Moon, with whom they first came to fame throughout the 1960s and 1970s.
Sadly, in 1978, Keith died after an overdose, after which Kenney Jones acted as their drummer until they broke up in 1983.
This was when Pete left the band to work on solo material, and throughout time the band has reunited at various points.
Since 2002, when John was found dead of a heart attack aged 57, the band has carried on performing pretty much as a duo of Roger and Pete with musicians filling in the other instruments.
With this being the background of the band, what about the private life of Pete?
Pete met Karen Astley in art school.
They married on May 20, 1968, and moved into their home in Twickenham.
They have three children: gardening writer Emma (born 1969); filmmaker Aminta (born 1971); and Joseph (born 1989.)
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The couple separated in 1994, but officially divorced in 2009, during which time Pete began a relationship with musician Rachel Fuller.
Pete and Rachel have been together for more than 20 years, and reportedly married in December 2016.
Pete currently lives in Richmond, close to Twickenham.
His closest relationship in his professional life, however, is with Roger, who he is still working alongside, though their relationship has not been an easy one.
According to Pete, the reason for their arguing is not just about direction or style of music, but how they have struggled to communicate over the years.
He told Rolling Stone earlier this year: “One of the great difficulties here isn’t that Roger and I don’t get on.
”It’s that we don’t communicate. Over the years, we haven’t really developed a dialogue. I don’t think that the fault is on my side.
“He feels a bit intimidated, perhaps, because I overcomplicate things, but we think very, very differently.
Speaking of the process of making their new album, Pete said he would demos to Roger to get his viewpoint.
He said: “Just silence from Roger. I had to bully him to respond, and then it wasn’t the response I wanted.
“He just blathered for a while and in the end I really stamped my foot and said, ‘Roger, I don’t care if you really like this stuff.
“You have to sing it. You’ll like it in 10 years time.’”
Pete said his bandmate “isn’t very good” at texts or emails, and few decisions are made when they talk on the phone, despite it being a “significant” way in which they communicate.