Pete Townshend

P

eter Dennis Blandford Townshend (born 19 May 1945; guitar/vocals) is co-founder, leader, guitarist, secondary lead vocalist and principal songwriter of The Who who has written more than 100 songs for 12 of The Who's studio albums, not to mention the more than 100 songs that have appeared on his solo albums, as well as radio jingles and television theme songs.

Townshend suffers from partial deafness and tinnitus, believed to be the result of noise-induced hearing loss from his extensive exposure to loud music.

Townshend was born in Chiswick, west London. He came from a musical family. His father, Cliff Townshend, was a professional alto saxophonist in the Royal Air Force's dance band the Squadronaires and his mother, Betty, was a singer with the Sydney Torch and Les Douglass Orchestras. The Townshends had a volatile marriage, as both drank heavily and possessed fiery tempers.

Although known primarily as a guitarist, Townshend also plays keyboards, banjo, accordion, harmonica, ukulele, mandolin, violin, synthesizer, bass guitar, and drums. He is self-taught. He plays on his own solo albums, several The Who albums, and as a guest of other artists' recordings.

Townshend has also contributed to and authored many newspaper and magazine articles, book reviews, essays, books, and scripts, and has collaborated as a lyricist and composer for many other musical acts.