Roger Daltrey

Roger Harry Daltrey, CBE (born March 1, 1944) is a popular music artist, best known as the founder and lead singer of the British rock band The Who. In addition, he has enjoyed a successful solo music career, and has acted in a large number of film, theatre and television roles. Daltrey and his second wife, Heather, have two daughters, Rosie and Willow, and a son, Jamie.

Solo music career

While he has always considered The Who his primary ambition in life, Daltrey has released eight solo albums.

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1973's Daltrey was not the first solo release by a member of The Who, following albums by both John Entwistle and Pete Townshend, but it was the first to make a significant impact. The top single off the album, "Giving It All Away," reached number five in the U.K. and the album, which introduced Leo Sayer as a songwriter, made the Top 50 in the United States. The emotional range displayed in Daltrey proved that the singer was capable of operating outside the context of The Who and of expressing his own moods, not just Townshend's.

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When Sayer launched his own career as an artist, Daltrey called on a widening group of friends to write for and perform on his albums. Paul McCartney contributed the new song "Giddy" to Ride a Rock Horse, where the band included Eric Clapton, Alvin Lee and Mick Ronson.

Related Topics:
Paul McCartney - Eric Clapton - Alvin Lee - Mick Ronson

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McVicar was billed as a soundtrack album for the film of the same name, which Daltrey co-produced and starred in. But since it featured all the other members of The Who — Townshend, Entwistle and Kenny Jones — it could almost have passed as a Who album. McVicar included two hit singles, Free Me and Without Your Love and was Daltrey's best-selling solo recording.

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The title track to Under a Raging Moon was a tribute to Who drummer Keith Moon, who died in 1978. Each of the album's tracks, including "Let Me Down Easy" by Bryan Adams, expresses the frustration of growing older as only a man who sang "Hope I die before I get old" can.

Related Topics:
Keith Moon - 1978 - Bryan Adams

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On Rocks in the Head, Daltrey is credited (along with Gerard McMahon) for co-writing seven of the eleven tracks.

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Daltrey celebrated his fiftieth birthday in 1994 by performing at Carnegie Hall in a show called, "Daltrey Sings Townshend," accompanied by The Juilliard Orchestra, Townshend, Entwistle, Irish dancers and a group of folk musicians.

Related Topics:
1994 - Carnegie Hall - Juilliard - Folk musicians

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Solo discography

• Daltrey, 1973
• Ride a Rock Horse, 1975
• One of the Boys, 1977
• McVicar, 1980
• Parting Should be Painless, 1984
• Under a Raging Moon, 1985
• Can't Wait to See the Movie, 1987
• Rocks in the Head, 1992

Solo hit singles

• Giving It All Away (#5 UK), 1973
• I'm Free (#13 UK), 1973
• Without Your Love (#20 US), 1980
• Free Me (#39 UK), 1980

Collaborations

In 1992, Daltrey appeared on the Chieftains' Grammy Award-winning album, An Irish Evening: Live at the Grand Opera House.

Related Topics:
1992 - Chieftains - Grammy Award

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In 2003, he provided backing vocals for thrash-metal band Anthrax on the song, "Taking the Music Back" from their album, We've Come for You All. The collaboration came about through Anthrax guitarist Scott Ian's girlfriend, whose mother is a friend of Daltrey and his wife.

Related Topics:
2003 - Anthrax - We've Come for You All - Scott Ian

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