Roger Daltrey has said that he never reads reviews of his work, whether they’re positive or negative.
The singer of The Who wrote a “backstage diary” for The Times in which, among other things, he reflected on the final series of concerts he curated for Teenage Cancer Trust. He mentioned that he avoids even positive reviews on social media on the basis that likes and comments are “just ego food”.
“The reviews [of the concert] are in but I won’t read them,” he wrote. “If you read the good ones, you have to read the bad ones, and the bad ones will upset you. I steer clear of it all — reviews, Twitter, all of that.
“Social media might be great for talking to people but when you start adding comments and likes, it’s just ego food, isn’t it? I don’t care what people think of me. I can’t live like that.”
He also reflected on turning 80 elsewhere in the diary. “I have to be realistic,” he wrote. “I’m on my way out. The average life expectancy is 83 and with a bit of luck I’ll make that, but we need someone else to drive things.”
Daltrey confirmed he was standing down at the curator for the Teenage Cancer Trust’s concert series in January, having helmed the project for 24 years. To mark the occasion, he rounded off the series himself with a show on March 24.
The final show of the 2024 Teenage Cancer Trust gig series was dubbed ‘Ovation’ and it was billed as “a celebration of 24 years of gigs” for the charity, and saw live performances from Paul Weller, Kelly Jones, Robert Plant with Saving Grace and Eddie Vedder. During the show, Weller brought out Daltrey to play
In the diary, he wrote: “I’m not leaving TCT – I’ve been a patron since I first met the charity’s founders, Dr Adrian and Myrna Whiteson, more than 30 years ago – and that will continue, but I’ll be working in the back room, talking to the government, rattling cages.”
Meanwhile, Daltrey recently announced a new “semi-acoustic” solo tour of North America, which will take place across nine dates in June. Any remaining tickets can be found here.
In January, Daltrey gave an interview about the future of The Who, in which he said he was “happy” that “that part of my life is over”, before clarifying that ultimately any decision about calling it a day would have to be made alongside Pete Townshend.
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