This is my life

Thu, 22 Mar 2007 13:24:33 GMT

I'm feeling much better this morning. We're in Arkansas tonight, Oklahoma tomorrow, and then back to Florida for a couple of gigs. I spoke with three separate doctors, and all have said I'm fit to perform again. Granted, I'm not quite 100% at this point, this is close enough!

I'll be seeing you on the road!

Mon, 19 Mar 2007 18:56:05 GMT

To everyone in:
Tampa, Florida
San Antonio, Texas
Mexico City
Little Rock, Arkansas (maybe)
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma (maybe)

...I'm terribly sorry. I should've rested when my doctors told me to, I should've gotten well before I began pushing myself again, but I didn't. My bronchitis is still flaring up, and lucky me, I've gotten a viral infection on top of it. I was severely dehydrated and they wanted to throw me into a bloody hospital and put me on an I.V (I do NOT deal well with needles), but I told them I was going to rest up instead. So that's what I'm trying to do. It really comes in waves; I feel fine, and then I feel like complete fucking shit again hours later. I never know how I'm going to feel day to day. But, know this: I WILL get better, and I WILL heal up, and The Who WILL continue to tour, and make up for the canceled and postponed shows.

I'm honestly, and very truly, sorry.

Today is the 63rd anniversary...

Thu, 01 Mar 2007 23:00:48 GMT

Of the day I graced the world with my presence! And, how nice of The Who to be playing tonight in San Diego, so all the fans can come and celebrate my birthday with me. So, what did you all get me? I'm expecting presents, you know *grins*

Happy Birthday to me! And, I love each and every one of you. You know that. :)

...Now, where're my presents?

Just kidding, mates. Though, I will accept anything you decide to give me!

Well, it's been long enough then, hasn't it?

Fri, 16 Feb 2007 09:04:23 GMT

Firstly, I want to wish everyone a very belated Happy New Year! Secondly, a Happy belated St. Valentine's Day. I hope you all were able to spend it with someone you cared about, romantically or otherwise. Heather and I had a wonderful time, just the two of us. I actually made dinner for her! Bloody amazing, I know. It was a great day, and an even better night, if you know what I mean!

I must apologise for not updating this thing. In all honesty, I'd almost forgotten about it until I received several new comments this week from an old friend, a new friend, and a person whom I'd hoped never to fucking hear from again, sadly. I've been on holiday from touring since the beginning of December, and been spending as much time as I can with my kids and grandkids (and the wife, of course), along with going to my favourite pubs and bistros in London before we hit the road again next Friday. Part of me is looking forward to touring again, but part of me is almost dreading it. I think the fact that I'm nearly 63 years old has something to do with it, and I wonder if this is ever going to end? I've been singing and touring around with Pete for the last forty years, and probably will be for the next forty! I don't mind it though, I guess. It keeps me young :).

And, for reference, if you're going to the show in San Diego, bring me a gift! It's a gig set to honour the day that Roger Harry Daltrey graced the world with his presence, March 1, 1944. Not really, but I say that it is, just to piss Pete off ;)

Finally, for those of you who're friends of Oxy, and have been missing him since he's been gone, I've kept in touch with him, and he's doing well. Just so you know. He's actually doing much better now. Anyway, it's time for me to go out for a jog; I need to keep in shape so I can continue to tour and sing for you fine people without keeling over. Because of course, that wouldn't be any fun now, would it?

Mon, 25 Dec 2006 17:15:46 GMT

HAPPY CHRISTMAS EVERYBODY!

I just wanted to take this time to thank you for being such wonderful friends to me, and say how grateful I am for each and every one of you. I hope you all have a great holiday!

Back to the kids and grandkids :)

...I can't believe I donned a Saint Nicholas suit for those kids this morning :) The little ones didn't even know it was me!

St. Paul

Sat, 09 Dec 2006 09:14:09 GMT

For those of you who attended the St. Paul gig (if any of you did), I'm sorry about what happened. I've been sick for the last few days, and been trying to heal myself up so I could perform, but my sore throat has managed to evolve itself into full blown bronchitis. I've been taking medication, drinking tea with honey and water, and not much else, and eating as best as one can on tour.

What it comes down to, is simply that I should've taken tonight off. Pete asked me if I wanted to. My wife wanted me to. Zak even asked me if I thought I should go on. Hell, everyone did. Take tonight off to try to save my voice and heal up for the gig in Columbus Monday night. But I refused. Why? I refused because those of you who had tickets to go paid quite a bit of money, and I wasn't going to let the gig be cancelled unless absolutely necessary. I went out there, did the best that I could, and halfway through, it became painful to sing and hard to breathe. I tried to keep going, but I just couldn't make it, and didn't necessarily want to run the risk of fucking destroying my vocal chords. I can't even TALK right now, much less sing, because I did all I could tonight.

And now, I find out through Pete, through a couple guys on our road crew that were out in the crowd tonight, and through this very website, that people are right pissed off at me. At The Who. And frankly, that pisses me off. Well, not so much as pisses me off as much as it HURTS.

First off, don't blame The Who. Pete didn't give me bronchitis, Pino, Simon, and Zak had nothing to do with it. It's NOT. THEIR. FAULT.

Second off, I fucking TRIED. I tried as hard as I could to put on the best show that I could, and I thought we did well until my voice just couldn't take it anymore. If you're going to be angry at me over this, fine. But, things get a little bloody difficult when you've been singing (and in some cases, screaming) your bloody head off for over 4 decades. I went out there, knowing I was sick, knowing that what I was doing in the eyes of other singers (Jagger in particular) was bloody stupid (he canceled a couple shows on the Stones' most recent tour for the same reason), just so I could put on the best show I could for fans who wanted to see The Who.

Now, after all that, after fucking straining the HELL out of my vocal chords trying to perform, for me to come back to my hotel room and hear about and see some of the things that've been said... Part of me wishes we would've just fucking canceled the gig altogether. At least then people would've been pissed about missing an entire SHOW rather than a few songs.

But, there's nothing I can do about it now. I'm extremely upset by this, upset by the actions of my fans, of The Who's fans, who I expected to be GRATEFUL for the effort we put forth tonight. Instead, I see criticism. I don't mean to generalize everyone who was there, because I know some of the fans were happy to have seen us, and happy with the effort myself, Pete, and the others put forth (for God's sake, John and Moon even came back for this gig). I can understand feelings of disappointment, but only if those feelings of disappointment are in regards to the lack of songs we were able to perform, and not disappointment in US, as a BAND. Hell, I'm disappointed too, I WANTED to perform tonight. The feelings of anger, though... The feelings of bloody BETRAYAL? (One of our roadies told me these people were ranting about being BETRAYED by our ending the show early) It's fucking ridiculous.

Now, here I am, 3 in the morning in St. Paul, and I'm sitting up writing this garbage when I should be resting. All that's left for me to do now is heal up for Columbus, or try my best to. At this point, I can't wait for this leg of the fucking tour to be over.

Thu, 23 Nov 2006 19:03:02 GMT

Good God, the old fucker is posting twice in as many days?!?! Call in the authorities!

I'm doing much better now than I was when I wrote my last post. I was just fucking exhausted, and cranky because of it. The gig went well, until Tea and Theatre, when I had a mishap with my teacup and that godforsaken microphone. But, nobody was harmed (including me, and including my teacup, though it came close), so it wound up alright. I had a few drinks last night with Moon and Ox after the gig. They decided to show up because we had a friend in the audience! You know who you are, and I sincerely hope you had a great time!

As for the lot of us, we're having Thanksgiving together today. I know, I know. We're not American, and all that garbage, so why are we celebrating it? We're celebrating it because we're IN America, and because if we have an excuse to have some sort of fifteen course meal, you bet your arse we're going to take full advantage of it! lol. Well, all of us except for Zak. He flew to have dinner with his mum, dad, brother, and sister. My wife is with me on tour, my kids are having dinner at their significant others' families' homes. Rachel is with Pete, Joseph is with Karen, much the same deal with Emma and Minta as with my kids. So, we're just going to stay here and whip something up on our own. Go ahead, laugh at the visual image that just conjured up in your minds. I know you want to. But you know, aside from with my kids, there's no place I'd rather be today than surrounded by my best friends. Take from it what you will.

Tonight, we're all going to have a CSI watching party! lol. I command all of you to watch it. I believe it's on CBS, but I don't know what time, given the fifty thousand time zones in this country (well, 4). I'm guest starring on it, and I have a BIG role! And NO, I'm not a fucking Leprechaun. So, you should all watch it - to appease an old man. But really, it's a good show if you haven't seen it before, and I had the best time of my life filming it. So, for the love of God, watch!

Well, I'm off of here now. Pete wants to get on and do his typical internet-type websites and blogging and things, so I'll let him do that. I hope you and yours all have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

(P.S. Don't get used to this slew of updating from me... It's a fluke, I swear...)

Wed, 22 Nov 2006 06:56:49 GMT

Well, it's nearly 2 in the morning here in Atlanta where we have a show tomorrow night... Fuck, tonight, now... and I can't sleep. So, I thought I'd come on this damned machine and post to my journal in order to alleviate the incessant nagging I'm getting from Towser and Ox. Hopefully now they'll leave me alone about it.

The tour's been a smash hit with everyone, and we're all having a great time! But Jesus Christ, my vocal chords are feeling the strain. I'm thankful we close the shows with Tea and Theatre, simply so I can drink my water freely from a fucking teacup, because my voice hardly survives those two hours as it is. But, I do the show, and then rest up, and do another one the next day (or a few days later). It's what I get for screaming out Won't Get Fooled again for over 3 decades, I suppose. lol. All the fans have been great so far too, they don't realise it, but they give us our energy up onstage. I won't lie. There's times we walk out there, tired, feeling our age. But when we see all those fans, and hear them cheering for us, we smile at each other, and the spark that's always lying in waiting lights up, and we feel like we're 25 again. We owe a lot to the fans, to all of you. If not EVERYTHING. I'm never happier than I am when I'm on tour.

But, all in all, the tour's going great, and we're having a good time, and adding more dates. As long as we don't wind up like Bobby Dylan (the man's been on a perpetual tour for the last three years, for fuck's sake), I think we'll survive. Not that we don't enjoy it, but, I hope you all understand what I'm saying. Of course, these are just the musings of a half-passed-out Roger anyway. Not much to see here, really.

On that note I'm going to try to get some sleep. Come morning, Pete and John will hopefully see I've updated, and in turn, check to see if hell froze over during the night. lol. And, for those of you who added me since my last post, I've given you an add in return. Kim, it's good to see you again sweetheart. And Moon, you know I love you.

In hindsight, reading this over... I don't want to come off sounding like a right bastard. I'm just bloody exhausted. Pity an old frontman?

Attention...

Mon, 11 Sep 2006 14:06:58 GMT

Keep your eyes and ears open friends, because more dates will be announced this week.

I'm so fucking excited! I love touring, especially in the States. And, that said, here we go...

And, though it's a couple days late, I do need to say something about Moon. He was a dear friend to me, a brother, for so many years. I still consider him to be one. It is my hope that he's resting in peace wherever he is, though I know that on tour, he and John both are still with us, from time to time. Rest easy, Keith. We all love you down here.

News Flash: Important!

Wed, 02 Aug 2006 06:47:59 GMT

A few things I feel I need to say, and now that Pete's here as well, I feel he can support me on this.

Number 1. Pete and I do NOT hate each other, and as he voiced in his website blog, we're not "at war". We had a difference of opinion regarding the webcasting, and we're trying to come to an agreement, which I feel will be reached. We're already planning a new website for launch sometime later this month or early next month, and we may resume webcasting then. Until then, WE. DO. NOT. HATE. EACH. OTHER.

Number 2. I am not ANTI-webcasting. I'm anti-being left in the dark ABOUT webcasting. I'm anti-something being about The Who, and having no impact whatsoever in the creation or planning of it. I LIKE webcasting, and I think it's a wonderful idea to give proceeds to charity, and I hope we can do more of that in the future. I just want to take an active part in what The Who creates.

and, Number 3. We're on holiday from touring!

The European leg of our tour went great, and we're already very much looking forward to hitting the States and Canada in September. I could not BELIEVE the crowds on this tour so far, so many young, fresh faces, attending their first Who shows, yet who had as much fun as those who'd been fans for decades. It's always great to see the younger generations there, gives us a feeling of relative immortality, lol. They were so enthusiastic, and I have to agree with Pete, the crowd in Madrid was one of our best lately - If not our best ever. Let's hope they don't want us to tour every year for the next thirty years though. Don't get me wrong, I love being on the road, but what the bloody hell do we look like? Keith Richards and Mick Jagger? I didn't think so. Those two amaze me every day, they do a world tour, and then add more dates back in the US where they started, to end it full-circle; and all of this after Keith nearly fucking killed himself falling out of that damned tree a few months ago, it's mindboggling.

I love being on the road with Pete, Zak, Pino, Rabbit, Simon, and our great crew, but it's nice to be away, at home, with Heather. One never realizes how much they miss sleeping in their own bed until they spend months going from hotel to hotel, sometimes plane to plane, and it's a great feeling to just be HOME. It's now early morning, I'm getting back into the swing of things, not having to be out late doing shows and then rushing to the hotel to get up early the next morning for traveling or sound checks or something else like that. I can't wait until I sleep in until 9am again, it's a luxury I haven't had in quite some time, lol. (Not to mention, I've missed sharing the bed with my wife, if you know what I mean...)

That's it from me for now though, I hope everything's going great for you and yours, and to a dear friend of mine who had a birthday on the 29th... We did "Can't Explain". I hope you had a great day.

As for the people who hate me again because of what happened with Pete - It seems like there's always people out there finding new and creative reasons to hate me, I'll never understand it - fuck off. Now you can hate me for telling you to fuck off too, at least it's a fucking legitimate reason, innit?

As for all of you here, you're great, so don't change. How are you, anyway?

Put a couple of old geezers on a stage and what do you get?

Mon, 26 Jun 2006 21:17:06 GMT

You get the Who Tour 2006. We've played 3 gigs now, 2 in Leeds and one in Brighton, and I think each one has gotten progressively better than the last. It's such a good time to be back onstage with Pete, even though we were last year at this time, it feels different. More than likely because we're off and beginning to embark on an all-out world tour through several continents and more countries than I'd like to think about right now. All the shows have gone perfectly without any major hang-ups, except for the Brighton gig. That fucking traffic was HORRENDOUS! I thought I'd never make it to the venue without having to eat my own arm off to avoid inevitable starvation. ...Well, maybe it wasn't that bad. But it was close (Good thing I did those Extreme History bits on the telly, or else I wouldn't know how to eat one's own arm...). There was a cycle rally happening the same day, and the traffic is already a bit of a hassle, but throw in over 20000 bicyclists, and you've got hell on wheels.

What else is there to say except for I'm a fucking daft arse who doesn't know how to come on the computer to update his journal or check his mail? Pete makes me look bloody awful, always updating his blog and doing webcasts of The Attic with Rachel, posting pictures... But, that just gives me the right to say that he's the more "nerdy" of the two of us. Though, that's not to be confused with scholarly, which would, of course, be yours truly. lol. I'm not a cocky bastard, I assure you. It's all an image. I swear.

I just hope that The Who's Left Tour - as I call it, whether Pete likes it or not (and he doesn't) - continues to go as smoothly as it has begun. I'm looking forward to trekking across the great European continent and then heading back Stateside. It'll be quite a lot different than the coast-hopping "tour" we did last year, and I suppose it'll be the ultimate test of if we're still young enough to handle it, lol. We're old enough to know better though, that's for damned sure.

In closing, I just would like to say that the 'morrow is a rather solemn day for all of us (especially old Ox, good God, I couldn't even imagine...), and we would greatly appreciate any prayers you could spare for him. We'll be there to help him as much as we can, but a few well-wishes from all of you could make that last bit of difference that he needs. Thank you, and, I suppose this is goodnight.

"My Generation" is a crock!

Tue, 07 Mar 2006 18:59:06 GMT

Well, so much for "My Generation", "I hope I die before I get old", I'm officially OLD! 62... Sixty-fucking-two years old. I remember when I was a kid I used to look at all these silvery-haired people with reading glasses and think "Oh my God, it must be TERRIBLE to be that old, I'm NEVER going to be like that!" Now I look around me, at many of my friends I've grown up with, and that's exactly the image I see. I would always think, "wow, good thing I'm not that way yet, I'm young forever!" And then, I looked in the mirror... Thank God my hair colour hasn't left me (well there's a bit of silver here and there, but it adds character!), but I had on my reading glasses... This is it people, Roger Harry Daltrey is officially Old. But, that doesn't matter a bit to me. I still FEEL young. I feel great, I have a wonderful family, great friends, and I'm in a band that I love. What more could a man want?

So, what did I do for my birthday? I didn't get blitzed or any of that, I stayed home, spent a wonderful day with Heather (if you know what I mean! lol), and she made a wonderful dinner, and the kids came over to help celebrate. It was really nice, I enjoyed myself quite a bit. After dinner, I got together with some old friends (namely, Ox, Moon, and Towser) over at John's place, and had a great time there as well. I hadn't wanted anything huge like Moon's birthday, that was utterly insane - that's the only way to describe it. Plus, I didn't want to be assaulted by a naked streaking Keith again like I was then, either, lol. We had a great time talking, and it was then that I realized, despite my age, that one is only as old as he feels. And, frankly, once again, I feel young, and I especially did with them. Probably because it was my first birthday with Ox and Moon back, and it's been a LONG time since I've spent a birthday with the two of them (it was my 34th, good God). Not a lot seemed to have changed, we always seem to pick up right where we left off, no matter the time nor space between the lot of us. One thing's for damn sure, lol, Moon still knows how to right piss me off! Bastard's faster than me though, that hasn't changed either, lol But, I love the guy to bits, always have. Everyone's gotta take a swing at the old birthday boy. It was a great time though, especially after Moon decided to turn up John's player and blare a bunch of our old stuff. Definitely took us back, that's for sure! We were up ALL NIGHT. Definitely not a first time occurrence with that lot of wankers, but the first in quite some time. I can't remember the last time that Pete and I passed out in John's guestrooms, though I know we used to do it quite a bit, lol.

Anyhow, that's your monthly (bi-monthly? God I'm a bastard about this thing) update from me. I'm doing well, my family is doing great, and WE'RE GOING TO START TOURING THIS SUMMER! 62 is shaping up to be a very good year for me indeed.

I hope all is well with you lot out there. Let me know how you are, how you've been, how you're going to be. And, I'll try to update this thing more, I know I always say that, but I'm typically not in the mood for it. But, I'll suffer, and see what I can do. After all, I'm a 62 year old with slight silvery patches in my hair and reading glasses... What else could I possibly have to do?

Thu, 12 Jan 2006 23:19:11 GMT

Well, it's been some time since I've updated, hasn't it? I really don't think anyone reads this, after all, who gives a fuck about an old arse like me? lol But, I'll update anyway I guess.

I hope all of you had a great New Year. Mine was alright, I spent it with Heather and some friends of mine, it wasn't bad. I've made a few resolutions for this year, however. One is to do more charitable work... Not as much as bitching about landmines (sorry Paul), but donating and things like that. I really enjoyed everything we did at Live 8, and would like to do more of it, something like the concert we did at the RAH for the children's cancer trust. I'll have to run the ideas by Towser though, since we've got a hell of a year coming up with a possible new album and a world tour that consists of more than coast-hopping, lol; Not to mention the biopic I'm producing about Moon. Another resolution is to try to be more faithful to Heather. I know I'm a right bastard and brag about my open relationship, but at some point a man has to settle down. LOL We'll have to see how it goes.

Anyhow, I just updated to let you all know I haven't gone and kicked the bucket in the last several weeks... If anyone cares :(

Happy Christmas!

Sun, 25 Dec 2005 00:54:32 GMT

Well, since Entwistle was kind enough to hassle me the past several days, and talk about me and how much I DON'T update in his own journal, I've decided to come and update this thing, to appease him, and so all of you know what's going on in my lovely uneventful life!

Actually, I can't say it's all that uneventful. Many of you may have heard that Pete and I have decided to tour once again, starting next year! We're going to go with Rabbit, Pino, Zak, and Simon to the States, South America, Japan, Australia, and of course, good old Europe. We need to try and get our new record finished up, Towser is very insistent on this. Of course, I don't mind it at all, I can't wait to tour again, I never want to stop! We're going to do more than a few coast-line shows too, so all of you in the USA needn't worry, The Horrible Who will be coming to an arena near you!

For now, I have to cut this short, my presence is requested at Keith's Christmas party. For the love of God, I hope he doesn't decide to hug me whilst being naked again... I took five showers after that, and still felt soiled. I'm looking forward to the party, everyone is going to be there... And once I'm there, that means all the IMPORTANT people are accounted for! HAHA!

In closing, I want to wish all of you a very safe and Happy Christmas, and a joyous New Year. And, if all goes according to my master plan, I'll be seeing you sometime next year ;)

Fri, 16 Dec 2005 05:50:55 GMT

Wow, I've actually got friends on here! LOL That makes this site worth it, I think. I've still been keeping watch on Entwistle's house while he and Keith are on their trip. I swear to God, John has the most eclectic décor of anyone I've seen in all my years! As I told my Lady Moon on messenger previously, I went through the foyer to check if the front door was locked, and thought I was about to get chopped up by a man with an axe! It was just one of John's many suits of armour. Lord, did I feel like a fucking twit!

I've been trying to talk to Pete about working more on Who's Left, AKA our next album. I think it should be called Who's Left, because, shit, look at us! There's 2 of us left (making the album, I'm sure Entwistle and Moon would say otherwise, but you all understand what I mean), and we've had Who's Next, Who's Missing... Why not Who's Left?! Old Towser doesn't seem to like it though, lol.

I wish I had more to say here to make your time and mine both more well-spent. But, for now, this will have to do. I'm off to join my wife in bed, lol. What?! I'm a male. I'm Roger Daltrey. Sue me.

Hello

Tue, 13 Dec 2005 07:57:44 GMT

Hello everyone, whomever may read this. I have no idea what I'm getting myself into here, Keith talked me into getting one of these Journals. He said it's fun, so we'll see. I fucking hate computers and the internet though, so this had better be worth it.

Mark your calendars, for today is the day Roger Daltrey joins the online blogging world. Take that, Pete!