Roger Daltrey Says It’s Unlikely The Who Will Tour America Again

While The Who are gearing up to bring their The Who Hits Back tour to Europe this summer, don’t look for the addition of U.S. dates to the trek or any other tours of America from the legendary rockers. Frontman Roger Daltrey told USA Today it’s doubtful The Who will “ever come back to tour America” due to the finances involved.

Daltrey’s chat with USA Today’s Melissa Ruggieri focused on The Who With Orchestra: Live At Wembley, a recently released live album documenting the group’s July 6, 2019 performance at the famed London stadium. The show featured on the live album was their first at Wembley Stadium in 40 years and saw The Who joined by the 57-piece Isobel Griffiths Orchestra.

The 79-year-old vocalist responded as such when asked about whether The Who has plans to return to America:

Nothing at the moment. I don’t know if we’ll ever come back to tour America. There is only one tour we could do, an orchestrated “Quadrophenia” to round out the catalog. But that’s one tall order to sing that piece of music, as I’ll be 80 next year. I never say never, but at the moment it’s very doubtful.

Touring has become very difficult since COVID. We cannot get insured and most of the big bands doing arena shows, by the time they do their first show and rehearsals and get the staging and crew together, all the buses and hotels, you’re upwards $600,000 to a million in the hole. To earn that back, if you’re doing a 12-show run, you don’t start to earn it back until the seventh or eighth show. That’s just how the business works. The trouble now is if you get COVID after the first show, you’ve (lost) that money.”

The Who played 32 shows in North America last year. A tour-closing two-night run in Las Vegas on November 4 and 5, 2022 currently stands as the final The Who stateside performances.

Stream The Who With Orchestra: Live At Wembley below: