• May 19, 1945
• Pete Townshend is the guitarist and main songwriter in The Who, but he's also released several solo albums. His biggest solo hit is "Let My Love Open The Door" from his 1980 album Empty Glass.
• Townshend is known for smashing guitars rather violently on stage. The first one was an accident: The Who were playing a venue in London with low ceilings, and his guitar punctured it during one of his stage moves. The guitar was damaged and Pete was upset, so he finished the job by smashing it on the stage. Of course, the crowd went wild, so he incorporated that into his stage show.
  
  Townshend also blames his parents for this behavior. They would fight a lot and often destroy household items in frustration, so Pete had that as a model.
• His surname is one of the most misspelled in rock, often mistakenly rendered as "Townsend" to the chagrin of editors. It's not a very rock and roll name: Townshend means "dweller at the town's end" in olde English.
• A life-changing movie for Townshend was Rock Around The Clock in 1956, which introduced a lot of teenagers to rock and roll. Townshend was 12 years old when it came to his local theater. He saw it three times in a week.
• His oversized nose gave him motivation to write songs, play guitar and flail about on stage. He said he was trying to "make people look at my body instead of my face."
• Townshend went to Ealing Art College in London from 1961-1964. He had an American roommate there named Tom Wright who introduced him to artists like Bo Diddley, Chuck Berry and various Motown acts. When Wright was expelled for drug possession, he left his record collection behind for Pete.
• The highest The Who ever got on the Hot 100 was #9 with "I Can See For Miles," the same chart position as Townshend's solo hit "Let My Love Open The Door." In the UK The Who placed 13 songs in the Top 10 but never hit the top spot. Townshend, though, did produce and play bass on a UK #1 hit: "Something In The Air" by Thunderclap Newman from 1969. The connection was Thunderclap Newman's drummer, John "Speedy" Keen, who was friends with Pete.
• In the '60s and '70s he bucked fashion trends by wearing baggy pants ("baggies"). He did this for a practical reason: to hide the kneepads he wore for cushioning when he did kneeling slides across the stage.
• Of all the songs he's written, Townshend rates "Love, Reign O'er Me" from The Who's 1973 rock opera Quadrophenia the highest, as he revealed on his 2025 The Late Show with Stephen Colbert appearance. He considers "Let My Love Open The Door" his top song as a solo artist.

Comments

More Songfacts:

1234Feist

Feist's "1234" is "about lost love, and the hope to recapture what you once had," but it's best known for the Sesame Street version about counting to four.

Man In The BoxAlice in Chains

Jerry Cantrell used a talkbox to create the warbling vocal effect on the Alice in Chains song "Man In The Box."

Going HomeKenny G

A 1989 track by Kenny G, "Going Home," is the unofficial national closing song in China. The tune is played at the end of train rides, the end of school days, and when malls are about to close.

Super FreakRick James

The Temptations sang backup on "Super Freak" by Rick James. He mentions them in the song when he says, "Temptations, sing!"

Poker FaceLady Gaga

The "Mum-mum-mum-ma" hook on lady Gaga's "Poker Face" was sampled from Boney M's 1977 hit "Ma Baker."

Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be)Doris Day

"Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be)" was written for Doris Day to sing in the Alfred Hitchcock movie The Man Who Knew Too Much.

Editor's Picks

Philip CodySongwriter Interviews

A talented lyricist, Philip helped revive Neil Sedaka's career with the words to "Laughter In The Rain" and "Bad Blood."

Tom Bailey of Thompson TwinsSongwriter Interviews

Tom stopped performing Thompson Twins songs in 1987, in part because of their personal nature: "Hold Me Now" came after an argument with his bandmate/girlfriend Alannah Currie.

Wolfgang Van HalenSongwriter Interviews

Wolfgang Van Halen breaks down the songs on his debut album, Mammoth WVH, and names the definitive Van Halen songs from the Sammy and Dave eras.

Bands Named After Real People (Who Aren't In The Band)Song Writing

How a gym teacher, a janitor, and a junkie became part of some very famous band names.

Stand By Me: The Perfect Song-Movie CombinationSong Writing

In 1986, a Stephen King novella was made into a movie, with a classic song serving as title, soundtrack and tone.

Gavin Rossdale On Lyric Inspirations and Bush's Album The KingdomSongwriter Interviews

The Bush frontman on where he finds inspiration for lyrics, if his "machine head" is a guitar tuner, and the stories behind songs from the album The Kingdom.