Who lead singer
Roger Daltrey forged a parallel solo career beginning in 1973, when the group had begun to fall apart in the aftermath of
Quadrophenia. Born March 1, 1944 in London,
Daltrey grew up in the same Shepherd's Bush neighborhood as future
Who bandmates
Pete Townshend and
John Entwistle, performing with them as the Detours as early as his late teen years. Over time,
Daltrey developed into one of rock's most powerful lead vocalists, a position to which he staked his claim on
the Who's 1971 masterpiece
Who's Next; his onstage persona was one of macho swagger, accompanied by such antics as twirling his microphone like a lasso.
Daltrey first traveled the solo route in 1973 with an album titled simply Daltrey, featuring mostly material penned by a then-unknown
Leo Sayer that served as a departure from
the Who's signature hard rock sound.
The Who reconvened for
The Who by Numbers in 1975, a year that saw
Daltrey release his second solo album,
Ride a Rock Horse, and appear in
Ken Russell's films
Lisztomania (as composer
Franz Liszt) and an adaptation of
Tommy (in the title role). While
the Who went on hiatus for several years,
Daltrey released
One of the Boys in 1977 and appeared in the 1978 film The Legacy. During
the Who's post-
Keith Moon era,
Daltrey co-produced and starred in the film
McVicar, a biography of train robber John McVicar; members of
the Who appeared on its soundtrack, which essentially served as a full-fledged
Daltrey album and found him bridging the gap between hard rock and the pop songs of his earlier solo work. After
the Who officially disbanded in 1983,
Daltrey's solo albums became uniformly hard-rocking affairs, most notable among them 1985's
Under a Raging Moon. In addition to
the Who's 1989 reunion tour,
Daltrey has since continued to act in occasional television and film roles, as well as releasing the solo album
Rocks in the Head in 1992. ~ Steve Huey, All Music Guide