The singers Pete Townshend always wanted to be like: “Scrabbling and experimenting”

Posted On February 1, 2026February 1, 2026

Although he’s primarily known for having been a guitarist throughout his career, there’s no reason why Pete Townshend can’t look to vocalists as a source of inspiration for his work.

If there’s one thing that was characteristic of his work with The Who, then it’s the fact that a large portion of his guitar playing was packed with drama and theatricality, and while it isn’t out of the ordinary for a guitarist to work in this manner and produce over the top performances, it’s quite often left to the vocalist to do this for any given band, given how they’re the ones delivering the lyrical content.

You can’t parse a lead break in the same way that you can listen to a set of lyrics that evoke a certain feeling, and while Roger Daltrey was the one responsible for the words in the band, what Townshend was able to add to his work was an elevated sense of tension. It’s almost impossible to listen to any of the band’s more conceptual releases from the 1970s and think of them as not being fine examples of how the words and compositions intertwine to create something extraordinary.

However, after the band had reached their logical conclusion, the guitarist was in search of something else to keep him occupied and looking towards the future, and while his first solo record of original material, 1980’s Empty Glass, was more in a new wave style, his ventures further down the line became even more adventurous, and he was looking to create music that served a different purpose to what his previous outings had done.

While there are moments where he’s returned to the safety of the rock opera, something that he was celebrated for having pursued while with The Who, some of his later ventures have been a little more avant-garde in their approach.

During a 2015 interview with Uncut, Townshend declared that he had ambitions to create more work of this nature, and that his songwriting style was an ever-shifting thing that didn’t spend too much time resting on the traditions of the past.

However, he also noted that some of his greatest sources of inspiration were songwriters who were known for being vocalists, rather than placing a distinct emphasis on their ability on the guitar or as composers.

“I’m looking ahead, working towards creating an event that might happen in an installation,” he declared. “That may or may not be possible in five years’ time, but [it’s] also always with an eye on the mechanisms of pop. I’m working in a world that is definitely closer to Björk and Damon Albarn than Noel Gallagher. I’m not writing songs and leading an efficient, orderly life. I’m scrabbling and experimenting. But unlike Björk and Damon Albarn, I am tied to this immense, monolithic money generator.”

While he claims to be tied to the structure of the music industry and being forced to create something that will sell, both Björk and Albarn are two artists who have succeeded in maintaining strong sales despite their tendency to experiment with new styles and constantly shift their focus. As fascinating as it is to learn that Townshend looks up to the generation below him for inspiration, there’s nothing stopping him from taking the same bold approach and carve a similar niche to them, even if he feels tied to the idea of generating sales.

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