Pete Townshend says he’s still in The Who because of his "increasingly affectionate relationship" with bandmate Roger Daltrey.
The 74-year-old guitar hero has admitted that whilst he and the 75-year-old frontman didn’t hate each other in their early days, they had "very little in common", and although the latter is still true, they’ve grown to "care deeply" for one another.
Townshend admitted: "I still perform partly because of my ongoing, developing and increasingly affectionate relationship with Roger.
"When you look back at where we started, I wouldn’t say we despised each other but we had very little in common. Now, we have very little in common but we really care about each other deeply."
The ‘Won’t Get Fooled Again’ hitmaker says their appreciation and compassion for each other has been totally unexpected, but it’s what keeps the legendary band ticking.
He added to The Yorkshire Post newspaper: "It’s been a surprise and a delight to us both that we found this because we didn’t expect it.
"We are really comfortable with each other.
"He says, ‘You’ve got your guitar and your pen, I’ve got my voice’.
"We meet in the middle and it just happens to be performing."
Townshend insisted that he hasn’t given much thought to when he plans to retire from performing, and admitted he doesn’t think it should be "such an issue".
He explained: "I wonder why this is such an issue.
"There are so many other things that are happening.
"We are serving our ageing fan base but we are also playing to kids who aren’t over the age of 14 and they scream at me throughout the whole concert. It’s the music, the history, the legend."
Daltrey previously admitted he is aware that the ‘Baba O’Riley’ hitmakers are reaching the "twilight" of their "live career".
Speaking about their shows this year, which included a date at London’s Wembley Stadium in July, the iconic singer said: "It’s always very difficult getting us to do anything; Pete’s on different projects and everything else.
"I just want to get this tour done and the second leg to be even better than the first, and let’s see where we are once we’ve done that.
"I mean, we’re obviously coming to the twilight of our live career, and I’m glad we’re getting to do something like this before it’s over."
And he recently admitted he thinks he will lose his voice "in the next five years".
The ‘Pinball Wizard’ hitmaker has taken to lip-reading nowadays due to his deafness, and he fears "age" will start to affect the quality of his singing.
He admitted: "Obviously within the next five years I think my voice will go.
"Age will get it in the end.
"It’s still there at the moment."
Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey’s ‘affectionate’ bond keeps The Who ticking
