The Who’s Pete Townshend has released his first solo single in nearly 30 years.
Money raised from the vinyl sales of ‘Can’t Outrun The Truth’ and a portion of the digital downloads will go to the Teenage Cancer Trust – the charity his bandmate Roger Daltrey is patron of – as Pete wanted to help after the COVID-19 Lockdown saw many charities struggle.
In a statement, the 77-year-old guitar legend said: “The pandemic years were terrible for charities; the Teenage Cancer Trust was created in order to take the money from a series of concerts at the Albert Hall every year and various other things and that had all dropped out.
“So, the idea of doing this, which is something that has sprung out of Lockdown about mental illness, but also for this particular charity. If you’ve got a scenario in which somebody in your family or a teenager has got cancer, they’re being treated, Lockdown hits, and you’re not allowed to go and visit them. There’s a poignancy to the whole thing about the song.”
Pete’s last solo album was 1993’s rock opera concept LP ‘Psychoderelict’.
However, in 2015, he shared the songs ‘Guantanamo’ and ‘How Can I Help You’ on the compilation ‘Truancy: The Very Best Of Pete Townshend’.
Meanwhile, Roger recently admitted there is “no point” in releasing another Who album.
The ‘My Generation’ hitmaker, 79, insists fans are more interested in listening to the legendary rock group’s greatest hits, despite their latest LP, 2019’s ‘Who’, reaching number three on the UK Albums Chart and number two on the American Billboard 200.
In an interview with NME, he said: “What’s the point?”
Roger continued: “What’s the point of records? We released an album four years ago, and it did nothing.
“It’s a great album too, but there isn’t the interest out there for new music these days. People want to hear the old music. I don’t know why, but that’s the fact.”
He added: “Record companies, they just don’t do the same job as they used to.”