‘I never wanted to be different’: Roger Daltrey admits his extraordinary fame with The Who distanced him from old friends and made him feel isolated
As lead singer with mod-rockers The Who he won adulation from millions of fans across the world.
But Roger Daltrey says he craved normality at the height of his fame with the ground-breaking band, and admits his enormous success distanced him from his old friends.
Speaking to Piers Morgan during Thursday’s edition of Good Morning Britain, the 76-year old touched on his time with the band after being asked what he misses most in lockdown.
Opening up: Roger Daltrey says he craved normality at the height of his fame with the ground-breaking band, and admits his enormous success distanced him from his old friends
He said: ‘Human contact. That’s what I didn’t like about being a celebrity. It kind of distanced me from my mates and everyone treated me differently immediately after I became famous. I didn’t like that.
‘I never wanted to be different. I like to just chat to people and be treated normally. I just miss that human contact.’
Speaking remotely from his East Sussex home, Daltrey was appearing on the show to appeal for donations on behalf of the Teenage Cancer Trust.
Let’s talk: Speaking to Piers Morgan during Thursday’s edition of Good Morning Britain, the 76-year old touched on his time with the band after being asked what he misses most in lockdown
Distance: ‘Human contact. That’s what I didn’t like about being a celebrity. It kind of distanced me from my mates and everyone treated me differently immediately after I became famous,’ he said
The singer, who serves as a patron for the charity, admitted the coronavirus health crisis and subsequent government mandated lockdown had affected their ability to raise money.
He said: ‘All our funding is events based so all our funding has been cut. We’re totally charity funded.
‘Everyone thinks it’s great that children have nurseries and rainbows on the wall, but for adolescents, they are completely different and apart from us, there’s nothing there for them.
‘It’s really important we survive. Early diagnosis with cancer is everything. If there are teenagers with aches and pains who’ve been frightened to go to hospital, that’s frightening.’
Reaching out: Speaking remotely from his East Sussex home, Daltrey was appearing on the show to appeal for donations on behalf of the Teenage Cancer Trust
Difficulty: The singer, who serves as a patron for the charity, admitted the coronavirus health crisis and subsequent government mandated lockdown had affected their ability to raise money
Daltrey also described current lockdown restrictions as a ‘nightmare’, adding: ‘It’s like three months of Sundays. In that sense it’s a nightmare.
‘I live on a farm so it hasn’t been too bad… it’s not been completely isolating for myself and my wife.
Reflecting on his extraordinary career with The Who, the singer pinpointed their legendary appearance at the Woodstock Festival in 1969 as an enduring highlight.
Not happy: Daltrey, currently isolating with his wife at their East Sussex farm, also described current lockdown restrictions as a ‘nightmare’
More than 400,000 crowed onto a sprawling dairy farm in New York State for the three day summer event, during which the likes of Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and Crosby, Stills and Nash all featured on the same bill.
And Daltrey admitted he will forever remember watching the sun rise as The Who waited for their own performance at 5:00am on the festival’s third and final day.
‘I suppose the sun coming up at Woodstock,’ he said,when asked for his favoutite memory with the band.
‘The sun pokes its head over the horizon. That moment, and it was very near to the end of the show, when I was so looking forward to coming up’.
Old times: Daltrey enjoyed enormous success with The Who during the 1960s and ’70s (pictured at the Isle Of Wight music festival in 1969)