Townsend died of stomach cancer in 1995, at the age of 80, in Rambouillet, France. Here, see photographs of Peter Townsend throughout his lifefrom his career in the Royal Air Force through his time as an author. Group Captain Peter Wooldridge Townsend, CVO, DSO, DFC and Bar, RAF (22 November 1914 - 19 June 1995) was Equerry to King George VI 1944-1952 and held the same position for Queen Elizabeth II 1952-1953. Townshend revisited album-length storytelling throughout his career and remains associated with the rock opera form. You guys sort it out. "[154], In a 2019 interview with The Times, Townshend revealed he was in favour of the United Kingdom remaining in the European Union, stating, "I'm a Remainer, he [Roger Daltrey] is a Brexiteer. Cliff Townshend was often away from his family touring with his band while Betty carried on affairs with other men. Meghan Markle. Group Captain Peter Wooldridge Townsend, born in November 1914, was a Royal Air Force officer. Save Article. Also in 1977, Townshend founded Eel Pie Publishing, which specialised in children's titles, music books, and several Meher Baba-related publications. The Family Life of Old People. [147] Authorities could not prove that the website accessed by Townshend involved children, and no incriminating evidence was found on his personal computer. The debut of Townshend's stage version of Tommy took place at San Diego's La Jolla Playhouse in July 1992. Pete Townsend's children. In response to bootlegging of these, he compiled his personal highlights (and "Evolution", a collaboration with Ronnie Lane), and released his first major-label solo title, 1972's Who Came First. Funeral services will be held at 2:00pm, Friday, January 21st, at Feigum Funeral Home, 808 W . Dr. Peter Townsend, 85, died Monday at University Hospital. [143], Townshend accepted a caution from the Metropolitan Police (the Met) as part of Operation Ore, a major investigation on child pornography conducted in 20022003. [138] He also owns a house in Churt, Surrey, and in 2010 purchased a lease of part of the National Trust property Ashdown House in Oxfordshire. "Destruction is art when set to music. The tapes malfunctioned during a performance in Newcastle, prompting Townshend to drag soundman Bob Pridden onstage, scream at him and kick over all the amplifiers, partially destroying the malfunctioning tapes. Mon 8 Jun 2009 19.01 EDT. [158], Townshend had been invited to perform for Amnesty by Martin Lewis, the producer of The Secret Policeman's Ball, who stated later that Townshend's participation had been the key to his securing the subsequent participation for Amnesty (in the 1981 sequel show) of Sting, Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Phil Collins and Bob Geldof. [133] Townshend swiftly absorbed all of Meher Baba's writings that he could find; by April 1968, he announced himself Baba's disciple. So the interviewer kind of dotted the t's and crossed the i's and assumed that this was a coming out, which it wasn't at all. The sons of Henry Townsend (d. 1815) and Mary (Bennet) Townsend, they were descended from the brothers John and Henry Townsend who settled in Oyster Bay, New York in 1661. PETER TOWNSEND OBITUARY. Several of Townshend's essays have been posted online, including "Meher BabaThe Silent Master: My Own Silence" in 2001, and "A Different Bomb", an indictment of the child pornography industry, the following year. [45] Townshend continued to write several successful singles for the band, including "Pictures of Lily", "Substitute", "I'm a Boy", and "Happy Jack". Timothy Dalton as Peter Townsend and Lesley Manville as Princess Margaret in season five of "The Crown." Season five of "The Crown" shows Princess Margaret reuniting with her first love, Peter Townsend. Net Worth. He can be seen using several of these guitars in the documentary The Kids Are Alright, although in the studio he often played a '59 Gretsch 6120 guitar (given to him by Joe Walsh),[118] most notably on the albums Who's Next and Quadrophenia.[120]. Peter Townsend was born 1914 in Rangoon, Burma, and was educated at Haileybury School. Date of birth. He's got really, really bad problems with itnot tinnitus, it's deterioration and he's seriously now worried about actually losing his hearing". One of the cabinets had half of the speaker baffle slanted upwards and Marshall made these two cabinets stackable. These include concept albums, the rock operas Tommy (1969) and Quadrophenia (1973), plus popular rock radio staples such as Who's Next (1971); as well as dozens more that appeared as non-album singles, bonus tracks on reissues, and tracks on rarities compilation albums such as Odds & Sods (1974). Princess Margaret is thought to have fallen in love with Peter Townsend, an equerry to her father, King George VI, shortly after the death of the monarch. While known primarily as a guitarist, Townshend also plays keyboards, banjo, accordion, harmonica, ukulele, mandolin, violin, synthesiser, bass guitar, and drums; he is self-taught on all of these instruments and plays on his own solo albums, several Who albums, and as a guest contributor to an array of other artists' recordings. [98], On 22 March 2018, Townshend stated that a new Who album should feature original songs by Roger Daltrey as well as him. Answer (1 of 5): Because people felt differently then. Townshend has also advocated for drug rehabilitation. He is co-founder, leader, guitarist, second lead vocalist and principal songwriter of the Who, one of the most influential rock bands of the 1960s and 1970s.[2][3]. [70] On 14 April 1974, Townshend played his first solo concert, a benefit to raise funds for a London community centre. 7 in the UK and 8 in the US. Who is The Crown's Peter Townsend? [46] Lambert encouraged Townshend to write longer pieces of music for the next album, which became "A Quick One, While He's Away". [51] Townshend took to trashing his hotel suites, though not to the extent of his bandmate Moon. In 1979 Townshend donated his services to the human rights organisation Amnesty International when he performed three songs for its benefit show The Secret Policeman's Ball performances that were released on record and seen in the film of the show. In a 1985 radio interview, he said: What I'm most active in doing is raising money to provide beds in clinics to help people that have become victims of drug abuse. [9] The Townshends had a volatile marriage, as both drank heavily and possessed fiery tempers. Peter passed away on month day 1947, at age 66 at death place, North Carolina. Father of Anne Townsend; Peter Townsend, Jr; William Townsend; Sarah Townsend and Isaac Townsend. Now, as part of an exciting online auction, a group of 11 medals awarded to Townsend are set to go on sale with Dix Noonan Webb, where they are expected to fetch up to 200,000. Pete Townshend is an English rock musician. [11], Townshend says he did not have many friends growing up, so he spent much of his boyhood reading adventure novels like Gulliver's Travels and Treasure Island. The Family Life of Old People: An Inquiry in East London. Barnes, Richard. Answer (1 of 3): Princess Margaret was madly in love with Peter Townsend, who was not only old enough to be her father (he was just a bit younger than her father, the late King George VI), he was also a divorcee. In support of Tommy, the Who launched a tour that included a memorable appearance at the Woodstock Festival on 17 August. Townshend lived at The Wick, Richmond, London, England, but sold the house in August 2021 for more than 15 million. "[43] The Townshend-penned single reached number two on the UK charts, becoming the Who's biggest hit. [48] In their stage shows, Townshend developed a guitar stunt in which he would swing his right arm against the guitar strings in a style reminiscent of the vanes of a windmill. [117] On the Who's The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour appearance in 1967, Townshend used a Vox Cheetah guitar,[118] which he only used for that performance; the guitar was destroyed by Townshend and Moon's drum explosion. He was a writer, known for Passeport pour le monde (1959), L'invit du dimanche (1968) and This Week (1956). Current photos of his home studio also show an ARP 2500. His father Cliff played the alto saxophone with the RAF dance band The Squadronaires, and his mother Betty Dennis sang professionally. It became a commercial smash, reaching number one in the UK, and spawned two successful hit singles, "Baba O'Riley" and "Won't Get Fooled Again", that featured pioneering use of the synthesizer. [121] The sculpture was featured at the Rock Stars, Cars And Guitars 2 exhibit during the summer of 2009 at The Henry Ford museum. The show was earmarked as a benefit for the London-based Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy Foundation, an organisation which helps children with autism and intellectual disability. Townshend has also contributed to and authored many newspaper and magazine articles, book reviews, essays, books, and scripts, and he has collaborated as a lyricist and composer for many other musical acts. Eventually, he got a divorce and planned to marry Princess Margaret. [74] The Who by Numbers came out in November of that year and peaked at No. [100], The Age of Anxiety, formerly Floss The Musical,[101] is the name given to a work-in-progress by Townshend. Pete now lives with long-time girlfriend, musician Rachel Fuller. Pete Townshend. [20] The Confederates played gigs at the Congo Club, a youth club run by the Acton Congregational Church, and covered Acker Bilk, Kenny Ball, and Lonnie Donegan. A second son, Hugo, was born in 1945. It included several humorous jingles and mock commercials between songs,[54] and the Who's biggest US single, "I Can See for Miles". Townshend also wrote three sizeable essays for Rolling Stone magazine, the first of which appeared in November 1970. Townshend's solo breakthrough, following the death of Who drummer Keith Moon, was the 1980 release Empty Glass, which included the top-10 single "Let My Love Open the Door", and lesser singles "A Little Is Enough" and "Rough Boys". As we hark back to the events that led to this statement, the royal family endures one knockback . [19] Townshend and school friend John Entwistle formed a short-lived trad jazz group, the Confederates, featuring Townshend on banjo and Entwistle on horns. . [159], Through much of 2005, Townshend recorded and performed alongside his girlfriend Rachel Fuller, a classically trained pianist and singer-songwriter. Peter was born in Rangoon, Burma (now Myanmar) in 1914 to Lieutenant Colonel E. C. Townsend and his wife. [12] He enjoyed his family's frequent excursions to the seaside and the Isle of Man. Townshend was on a sex offenders register for five years, beginning in 2003, after admitting he had used his credit card to access a child pornography website. Townshend performed at a 1995 benefit organised by Paul Simon at Madison Square Garden's Paramount Theatre for the Children's Health Fund. "Trauma is passed from generation to generation", he said, "I've unwittingly inherited what my father experienced. Since 1989, his rig consisted of four Fender Vibro-King stacks and a Hiwatt head driving two custom made 212" Hiwatt/Mesa Boogie speaker cabinets. [6] He and Roger Daltrey received The George and Ira Gershwin Award for Lifetime Musical Achievement at UCLA on 21 May 2016. He died late Monday at his home 30 miles from Paris where he lived with his wife, Marie . [93][94], From the mid-1990s through the present, Townshend has participated in a series of tours with the surviving members of the Who, including a 2002 tour that continued despite Entwistle's death.[95]. Peter Woolridge Townsend, air force officer, courtier, diplomat, writer: born Rangoon 22 November 1914; DFC and bar 1940; DSO 1941; Equerry to King George VI 1944-52, Deputy Master, HM Household . [131] The book ranked in the top 5 of The New York Times best seller list in October 2012. There has also been a Pete Townshend signature Rickenbacker limited edition guitar of the model 1998, which was his main 6-string guitar in the Who's early days. Two early 1979 concerts by the Who raised 20,000 for Patterson's Pharmakon Clinic in Sussex. Townshend began to feel alienated, and the project was abandoned after he suffered a nervous breakdown. "[129], The synths Townshend was referring to included the EMS VCS3 and ARP 2600, some of which modified a Lowrey TBO Berkshire organ. The princess was 16 years his . [58] The piece would explore the tenets of Baba's philosophy. He was previously married to Marie-Luce Jamagne and Cecil Rosemary Pawle. Peter Townsend was born on November 22, 1914 in Rangoon, Burma, British India [now Yangon, Yangon, Myanmar]. Some of his Stratocaster guitars feature a Fishman PowerBridge piezo pick-up system to simulate acoustic guitar tones. sfn error: no target: CITEREFGiuliano1983 (, Last edited on 22 February 2023, at 01:10, swing his right arm against the guitar strings, Learn how and when to remove this template message, Fender Eric Clapton Signature Stratocaster, The Iron Man: The Musical by Pete Townshend, "The Who unveil first new song in eight years", "Rolling Stone 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time", "The Who to receive lifetime achievement award at Spring Sing 2016", "Review: Pete Townshend memoir 'Who I Am' gloomy yet addictive", "The Immortals The Greatest Artists of All Time: 29) The Who", "First Annual Lifetime Achievement Award in Live Music", The Sex Pistols Steve Jones: 'I lost everything, hit bottom, and had to work my way back up', "Steve Hoffman Music Forums: Pete Townshend Peppermint Lump", "When Eric Clapton Staged His Rainbow Concert Comeback", "Eric Clapton's Lifesaving 'Rainbow Concert' Revisited", "John Lennon's Coolness to Pete Townshend", "Watch Paul McCartney Lead an All-Star Band with Pete Townshend, Robert Plant (on Bass!) This 3200 system was modified to be of similar specification to the 9600, including the addition internally of FM voices, stereo Poly voices and with the large VPK keyboard. Group Capt. It was on one of these trips in the summer of 1956 that he repeatedly watched the 1956 film Rock Around the Clock, sparking his fascination with American rock and roll. The loving husband of Robin D. Petersen, owners and operators of Back Bay Farm in Ipswich. 2 in the UK and US. ", "The Who's Pete Townshend's 15 million London home has been sold", "Talkin' 'bout my National Trust generation", "Pete Townshend put on sex offenders register", "Pete Townshend says court 'would have destroyed me', "Pete Townshend book describes 'insane' attempt to expose internet child abuse", "Pete Townshend: I paid for child porn to prove British banks were channelling sex-ring cash", "Flashback: Watch the Who Blow Up 'Smothers Brothers' in Primetime", "The Who's Future Uncertain as Townshend's Tinnitus Returns", "Pete Townshend Says Don't Be 'Fooled' By Michael Moore", "The Hypertext Who Article Archive Penthouse Interview (1974)", "The Who Guitarist Says He Is A Neoconservative", "The Who on a new album, ageing and artistic differences", "Pete Townshend Smashes Guitar for Charity", "The Who launch teen cancer program at LA hospital", "David Gilmour | Music | About Face | Official Website", "Bruce Springsteen to Honor Pete Townshend for Addiction Charity Work", "Golden Plate Awardees of the American Academy of Achievement", Pete Townshend's commercial Eelpie web site, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Pete_Townshend&oldid=1140839083, "Lonely at the Top" and "Hard Woman" with, This page was last edited on 22 February 2023, at 01:10. However, the two called off their engagement and . May 19, 1945 (age 70. This website was in collaboration with composer Lawrence Ball and software developer David Snowden, with instrumentation by Steve Hills. [citation needed], In 2006 Townshend opened a website for implementation of The Lifehouse Method based on his 1971 Lifehouse concept. Townshend also used a Gibson EDS-1275 double-neck very briefly circa late 1967, and both a Harmony Sovereign H1270[122] and a Fender Electric XII for the studio sessions for Tommy for the 12-string guitar parts. Peter Townsend (drummer), better known by her family name Peter Townsend (drummer), is a popular American drummer. PETER TOWNSEND OBITUARY. [96] The blog closed in October 2006, as noted on Townshend's website. Townshend wrote a song, "I Can't Explain", as a deliberate sound-alike of the Kinks, another group Talmy produced. The couple shared an ill-fated love story. [26] Townshend dropped out in 1964 to focus on music full-time. Many studio recordings also feature Townshend on piano or keyboards, though keyboard-heavy tracks increasingly featured guest artists in the studio, such as Nicky Hopkins, John Bundrick, or Chris Stainton.[81]. [64] "Baba O'Riley" in particular was written as Townshend's ode to his two heroes at the time, Meher Baba and composer Terry Riley. Townshend also personally sold fund-raising anti-heroin T-shirts at a series of UK Bruce Springsteen concerts and reportedly financed a trip for former Clash drummer Topper Headon to undergo drug rehabilitation treatment. The launch, followed on 5 November by a fund-raising event, was also attended by Robert Plant and Dave Grohl.[157]. His duty was to protect the princess throughout the . The following year, Townshend performed at a benefit for the annual Bridge School Benefit, a California facility for children with severe speech and physical impairments, with concerts organised by Neil and Pegi Young. When asked who first used feedback, Deep Purple guitarist Ritchie Blackmore said: Pete Townshend was definitely the first. Whereas on the guitar you're stuck with as fast as you can play and I don't play fast, I just play hard. Townshend offered very economical (reportedly 1 per night) lodging for American followers who needed an overnight stay on their pilgrimages to India. 3 in Dave Marsh's 1994 list of Best Guitarists in The New Book of Rock Lists. (Eelpie.com was closed down in 2010.) 0 Reviews. Margaret could have married Peter Townsend without the Queen's agreement, but only if she had given up all her royal privileges and rank and she wasn't prepared to do that. Other performers inspired to support Amnesty International in future Secret Policeman's Ball shows and other benefits because of Townshend's early commitment to the organisation include Peter Gabriel, Bruce Springsteen, David Gilmour and U2's lead singer Bono who in 1986 told Rolling Stone magazine: "I saw The Secret Policeman's Ball and it became a part of me. Townshend is one of the key figures in the development of feedback in rock guitar. [citation needed]. Martins. Princess Margaret and Antony married in 1960, with their wedding making history as the first ever royal wedding to be televised. He worked as equerry to King George VI and was married with two children, but entertained an ongoing affair with Princess Margaret. Even after . 10 in Rolling Stone's updated 2011 list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time. Notable artists and designers gave lectures at the college such as auto-destructive art pioneer Gustav Metzger. On 2 September 2017 in Lenox, Massachusetts, Townshend embarked with fellow singer and musician Billy Idol, tenor Alfie Boe, and an orchestra on a short (5-date) "Classic Quadrophenia" US tour which ended on 16 September 2017 in Los Angeles, California. He currently owns three systems, one large Synclavier 9600 Tapeless Studio system, originally installed in his riverside Oceanic Studio, later transferred to a seagoing barge moored alongside the studio on the River Thames, and currently based in his home studio. He's overrated in England, but at the same time you find a lot of people like Jeff Beck and Hendrix getting credit for things he started. It featured introspective songs, often with a negative slant. Princess Margaret (L), Princess Elizabeth and Group Captain Peter Townsend, Ascot, 1951. He was equerry to King George VI from 1944 to 1952 and held the same position for Queen Elizabeth II from 1952 to 1953. Townshend's 198586 band, Deep End, played two benefits at Brixton Academy in 1985 for Double-O Charities. Townshend has been an active champion of children's charities. Log in or sign up for Facebook to connect with friends, family and people you know. Husband of Hannah Townsend. He was Equerry to King George VI between 1944 and 1952, later . Peter J. Townsend was born on month day 1881, at birth place, South Carolina, to Queen Townsend and Margaret Horne. . Group Captain Peter Townsend of the RAF, UK, 19th May 1972. We're finished. During a chat with the PBS News Hour, Townshend spoke candidly for the first time about his . Townshend remained the primary songwriter and leader of the group, writing over 100 songs which appeared on the band's eleven studio albums. [55] Despite the success of "I Can See for Miles", which reached No. There are gadgets on synthesizers that enable one to become a virtuoso on the keyboard. Peter Townsend. Between 1997 and 2002, Townshend played five benefit shows for Maryville Academy, raising at least $1,600,000. Their siblings included Peter, Noah, Samuel and William. [37] The band anguished over a name that all felt represented the band best, and dropped the High Numbers name, reverting to the Who. See Photos. The following year, the association was moved to another Townshend-owned apartment, the Eccleston Square former residence of his wife Karen. Among his creations is the rock opera Quadrophenia. He met the young Princess . [149], In 1989, Townshend gave the initial funding to allow the formation of the non-profit hearing advocacy group H.E.A.R.

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