The Who

United Kingdom, 1964–now

London band formed in 1964 by Pete Townshend, Roger Daltrey, John Entwistle and Keith Moon. Tommy (1969) and Quadrophenia (1973) established the rock opera as a form.

MusicRoots documents 5 artists who influenced The Who and 14 artists The Who influenced in turn. Every connection cites a published source.

Who influenced The Who?

• James Brown — Townshend cited James Brown as his primary rhythmic influence.
• Eddie Cochran — Eddie Cochran was a key early influence for The Who, cited by both Daltrey and Townshend.
• Mose Allison — 'My Generation' was written in the style of Mose Allison — Townshend's own words.
• Bo Diddley — The Who covered 'I'm a Man'; the Bo Diddley beat underlies Townshend's early riffing.
• Terry Riley — 'Baba O'Riley' is named for Terry Riley — Townshend built its synthesizer loops in open homage to Riley's repetitive keyboard music.

Which artists did The Who influence?

• Blur — The Who's mod power-pop energy is part of Blur's very English guitar attack.
• Guided by Voices — The Who's explosive live rock is the other half of Pollard's ideal — 'The Beatles on record and The Who live'.
• Big Star — The Who were among the British Invasion groups that shaped Chris Bell — the muscular pop-rock energy beneath Big Star's melody.
• AC/DC — The Who were the other half of Malcolm Young's stated listening — 'The Stones and The Who, and that's about it'.
• Alice Cooper — Hearing 'My Generation' on the radio hit Cooper like 'an explosion' — the Who's aggression and auto-destructive stagecraft fed both his sound and his taste for spectacle.
• Rush — Neil Peart named Keith Moon the reason he played drums the way he did — The Who was his declared foundation.
• Cheap Trick — The Who's power-chord aggression and Keith Moon's attack shaped the hard-rock half of Cheap Trick's sound.
• Pearl Jam — The Who's anthemic, dynamic rock is a core classic-rock root of Pearl Jam's sound.
• The Jam — The Who's original mod power and Pete Townshend's chord-slashing energy were a foundational influence on Paul Weller and the Jam.
• Prefab Sprout — Another of McAloon's early influences, from the rock half of a list that ends in show tunes.
• Jet — Part of the same collection, alongside the Rolling Stones and AC/DC.
• Joan Jett & the Blackhearts — One of the three records Jett taught herself guitar from.
• Journey — One of Journey's two named early influences, with Deep Purple.
• The Stooges — One of the influences Ron Asheton mixed into his riffs, with the Velvets and Ravi Shankar.