Best known as the guitarist and primary songwriter for the celebrated rock group, The Who, Pete Townshend was born in London in 1945. He counted among the first artists in the rock generation of the 1960s to elaborate upon the theatricality of the musical genre. This was particularly true for two of the albums he made with The Who: Tommy: A Rock Opera (1969) and Quadrophenia (1973). Tommy was first made into a film in 1975, starring members of The Who under the direction of Ken Russell; Quadrophenia made it to the screen in 1979.
In 1993, Tommy made it to Broadway as The Who’s Tommy after making its tryout run at the La Jolla Playhouse. Townshend earned a Tony Award® for his music and lyrics in the show. The production ran for 899 performances.
