Kind of sad, but is it true?

Pete Townshend says that the Who stopped being an active working band in 1982, and that for the past quarter century has been paying tribute to its glory days rather than topping them. Townshend spoke in depth about his thoughts on the current touring version of the Who during an interview with The New Zealand Listener, saying, "I used to be in a band called the Who. It does not exist today except in your dreams. I am a songwriter and guitarist who -- if I create the right setting -- can walk on to a stage with my old buddy Roger Daltrey and evoke the old magic of the Who in the dreams of the audience."

He added that the Who's core fan base understand that the deaths of cofounders Keith Moon and John Entwistle in 1978 and 2002, respectively, have in essence turned the band into its own tribute group: "I think the audience can appreciate that the old Who will never function again as they once did. Roger and I know how to do what we have always done, but we are much more conscious of the process now, the device of letting our audience live out their own wish while we play the old songs."