Pete Townshend Recalls the “Criminals” That Stole the Who’s Money and Bought a “Palace in Venice”

While helping create the hit band the Who, Pete Townshend did more than play the guitar as he wrote more than 100 songs for the group. And that doesn’t include the songs he wrote for his solo career. Having been part of the music industry for over 60 years, Townshend watched the industry change several times. And while a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the musician recently shared how the band didn’t make any money during their early years thanks to greedy managers. 

Taking NME on a tour throughout the history of the Who, Townshend admitted when it came to music, it was never “about the money.” Still, the band noticed when the money never came. “The Who never made any money from f**king records anyway. Our managers were criminals. I’d never seen a Who royalty statement prior to our first audit, which we did while we were making [sixth album] Quadrophenia. It emerged that [manager] Kit Lambert had stolen all of my Italian publishing royalties to buy himself a palace in Venice.”

Wanting to warn other musicians and singers who want to break into the industry, Townshend insisted, “There are black swans in our business, and they’re the ones that always mop up all the money.”

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Pete Townshend Always Knew What Mattered

Outside of watching managers take advantage of the Who, Townshend recalled some of the more pleasant moments like meeting up with Jimi Hendrix weeks before his death. He recalled, “He was happy – he was really nice to me, and he hadn’t always been in the past. I said, ‘How you doing?’ and he said, ‘Pete, I’m broke.’ He was huge, and he was broke. [But] we didn’t give a f**k about the money.”

Although taken advantage of over the decades, Townshend stayed focused on what really mattered. “I was really happy. I had a beautiful wife, lovely kids, great friends and never wanted for anything, really, except some time to myself and some time to have with my family. So today I’ve got a sense that I’m lucky to be here and be fit enough to walk around the block and to work with younger musicians, to do some producing and mentoring.”

(Photo by Theo Wargo/Getty Images for Tony Awards Productions)