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The Who have agreed to play during halftime at Super Bowl XLIV, a source close to the performance confirms to Rolling Stone. “It’s 100 percent the Who,” the source says. “They signed a long time ago.” (Update: Sources later clarified that while the official contract is still unsigned, a deal is expected to be finalized shortly.) The official announcement from the band and the NFL is expected on Thanksgiving Day, according to another source familiar with the deal. The game, which will take place February 7th in Miami, will be broadcast on CBS.

Photos: U2, Prince, the Rolling Stones and more memorable Super Bowl halftime performances.

The Who will become the latest classic-rock act to play football’s big event, following Bruce Springsteen, the Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney, Prince and Tom Petty. As Rolling Stone noted earlier today, the band has a solid relationship with CBS: three of the network’s CSI series use Who tracks — “Who Are You,” “Won’t Get Fooled Again” and “Baba O’ Riley” — as their theme songs. (more…)

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During last night’s Monday Night Football game, just after the Baltimore Ravens intercepted a tipped Cleveland Browns pass for a touchdown in the third quarter, ESPN cunningly used the Who’s “My Generation” as the musical bed for the instant replay before fading to commercial. For fans of the NFL and Tommy, ESPN’s use of the Who was a not-so-subtle nod to unconfirmed reports that the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame band will be the latest classic rockers to soundtrack the Super Bowl XLIV halftime show in 2010.

If the rumors of the Who rocking the Super Bowl are true, Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend would join Bruce Springsteen, the Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney, Prince and Tom Petty as the musical entertainment in the post-Janet Jackson Nipplegate era. And let’s be honest, we can all imagine Townshend knee-sliding into millions of living rooms.

Photos: U2, Prince, The Rolling Stones and More Memorable Super Bowl Halftime Performances. (more…)

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The Who may be the next band to receive their own branded Rock Band video game. Singer Roger Daltrey let the following tidbit slip in an interview with MassLive: “The game, yeah, yeah, they’re going to be doing a Who one next year. There is one planned. [The idea] is fabulous. Anything that gets non-musical people interested in music is wonderful.” So far, only the Beatles have their own Rock Band title; Guitar Hero has games pegged to acts including Aerosmith and Metallica.

Check out video game avatars of rock’s biggest names.

A Rock Band spokeperson told video game blog Kotaku, “We’re working closely with the Who on what’s next, but don’t have anything new to announce at this time.” (more…)

Photo: Getty

Last night’s Kennedy Center Honors was easily the strangest in its 31-year history. In a first, Washington’s most glitzy event celebrated a legendary rock act. Along with musicians George Jones and Barbra Streisand, actor Morgan Freeman and choreographer Twyla Tharp, the event gave the honorable nod to the Who.

And the crowd of 2,300 in the capitol’s Opera House reflected that odd mix. Dressed in formal black tie, Newt Gringrich, Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice, Madeleine Albright, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Reps. Daniel Patrick Leahey and Patrick Kennedy streamed down the red carpet with Dave Grohl, Jack Black, Rob Thomas, and the Who’s Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey, who earlier in the day made the traditional visit to the White House for a chat with President Bush. Is George W. a fan? “Let’s just say he appreciates them,” said a West Wing staffer.

First, Denzel Washington presented a warm salute to Morgan Freeman, a longtime fan of the Mississippi Delta Blues. Onstage, a gathering of legendary blues musicians including Willie “Big Eyes” Smith, Honeyboy Edwards and Pinetop Perkins arrived, each one shuffling onstage slower than the first. With Koko Taylor taking vocals, the band slipped into “Everything is Going to be Alright” with startlingly crisp, clear sound. Later, looking sagely and stoic, Freeman watched and mouthed the words to B.B. King playing “Let the Good Times Roll” as his wife dabbed her tears. Next up was Lilly Tomlin who celebrated legendary choreographer Twyla Tharp, who has created dances to music of Bob Dylan and Billy Joel and collaborated with David Byrne. Then there was Jack Black introducing the Who.

“When I was 10, I fell in love with the Who,” he said. “I saw Tommy and was deeply moved. I wasn’t deaf, dumb or blind, but I wanted to be felt, seen, heard and healed. (more…)

Photo: Lovekin/Getty

“It’s people getting together that don’t quite know the words,” said Pete Townshend of the “In the Attic” acoustic performances he’s been doing with various guests on days off from the Who’s world tour over the past three years. Organized by Rachel Fuller, his “beloved partner” for the past 12 years, they started as a way for her to keep busy while traveling with Townshend.

“I can only shop so much before I go completely mad,” Fuller joked. “In the Attic” started off as Webcasts from various European festivals and turned into a series of shows at intimate American venues, with guests ranging from Lou Reed to Tenacious D.; a CD/DVD package of two of the Stateside shows will be available next March at Best Buy.

On November 7th, at the tiny Troubadour nightclub in Hollywood, Fuller organized one more “In the Attic,” this one featuring Ben Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie, E from the Eels, Jakob Dylan and She and Him. Generally, guest performers did three or four of their own songs, and then summoned Townshend onstage for a Who cover.

“I don’t want to be pejorative about the Who,” Townshend said backstage before the show. “It’s what pays the rent and it’s who I am, to a great extent. But the Who format is very rigid, very Groundhog Day. (more…)

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Roger Daltrey doesn’t obsess much about the past, he says. The Who frontman won’t even look at recently unearthed 35mm movie footage of the band’s epic performance at Kilburn in 1977, now set for DVD release on November 18th. “I haven’t seen it, and I never will,” says Daltrey. “I don’t look back. What’s done is done. Maybe when I’m old and laying at home with Alzheimer’s, I’ll go ‘Well, this is a very interesting band …’ ”

He does remember the gig — actually two sets — at the Gaumont State Theater in Kilburn, North London, filmed for use in the 1979 Who documentary The Kids Are Alright. It would turn out to be the penultimate performance of the classic lineup of the Who. Drummer Keith Moon, 32, died that year from an overdose of alcohol-withdrawal medication.

At a Los Angeles screening of The Who: At Kilburn 1977 this week, Daltrey told Rolling Stone, “His drinking problem got the better of him. He wasn’t at his best. So it was a very tricky time in that sense. But even Keith Moon at his worst was amazing. You can’t keep a drummer out of work. They have to drum. You have to get that energy out.” (more…)

Photo: Lovekin/Getty

It’s hard not to be a little skeptical as you walk into a Who concert in 2008. Half the original line-up is dead, the two survivors are entering their mid 60s and Pete Townshend himself has repeatedly called the current incarnation a “tribute band.” Yet when the lights go out and Townshend walks up to the microphone and screams out “Where they fuck are we?!” before banging out the opening notes of “I Can’t Explain,” it’s hard not to feel a bolt of energy shoot through your body.

• Photo Gallery: The Who Hit All the Feel Good Notes in New Jersey

Two years ago the Who launched a massive world tour in support of Endless Wire, their first album of new material in 24 years. The band — which now consists of bassist Pino Palladino, drummer Zack Starkey, keyboardist John “Rabbit” Bundrick and guitarist Simon Townshend in addition to Roger and Pete — were regularly playing over 75% of the new album. This only left room in the set for their very biggest hits, leading to a disjointed show that didn’t please their casual or hardcore fans. On this brief tour they’re down to just two new tracks, leaving room open for a few gems.

The first surprise of the night was “Sister Disco,” from 1978’s Who Are You? Prior to this tour they hadn’t dusted it off in nearly 20 years. (more…)

The Who announced that they’ll give all their earnings from an October 21st concert near Detroit to benefit charities in the Motor City. The band have selected the Gleaners Food Band and Focus: HOPE as the beneficiaries. “The first gig we ever played in the U.S. was in Detroit and we have always had an affinity with this part of the country,” Roger Daltrey said. “Pete and I are very aware of the problems people are having in Michigan and feel we should give something back for all the support we have had over the last 40 years.” The Who ask people attending the concert to “Join Together With the Band” and contribute to the charities as well. In other Who tour news, the band have chosen Canadian rockers Inward Eye as their opening act for the Who’s mini-tour of the United States. Inward Eye previously opened for the Who last year during a run through Canada.

[Photo: Getty]

When Rock Daily caught up with Wayne Coyne backstage at the taping of VH1 Rock Honors: The Who (airing tonight), the Flaming Lips frontman told a story about riding to a Who show on the back of his older brother’s motorcycle and being utterly blown away. “I already believed in rock & roll,” he explains, “but seeing the Who really made me feel it. I knew I had to become a musician after that. What the Who did was they gave me no choice — which is what you want. It’s like falling in love, and it’s not up to me anymore.” Eddie Vedder expressed a similar sentiment when RS chatted with him at Saturday’s big Who tribute show: “These guys changed my whole world. It’s a big part of why I get to do what I do.”

For complete coverage of VH1 Rock Honors, check out rocknrolldiary.com. Also look for Rolling Stone correspondent Jenny Eliscu on VH1’s broadcast 9 PM ET tonight.

Saturday night’s Who-dedicated VH1 Rock Honors concert drew a star-studded crowd, including performers Foo Fighters and Pearl Jam and Hollywood types like Adam Sandler and David Duchovny. Rolling Stone’s Jenny Eliscu and Pete Maiden caught up with Roger Daltrey, Pete Townshend, the Flaming Lips‘ Wayne Coyne, The Office’s Rainn Wilson and Brandon Boyd of Incubus and nabbed their favorite Who lyrics, a few impromptu performances and more (Coyne praised the band’s “mystical freakiness”). Click above for the exclusive red-carpet video and stay tuned for even more reports from the big show.

• Photo Gallery: VH1 Rock Honors
• The Who Deliver Big at Rock Honors Tribute
• Eddie Vedder Pays Tribute to the Who

For complete coverage of VH1 Rock Honors, check back at rocknrolldiary.com on Thursday July 17th. Also look for Rolling Stone correspondent Jenny Eliscu on VH1’s broadcast at 9 PM ET this Thursday.

[Video: Pete Maiden]

Wayne Coyne’s life was changed back in Oklahoma City in the 1970s, when he attended his first Who concert as a teenager. The Flaming Lips leader can still talk excitedly about that night with his brothers, hearing the music erupt onstage, watching the band explode, worrying if the green lasers just might cut off his fingers.

By 1986, Coyne and the Flaming Lips were performing a raw medley of songs from Tommy. And as part of Saturday’s VH1 Honors tribute concert to the Who at UCLA’s Pauley Pavilion in Los Angeles, the Lips will perform a typically mind-altering take on songs from the Who’s most famous rock opera. Coyne plans to emerge in his epic “space bubble” and begin the Lips’ set with the immortal words: “See me, feel me, touch me, heal me…”

The show, to be broadcast on VH1 on Thursday, July 17, will also include performances by the Foo Fighters, Pearl Jam, Incubus and Tenacious D (who will play “Squeeze Box”). But this won’t be the first encounter between the Who and the Flaming Lips. In recent years, Coyne and the Lips have occasionally stepped onstage with Pete Townshend at his series of intimate “In the Attic” club shows, performing Who songs and originals with the classic rock icon.

“Their music is really optimistic,” says Coyne. “There is a sense that they believe what they’re saying. When the music is going with it, we all believe it together. And that’s a cool thing.”

Did you get to choose what Who songs you would be doing?
Luckily, they wanted us to do a Tommy medley. We’re like, “Fuck, yeah!” We had done this Tommy medley in 1986. When we think of the Who doing those songs in the Live At Leeds era — doing the most intense freak-out shit — that was the period we like the most. We probably would have done anything they asked us, just because it’s cool to do and to meet Pete Townshend is great.

You did this same medley in 1986?
We were such bad musicians back then. (more…)

Despite Roger Daltrey’s longing to hang it up, the Who have announced the beginnings of a U.S. tour in the fall. So far, only a pair of dates have been announced: a two-night run at Los Angeles’ Nokia Theatre on November 8 and 9. Fan club tickets and VIP packages for those dates go on sale July 14th at the band’s official website. The band also promises more dates will be announced soon. The Who will also take the stage this Saturday night at UCLA’s Pauley Arena for a VH1 Rock Honors special, to air July 17th. Pearl Jam, Flaming Lips, Incubus and Tenacious D will also participate in the event, with each band paying tribute to the Who before Daltrey and Townshend take the stage. Rock Daily will be at this weekend’s event, so check back next week for the full report.

This Saturday the Who are playing a 40-minute set at the VH1 Rock Honors — where their music will be celebrated by Pearl Jam, the Flaming Lips and more bands — but plans beyond that are murky. Four Japanese dates are on the books for November, but Roger Daltrey tells Rolling Stone that nothing is confirmed beyond that. The group initially planned to hit the studio with T Bone Burnett this year to record an album of R&B obscurities from the Fifties and Sixties as a follow-up to 2006’s Endless Wire, but Pete Townshend has indefinitely postponed the project. “I must not commit to studio time or show dates, especially not to long tours, without some kind of creative programme,” Townshend wrote on his blog in April. “I don’t know whether I can write songs for the Who. I don’t know if I can come up with some idea, some story, some angle, that will make me feel good about being the writer for the Who. Most important of all, I don’t know if I write something whether I should try to force the Who to carry it.”

Daltrey is also conflicted about the idea of a new Who album. “I think we’ve done enough already,” he says. “It would be great to have something new, but it doesn’t really matter.” He does still see a bright future for the band as a touring act. “No one plays our music better than us,” he says. “By the end of this year, after we’ve done this short stint and got Japan under our belts, we’ll have a re-think. I would like to do Quadrophenia again. I think that tour was way ahead of its time when we did it back in 1996. There’s so much we can do, but the road does wear you down.” (more…)

This Saturday Pearl Jam, Foo Fighters, the Flaming Lips, Incubus and Tenacious D will play tribute to the Who at VH1’s annual Rock Honors concert in Los Angeles. The Who will close out the night with a 40-minute set that may include the first live performance of The Who By Numbers track “Slip Kid” since 1976, though you may have to actually be at the venue to hear it. “What they use on the TV will probably be the same old stuff,” laments Roger Daltrey. “They’ll probably just show ‘Won’t Get Fooled Again,’ ‘Baba O’Riley’ and ‘Who are You?’” Daltrey also revealed the Flaming Lips are working up a Tommy medley and Pearl Jam will likely play “Love Reign O’er Me.” “It’s gonna be weird having them play Who songs while we’re there,” says Daltrey.

Proceeds from the show are going to multiple charities, including the Teenager Cancer Trust — an organization Daltrey has been involved with for years that builds hospital wards for teenagers with cancer. (more…)

The Who are planning a collection of vintage R&B covers, similar to the Motown and James Brown songs they performed early on in their career. “We’re digging through lots of material and seeing what will work,” says producer T Bone Burnett, who expects to travel to London this fall to begin recording. “There’s an incredible treasury of songs in the mode of what they used to play. Not ‘Heat Wave’ [an early favorite of the band], but ones that people probably haven’t heard of.” Pete Townshend may also write new material for the project. “It might be a combination of both,” Burnett says. “We’re still turning it over.” In other Who news, the band will perform on July 12th in Los Angeles for VH1’s Rock Honors.

[Photo: Getty]