The Who have postponed four dates of their 50th anniversary tour, citing an “unspecified virus” suffered by singer Roger Daltrey.
The band were due to kick off the second leg of The Who Hits 50! North American tour in San Diego on 14 September, followed by shows in Anaheim, California (16 September), Las Vegas (19 September) and Los Angeles (21 September). These dates will no longer go ahead, and there are currently no details regarding rescheduled shows.
The band have also cancelled a performance at the iHeartRadio Music festival in Las Vegas on 18 September. They are due to pick up the tour again in Portland, Oregon on 24 September.
The Who Hits 50! tour, which may be the band’s last, began in November 2014 with the group’s first ever show in the United Arab Emirates. They have previously had to cancel dates on the tour in London, due to illness, and Paris, in order to enable them to make a headline appearance at the 2015 Glastonbury festival.
Before the tour began, Pete Townshend said the band were “lucky to be alive and still touring.” But in an interview with Billboard, Daltrey – who is now 71 – hinted that life on the road was tough at their age. “We cannot keep going on doing these month after month-long, extended tours,” he said. “It’s extremely hard, hard work.”
There are currently no further details regarding Daltrey’s illness.
