Pete Townshend

Pete Townshend
Townshend in 2007
Background information
Birth name	Peter Dennis Blandford Townshend
Born	19 May 1945 London, England
Genres	Rock
Occupations	Musician, songwriter, author, philanthropist
Instruments	Guitar, vocals, keyboards
Years active	since 1962
Associated acts	The Who
Website	The Who's official webpage
Notable instruments
Fender Stratocaster Gibson Les Paul

Peter Dennis Blandford "Pete" Townshend (born 19 May, 1945) is an English rock musician, songwriter and author best known as the founder of the band The Who.

Townshend is the primary songwriter for The Who and has written over one hundred songs for the band's eleven studio albums including the rock operas "Tommy" and "Quadrophenia" and the popular rock radio staple "Who's Next." Although known mainly as a guitarist he is also an accomplished singer and keyboard player and has played many other instruments including: banjo, accordion, bass guitar and drums.

Townshend has also written many newspaper and magazine articles, books, book reviews, essays and scripts. Townshend was ranked #3 in Dave Marsh's list of best guitarists in "The New Book of Rock Lists" and #50 in Rolling Stone Magazine's list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time."