Photo: @rachel_kaplan
Legendary guitarist and songwriter Pete Townshend celebrated the kickoff of his latest project, Quadrophenia: A Rock Ballet, in New York City during his exclusive iHeartRadio ICONS event. Hosted by iHeartRadio's Jim Kerr, the special event featured an intimate conversation, live performances, and an exclusive look at the ballet.
Pete Townshend's Quardophenia, A Rock Ballet is set to take over New York City Center this month. Featuring direction by Rob Ashford and choreography by the late Paul Roberts, the acclaimed dance production is a fresh take on The Who's 1973 album QUADROPHENIA. After the album was released, it quickly became a multi-million selling album, and inspired the cult classic feature film of the same name. Now, the album takes on a new form in Quadrophenia, A Rock Ballet with a large cast of exceptional dancers, introducing new audiences to the story, while remaining true in spirit to the much-loved original.
Townshend performed classics from Quadrophenia, including "I'm One" and "Drowned," giving listeners a rare glimpse into the creative process behind the album and its reimagined stage adaptation. He shared memories of the album's origins, explaining how Quadrophenia was written to reconnect The Who with their roots, particularly the Mod subculture of 1960s England. Pete shared, "I think Quadrophenia was written not even with any thoughts of social relevance. It was written because The Who had lost touch with their fans. We absolutely had, we were a big band, we were playing stadiums. Keith Moon was really not very well. He was taking a lot of drugs, drinking a lot. He was great fun still, but his playing was starting to fall off, and I felt that the band had lost touch with its roots. So, Quadrophenia was a way for me to relink The Who with their roots, with their original fan base, which was the Mods."
Photo: @rachel_kaplan
The conversation also highlighted Townshend’s early artistic influences, from ballet lessons as a child to his lifelong fascination with blending music, theater, and storytelling. He revealed how the rock ballet incorporates orchestral arrangements by his wife, Rachel Fuller, and choreography by Paul Roberts, creating a "poetic, modern rock experience" that merges ballet with the raw energy of The Who's music. Townshend explained, "What's interesting about Quadrophenia the ballet is that it's a hybrid really. We are used to seeing, in theater musicals, in Broadway musicals, we're used to seeing peak kids dance. And when people train to be actors in musicals, they have to learn to dance. But most of these kids are trained in ballet. So the kind of things that they do is Romeo and Juliet and stuff like that. So this was a different journey for them. The three boys, the three principal boys, Paris, Dan, and Sirium, were at the very first workshop and they put together this first little bit with our, sadly our choreographer, Paul Roberts, sweet, sweet, fantastic, talented guy. He got cancer before the show finished in London and died, and we wanted to bring him here to New York, but unfortunately we'd have to bring him in spirit, but we miss him terribly. But he and this group of three boys created this fantastic poetic action right at the beginning of the piece. And it's lasted. It was what made me feel that this would work. There's a new poetry in there, it's rock and roll for sure. This is about modern rockers. The rockers don't get much of a look in, but it's mainly about Mod kids in '62, '64, that kind of period when we were all struggling to find who we were."
Beyond the ballet, Townshend reflected on his decades-long career, sharing stories from iconic concerts, the creative evolution of hits like "Let My Love Open the Door," and the lasting connection between New York audiences and The Who. He also touched on upcoming projects, including potential residencies and theatrical ventures, and emphasized that his passion lies in creating art in all forms — from music to painting.
For more on Quadrophenia: A Rock Ballet, visit nycitycenter.org.