Pete Townshend

Peter Dennis Blandford Pete Townshend is an English musician, singer, songwriter, and multiinstrumentalist, best known as the lead guitarist and songwriter for the rock band The Who. His career with the Who spans more than 50 years, during which time the band grew to be considered one of the most influential bands of the 20th century.

Peter Dennis Blandford Townshend was born onMay 1945, at Chiswick Hospital, West London. He came from a musical family his father, Cliff Townshend, was a professional alto saxophonist in the Royal Air Forces dance band The Squadronaires and his mother, Betty , was a singer with the Sydney Torch and Les Douglass Orchestras. The Townshends had a volatile marriage, as both drank heavily and possessed fiery tempers. Cliff Townshend was often away from his family touring with his band while Betty carried on affairs with other men. The two split when Townshend was a toddler and he was sent to live with his maternal grandmother Emma Dennis, whom Pete later described as clinically insane. The twoyear separation ended when Cliff and Betty purchased a house together on Woodgrange Avenue in middleclass Acton, London, and the young Pete was happily reunited with his parents.

Source: Wikipedia