Pete Townshend says he wouldn't mind if he died tomorrow

Pete Townshend says that contrary to his legendary line from the Who classic "My Generation," he's happy he didn't "die before he got old." Townshend, who along with lead singer Roger Daltrey is on tour with the Who in Europe, posted on his official petetownshend.co.uk website that, "I am grateful... 61 years is still a tiresomely long time -- if I died tomorrow I would not mind. Yet I can remember thinking exactly this when I was just 34 -- if I die today I would not mind. I would have minded that my children would have grown up without me... I had at least brought my two daughters up as infants, taken them to school, helped build their camps, told them stories and watched their games. 61 years is a lot of years."

Townshend, who performs a verse of updated lyrics pertaining to fatherhood during the Who's performances of "The Kids Are Alright," told us that he's never lost sight of his initial audience: "I'm always writing for the first commission I've ever had, the Shepherds Bush Who fan who was so delighted when I wrote '(I) Can't Explain,' and 'My Generation.' And I've been fairly faithful to that all the way along. So I tend to write songs for where those people are at today. You know, they're older, they're my age, they're married, divorced, some of them are dead. I'm still writing for them and for their relationships and about their lives."

The Who's new six-track mini-album, titled Wire And Glass, is already out in the UK and will be released in the U.S. on Tuesday (July 25th). The extended "rock opera" will be included in its entirety on the group's upcoming full-length album, titled Who2, which is due out on October 23rd.

Rolling Stone recently asked online readers to submit their own titles for the first new Who album in 24 years. Among the more interesting submissions were What, When, Where, Why; Who's Here; Who's Left; Who Doo Voo Doo; and Get Fooled Again.

The Who will perform on Thursday, July 20th, in Nyon, Switzerland at the Paleo Festival. They kick off their North American tour kicks of on September 12th in Philadelphia at the Wachovia Center.
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