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Statement From Roger



28 June 2002
Statement from Roger


I have lost one of my oldest friends in John Entwistle. We have been friends since we were 14 years old and I cannot even begin to measure the loss. My heart goes out to his wonderful family. Unfortunately, it is a fact of life that as we get older more and more of our friends disappear from our lives and death is like an ever encroaching shadow on us all.

What we have lost is a unique individual, both as a human being and a musician. He transformed the bass guitar into something way beyond anything that it was originally designed for. On his way he inspired many budding musicians to turn the bass into a lead instrument and though he was often copied, he was never equalled.

For us its more than a friendship, it is a brotherhood. It is blood.

John made no compromises in the way he lived his life. He did it totally his way. Sad though it is, if he could have written an ending for himself it would have been very similar to the one he had. For those who knew him and his sense of humour they will raise a smile at that. He was a true rock and roll icon through and through and he was so proud that he was famous.

My feeling about where Pete and I are left now is my belief that our music goes beyond and before us, transcending everything we do. If John had it his way we would probably have been on the road 365 days a year  no, make that 351 as he would have still wanted to have his two weeks fishing! John lived his life for the road and to play live on stage and Im sure he would want us to be doing this as I know his family does.

My reason for doing what we are doing now, and it is going to take a lot of strength from everybody, is to celebrate Johns life. It seems to me the best way is to play our music  the music he helped to create. The spirit of John Entwistle is intrinsically woven into every song we play. By playing our music I believe we can help ourselves and our fans grieve and begin to come to terms with our loss, huge as it is.

We have to accept that life has to go on. We are only a mirror image of our audience. They too lose people and try to move on with their lives and we have to do the same. It will never be the same, it will be different. But John is ingrained in those songs, and just as you can still hear Keith Moon in our live sound, you will still hear John. His spirit will be with us.

I take a leap into the unknown with a heavy heart but an open spirit and I thank the support and loyalty of all our friends, crew and fans.

Thinking back to the Concert for New York it proved to me once again what I have always believed  that music, of any kind, has the power to lift people out of their grief and earthly problems. I truly believe that.

I just hope that God has got his earplugs ready. Whatever happens hell have to reinvent thunder as it simply wont be loud enough any more!

Roger Daltrey LA 28 June 2002



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