I 'Can' Explain: Pete Townshend apologizes for saying he's glad Keith Moon and John Entwistle are gone

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ABC AudioIn a recent Rolling Stone article, The Who‘s Pete Townshend is quoted as saying about his late band mates Keith Moon and John Entwistle, “Thank God they’re gone” because “they were f****** difficult to play with.” Townshend has now posted a lengthy message on his official Facebook page explaining his comments and apologizing for their insensitive nature.

“No one can ever know how much I miss Keith and John, as people, as friends and as musicians,” Townshend writes. “The alchemy we used to share in the studio is missing from the new album, and it always feels wrong to try to summon it up without them, but I suppose we will always be tempted to try. To this day I am angry at Keith and John for dying. Sometimes it shows. It’s selfish, but it’s how I feel.”

“But I am sincerely grateful to have had these second and third incarnations as a member of what we still dare to call The Who — once after Keith passed, then again after John passed,” he continues. “I do thank God for this, but I was being ironic in my own English way by suggesting it is something I am glad about.”

Later in the message, Pete apologizes to the Moon and Entwistle families, and particularly Keith’s daughter Mandy and John’s son Chris, “for the headlines — and for carelessly providing the words that were used.”

He then explains that “in the past three months I have done so many interviews, I am losing focus and patience,” and adds, “I forgive myself. I hope they can forgive me too. I loved their dads and still do.”

Townshend also notes that he and Roger Daltrey “have not changed very much over the years, but we do love and like each other these days.”

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