Pete Townshend to Publish Autobiography With HarperCollins

Posted on May 18, 2011

HarperCollins has acquired the autobiography of Pete Townshend, the legendary guitar player and songwriter for the Who. Townshend will tell his dramatic story ias the inside story of the band from its British art-school roots, to its ground breaking rock opera Tommy to five decades of guitar-smashing tours. The book will be published in fall 2012.

Pete Townshend said in a sstatement, "This book is not a vanity for me. It is an essential rite of passage. I know I am good at what I do as a performer and composer, but since my early teens I have been happiest when writing. Writing is my principal daily occupation. Rock 'n' Roll is a tough career, however cynically or comically it is portrayed by its detractors. I am lucky to be alive and to have such a crazy story to tell, full of wild adventures and creative machinations. I am happy that I am able to write my book myself, in my own 'voice' that many readers will be hearing for the first time."

He also said, "I am delighted to be working again with my agent Ed Victor, and happy to be published by Harper Collins, a company whose editors and list I have always greatly admired. I am not my favourite subject, that will always be art and music, but whenever I write about my life and work I learn something. So the year ahead spent writing will also trigger the last vital bit of 'growing up' required by the now pensionable fellow who once wrote I hope I die before I get old. I want to write a book that is enjoyable to read, but above all, I want it to be honest."